Reader Sarah wrote me the following email about the upcoming Railroad days in Omaha:

Railroad Days is coming up, July 17-18. It's an awesome deal, $10 for the entire family gets you admission to Durham Western Heritage museum, Lauritzen Gardens, General Dodge House, Union Pacific Railroad Museum and RailsWest Railroad Museum. Check out the website http://www.omaharailroaddays.com/. Plus they have great activities for kids. They even run a shuttle between venues, if you don't want to drive.

Thanks Sarah, and I hope many of you are able to enjoy railroad days-I wish my husband had next weekend off so I could go with another adult! Oh well, who wants to go with us?!

Click here and fill out the form to get your free sample of Purex 3 in 1 complete laundry sheets.

Thanks Living Rich with Coupons.

Reposts stink...total cop out-I know...but here is the thing, I am on an ancient desktop that takes me triple the time to work on this blog so I do not have the time to research out the Tuesdays Travels or Weekend Warriors info right now. Please forgive me!

The GREAT news is I was notified by Toshiba late last night that my laptop is fixed and shipping back, so once we get that back and up and running I will be able to get back on the ball and give you some new info.

So, here is the big question of the day-what destinations would you like to see in Tuesdays Travels? Or in the Weekend Warriors Daycations? Please comment here, on Facebook, or email me at beckeesdeals@gmail.com  and let me know what you want to see-I really need your help and  inspiration here!


Thanks for reading and thanks ahead of time for your suggestions!!

I intend for this series of posts to give suggestions of good day trips you can make in and around Omaha with your family. Hopefully it will give some good ideas of things to do close to home for local readers (and for those of you visiting Omaha, it might give you some ideas of what to do while you are here).

I cannot possibly do a series of posts about daycations/staycations without starting with probably the most popular Omaha destination: The Henry Doorly Zoo. I am not really a zoo person, or an animal person at all, but even I can appreciate that this is a must see in Omaha. It is an incredible zoo-one of the best in the world as far as I am concerned. And it is huge!! You can EASILY spend all day there and still not see it all.

There are a number of outdoor exhibits, but many of the exhibits are indoor-so you can go and enjoy the zoo anytime, snow or shine! In fact in the middle of the HUGE snow storms this winter, when the kids were out of school for days and days on end of snow days, I braved the roads and we went to the zoo and had a great time in the heat of the Desert Dome and the Rainforest.

Speaking of the Desert Dome, here are just a few of the attractions you will find at our great zoo:

• Desert Dome
• Rainforest
• Aquarium
• Nursery
• Cat Complex
• Gorilla Valley
• (Opened Today!!) Madagascar exhibit!

See the complete list here.

Now lets talk a bit about cost. It can get pretty costly at the zoo here which is why I recommend making a full day of it.  There is a ton to see and I believe it is worth the cost, but only if you are going to make a "daycation" out of it.  Pack up a cooler and plan to picnic there. There are plenty of places to stop and eat. 

If you are a local, or plan to come to the zoo with your family more than one day in a year, I would HIGHLY recommend getting a year pass. They always go from May through April, so buy yours in May so you get the WHOLE year in. Usually some time in April the zoo will send members a form with which you can renew your pass at a discounted rate for the following year. After a certain date it is more. I did not renew mine yet this year and got a letter yesterday saying if I renew by May 18, I can still get the family pass for $78, after that it will be $88.

That being said, lets do some math.  Admission for adults and children 12 and older is $11.50, Seniors (over 62) are $10, Children 3-11 are $7.75, and Children 2 and under are free.  I have a family of 6: 2 adults ($11.50), 3 children ($7.75), and one FREE child. So, for us to go one day would be $46.25.   If I go to the zoo only 2 times with my family this year without a pass, that is  $92.50. So, you can see that the annual family pass for us is a no brainer. Even if we were just visiting Omaha and thought we might return to the zoo once more that year, I would get the pass. Just my advice for families like ours.  Do the math with your family and figure out if the pass is worth your while to purchase!

If you live out of Omaha, and happen to have a zoo pass to a "reciprocal zoo", you can get in for a discounted price. With your reciprocal zoo pass, children 2 and under are still FREE, Children (ages 3 - 11)  are $3.75, Adults (ages 12 and over)  are $5.75, and Seniors (ages 62 and over) $5.00.  That's a pretty good discount! The zoo also offers discounts for big groups (over 40). You can see the details for those discounts here.

