Summer Begins

Today is the first day of summer vacation for most of my kids. The challenge is to make sure that today isn’t the end of all sanity for me. Coming up with plenty of activities for the boys to do is definitely key. From the 14 year old to the 4 year olds, if they aren’t kept busy we definitely have issues.

So to keep my sanity intact and help them have a fun summer experience, I have a few little ideas…

The Not-So-Nice Days

I have to face the fact that living in the Pacific Northwest we tend to get a lot of weather variations. There are almost no months during the summer where you can truly predict that it will be sunny, though August is usually nice.

So when the weather isn’t so fun we have a couple of choices…

• At Home: crafts, inspired projects (these are when I give them an idea, like “create a board game” and letting their creativity flow), games, or even a movie day occasionally complete with popcorn (this is usually something we’d do on a dismal Friday if they have earned it).
• Daycation: indoor destinations such as the Science Center, Children’s Museum, Aquarium, library, or even a planned trip to grandma’s house (they really think this is fun).
• Staycation: local indoor waterpark (though we will not be doing this ourselves this summer it is a fun idea I thought I’d share) stay one night and play in the waterpark for two days. These parks often have an indoor and outdoor area. So if you live where weather can be unpredictable this is a lot of fun.

Nice Weather activities…

• At Home: water games and sprinkler fun, pool party (just your family or invite the neighbors &/or cousins to join in; make it fun with lemonade and mini sandwiches), chalk art (sidewalk, driveway, etc kids love sidewalk chalk and letting them be very creative with it is a fun summer activity). My kids will also spend a lot of time roaming the “forest”, riding bikes, golfing in the yard and much more.
• Daycation: zoo, parks (check your community for parks that might even offer music and/or movie activities for the family), waterslides, beach (sandcastle competition anyone?)…anywhere you can go as a family that you can just spend the day having fun together and making a memory.
• Summer nights: One thing we love to do as a family at least once during the summer is go to a drive-in movie. They do still exist in some areas so do a little research to see if there’s one near you. They are much more affordable than going  to the theater, and usually feature two movies so check listings. The first movie will often be a child/family movie and the second will typically be a more adult movie. Either we leave before the second movie or often the children fall asleep between movies anyway so we can enjoy the second one too.!

I hope this offers you a little inspiration as well to help you have a great, fun, memory-filled summer!!!