backyards and community parks
Fun on the Go
Deandra Jones isn't going to let a scaled-back budget
banker scale back her family's plans for a fun-filled summer. "We're just going to approach things a little differently," she said as she placed an oversized ball atop a toy-stuffed Target shopping cart one day last week. "Instead of going to where the fun is, we're going to make the fun for ourselves."
It's a sentiment echoed in backyards and community parks across the county this year, as tight times force many in the area to re-think their traditional summer plans. "Usually, we take the kids to Massanutten (Water Park) at least once or twice each summer and we go to Busch Gardens," Jones said. "We also try to get to Virginia Beach one or two weekends each year, but with money as tight as it is right now, we can't do that."
Instead, Jones said she's investing the money she would have normally spent on gas for one or two of the family's summer outings on new sports gear and a few "old-fashioned fun things" such as a bucket of sidewalk chalk, a kiddie pool and water balloons.