The Henry Doorly Zoo is a great way to spend a day in Omaha and I highly recommend it! Plan ahead, pack up for the day, bring a cooler of food, and go enjoy this beautiful Omaha site!

**The picture above is one I took at the zoo last summer. Beautiful, right?!

Another pretty good deal for photo prints.

To quote the email I just got from Snapfish:

Get more prints this summer when you order 99 - 4" x 6" prints for just 99 cents! At only a penny a piece, you can share more of your summer fun for less. Use coupon JULY99PENNY at checkout.

Don't wait - this limited offer ends July 11!

Now, here is the small print-you cannot use this deal as a pick up-so you have to have it delivered which means you have to pay the shipping fee.

Here's a new Pampers Gifts to Grow code:

• GTGGETREADYSOON (10 pts)

Thanks That Freebie Site.

Nexxus posted the following status on facebook on Friday:

Want a FREE sample? Sign-up for the Nexxus Newsletter at www.nexxus.com/sign-up to receive exclusive information next week about this special offer, plus a $3-off coupon for Nexxus products. You will be able sample Nexxus Therappe, Humectress, and our new Humectress Deep Conditioner!

I am signing up now! And while you are at it, you might as well head here and like Nexxus on Facebook.

Thanks Mojo Savings.

Today's Omaha Groupon is $6 for $65 for $140 Worth of Cut and Color Services at The Grove Salon.

As with all the deals, make sure you check out the fine print before purchasing. To sign up for Groupons, click on my referral link here (this does NOT commit you to buying any deal-you choose what you buy) and to see the Omaha page, including today's deal, click here.

Not sure what Groupons is? Then click here to read all about it!

Today's Salt Lake City Groupon is $22 for 18 Holes of Golf, Cart Rental, and Small Bucket of Balls at Stonebridge Golf Club. Hmm...my dad's birthday is next week, and he lives in Salt Lake...

As with all the deals, make sure you check out the fine print before purchasing. To sign up for Groupons, click on my referral link here (this does NOT commit you to buying any deal-you choose what you buy) and to see the Salt Lake City page, including today's deal, click here.

Not sure what Groupons is? Then click here to read all about it!

Well, it has been a tough week at casa de Beckee, but due to the lack of car I was able to walk a lot today-in fact I walked with all 4 of my kids to go pick up my van when it was fixed. It turned out to be about a 4 mile walk but with the wrong turns and the "short cuts" I tried, I ended up getting an extra mile in there (yep 5 miles with 4 kids, a stroller, and 2 car seats...).

I weighed myself for the first time in 3 months yesterday (in the evening after a big meal) and was happy to see I had lost a lot of weight over the past 3 months. When I used to weigh myself everyday, I always did it in the morning, so this morning I weighed myself and I have lost a grand total of about 12 pounds in the past 3 months!!!

When I had my 4th child 2 years ago, I was about 190 pounds at the end of that pregnancy. I lost some of that weight right away after I had her, but then worked really hard to get back down to 175. When I finally hit the 160 mark about 6 months ago, I was stuck. I was working out and eating well, but that weight stayed there forever, so I stopped weighing myself and just kept trying to get in better shape.

This challenge came up and it has made me get up and walk even when I do not want to (since I have to report back to you). I am glad I have been up and moving more with some sense of accountability. I am happy to be able to report that I am now down to 148 pounds and I might actually get to my goal of 130 at this rate...

So, to give my report, I walked 11 miles this week (yes 5 were today-it was a slow week before...) and my grand total is now 51 miles.

I also want to say congrats to all the winners of the 40 mile prizes, especially to my little sister Andrea-congrats! (She always says she never wins anything so I must harass her when she does!)

Remember, as with EVERY Friday, today is Mega Swagbucks day! That means more chances to earn more Swagbucks! So, makes sure to use Swagbucks for all your searching needs today!

If you have not joined yet, click on my referral link here and start earning Swagbucks with me! This is a GREAT time to join-with Mega Swagbucks going on today!! As an FYI, I have gotten $80 in Amazon Gift cards so far and I have 1380 Swagbucks left which is enough for 3 more $5 Amazon gift cards ($15 total) with 30 swagbucks left (450 swagbucks=$5 Amazon gift card).

If you are new to Swagbucks, please read my explaination of Swagbucks here. And my explaination of the changes to Swagbucks here.