Mum-of-16 takes her kids to the cinema as a surprise treat – and shows off their huge popcorn and hot dog treats
CATCHING a movie at the cinemas is a treat so many take for granted, but for a busy mum with 16 kids, there’s a lot of planning involved – not to mention the cost.
Jeni Bonell and husband, Ray, from Queensland, Australia are the parents of the country’s biggest family and recently treated their kids a day out.
It’s currently school holidays in Australia so the stay-at-home mum has to entertain her entire brood – and with 16 kids aged between five and 30, it can get pretty hectic.
Luckily, Australia is not in lockdown so Jeni and Ray decided to treat them to a day out – which she admits doesn’t happen very often because it’s way too expensive.
Jeni, who regularly shares details about her family online, posted a clip on the family YouTube channel showing her brood pile into four cars and make their way to the cinema.
With so many people to cater for the family usually get around in a bus, but were forced to take seperate cars due to parking restrictions.
Speaking the in the clip, Jeni said: “We don’t all go out the the movies on a regular basis because there’s a lot of people, so there’s a lot of tickets and it costs a lot of money.
“But it’s really fun to find a movie that we can go and see together and we’re all really looking forward to this.”
Before heading out – and perhaps to save some cash – the family indulged in some hotdogs at home which the kids seemed to love.
With bread rolls, frankfurts (both Australian and American style) and a selection of sauces on offer, the family filled up on the yummy treats.
While trying to arrange transport for everyone seen stressful enough, though, Jeni said the real hassle is trying to arrange movie tickets for the lot – plus the extra cinema treats.
As any parent would know, a trip to the cinema isn’t exactly cheap, and Jeni found that out after buying a whopping 17 tickets.
In Australia, tickets cost anywhere between $15-$23 (£8.48 – £13) – with those aged over 12 costing more.
So at full price, Jeni could have spent upwards of $390 (£220) – not including snacks – so it’s no wonder they rarely go.
But since it was a special occasion, and a rare one at that, Jeni treated the kids to huge tubs of popcorn and over-sized drinks as well, almost doubling the amount spent.
Luckily, as the savvy budgeter she is, Jeni was able to score a discount using some gift cards she had – making the spend a little more bearable.
She revealed: “Some tickets I’d had already bought, a couple of gift cards we used up and I had a discount card so we got a great price on all the tickets.”
Adding: “So it actually worked out to be a really good price for all of us to go – everyone had a really great time.”
The Croods 2 was a hit with the entire family, Jeni included, so the spend wasn’t too bad after all.
But if that’s not enough to make your eyes water, the mum-of-16 previously revealed they get through 36 litres of milk a week, along with 72 eggs, 30 chicken drumsticks, a dozen loaves of bread and 24 loo rolls.
Jeni said people mistake her for a hoarder when she goes shopping, as she previously admitted to spending a whopping £232 a week on groceries to feed her family.
Jeni and Ray have 16 kids including Jesse, Brooke, Claire, Natalie, Karl, Samuel, Cameron, Sabrina, Tim, Brandon, Eve, Nate, Rachel, Eric, Damian and Katelyn.
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