Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Oh, What Do You Do in the Summer Time?

Tomorrow is Brianna's last day of school. Tomorrow is Olympic Day, and it's going to be hot and muggy. It definitely feels like summer here. We went to Aunt Pam and Uncle Tim's house yesterday to go swimming. It was the perfect day for it. When we left the house at 10:30 it was already 90 degrees!!! By afternoon it was 94! The water felt great and the kids splashed and played for hours. I mainly sat under the covered patio and enjoyed the breeze and the luscious watermelon and cantaloupe we had cut up upon our arrival. It was a glorious day and it got me thinking about what in the world I was going to do with three kids, all day for the next three months! I started to feel a little panicked at the thought of it, but then with the help of the trusty internet I started to find a bunch of great resources to help me make a plan.

One thing I knew for sure was that every Thursday (weather permitting) we have a standing play date at my friend Lisa's house. They have a great pool, and Brianna is BFF's with her granddaughter Alex. A few other friends bring there kids and we spend the day splashing and playing. So every Thursday on the calender is swim Thursday and we look forward to it! But that's only one day. What can we do for the other 4 days of the week while everyone is at work?

Our public library has some great programs this year, including a reading challenge. For reading (or listening to) 5 books they return a log to the library for a free book prize. After 10 books they get a t-shirt and entered into a raffle to win a new bike. Even children under the age of 2 can get in on the fun with special prizes just for them! They have several story times, art times, and movie times throughout the week that we might take advantage of, especially when the weather is bad.

Our local mall has a great indoor play place. They recently remodeled it and the kids love to play there! Plus, it's air conditioned, a really nice break on those days when the heat index in the Ohio River Valley tops 105 degrees...and it will...often! Thinking of play places also reminded me that Chic-Fil-A has kids eat free Mondays from 10 am-2 pm and they have a wonderful play place so I think we might end up there on almost a weekly basis! lol

But, it looks like gas is going to be really expensive this summer as well. So what can we do in order to help conserve gas and money? My friend, Kaysi posted a great link on her blog to a wonderful list made by Crystal at Crystal and Co, 80+ Inexpensive or Free Summer Activities. She has some great ideas, broken into different categories (Go, Make, Play & Do) I spent some time wandering her blog...really fun! Check it out! And of course, there is always the kiddie pool, the slip-n-slide and the sprinkler!

I have a feeling we'll survive, and I'm sure some days will be better than others, but I hope we'll make some fun summer memories this year! I'm sure we will! What are you planning on doing with your kids during summer break this year? Please, share...I'd love to hear your ideas!

3 comments:

The Weller Family said...

I love your blog.

Michelle said...

You should totally make a summer list and do it. :)

http://gesweinfamily.com/

You could also get this book and have an "Adventure Day" once a week.

http://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Around-Cincinnati-Laura-Hoevener/dp/1936107430

Megan said...

Growing up, we used to have "fun on a budget" days. They were the best and I am going to do them with my kids. We had to be as creative as possible to come up with things to do that didn't cost money. We would go to Sawyer Point and have a picnic and swim or just take a walk. My mom made it a game for us to come up with stuff and it was so much fun!!