Traveling with kids can be expensive, which is why parents are most likely to be trolling the budget columns of travel magazines for ideas on cheap and free things to do on vacation. A perennial favorite on those frugal lists? City parks. A city with a great park system is often very child friendly, and the park is just the start.

5 Great City Parks Worth Visiting

Pittsburgh – Frick Park

This 5-acre park hosts municipal sporting events and free theater. It also features an 18 “hole” fitness course with exercise pit stops along the route.

New York City – Central Park

The mother of all parks, Central Park is practically a city unto itself, complete with interesting citizens and busy intersections.

Savannah – Forsyth Park

Tourists flock to the fountains, but locals are more likely to be spending their weekends in the park’s cafe and splash park.

Cleveland – Cleveland Metroparks

Enjoy river hiking or just watching the waterfalls in the Metroparks, a network of parks that circles the city of Cleveland.

Chicago - Millennium Park

The sleek, reflective surfaces of The Bean is just steps away from wide lawns and beautiful flower gardens along the shores of Lake Michigan. Better still? You’re a short cab ride away from the shopping on Michigan Avenue.

Photos Britt Reints

Sit. Stay. Heel. Good dogs.

Sure, the commands are a bit contradictory, but under the circumstances these dogs seem to have handled it pretty well.

While you and your family are out and about this summer, don’t forget your four-legged friends like the park, too. Most communities have dog parks and beaches where Fido and Rover can run, sniff and fetch until their tail is too tired to wag.

These pups are in Cirencester, England, but there’s probably a dog park closer to you. Make the dog days of summer count and use your smartphone to find dog parks to visit on your travels this summer (dogs not included).

This post is part of the UpTake Friday Family Series because dogs are family, too.

Photo: johnson1952 via Flickr

Apparently there are dinosaur caves at Pismo Beach, CA, but it’s not what you think — unless you are thinking of a giant cement dinosaur that you could walk inside to enter some cliff-side caves via said dinosaur’s belly. If that is the case then it is what you think. Or it was.

However, the dinosaur was never completed and then there was a fire and now it’s just a bunch of ruins and caves below a crumbling wall of sheer rock. Also, a playground.

The kids will love it. So will the dogs. Read More »

This duck could be anywhere — maybe he’s at a pond near you. Go look, I’ll wait.

Was he?

Here’s the thing about ducks, they like bread. It’s a fact.

If you’re planning on visiting some parks, ponds or lakes this summer you may want to consider taking a loaf or two with (bread, not your lazy friends) — lots of bakeries and supermarkets sell day old loaves at a discounted rate, which is good because ducks are cheap and probably won’t pay for it.

The more you know.

This was a Wordless Wednesday post but things got carried away. It happens.

Photo by jurvetson via Flickr (click to read the real story of this wet duck)