Last night my family sat down and decided what fun things we were going to do this summer. After a reminder to the kids that our last name is not “Rockefeller,” we all agreed to the Summer Fun List 2012. (The bold print makes it look much more official, don’t you think?)
(Notice the colorful markers that smell like strange fruit that’s been kept in the sun too long? That’s how I roll baby.)
The key to any summer fun list (and to child rearing in general) is to teach your children to have low expectations. Seriously, I don’t know why they don’t put that in more child-rearing books.
The fancy way of saying this is “appreciate the smaller things.” Our family can’t afford to do SOMETHING GRAND AND EXCITING every other day this summer. So we attempt to teach our kids to look forward to smaller, but still fun activities.
A few of our “small but sweet” summer fun projects include:
*Making homemade ice cream.
*Watching the Olympics together (because Mama loves her some Michael Phelps.)
* Going fishing. Otherwise known as “Dad deals with all three children and keeps them dry on land, while Mama reads a book in a camping chair, oblivious to everything.”
*Making Oreo balls together. Because, frankly, they are delicious beyond comprehension. Even when I screw them up like this.
* Taking part in the summer reading program at our library. My oldest daughter is systematically calculating how she’s going to fill her card up the fastest in order to claim the cool prizes before they’re gone. It’s almost scary watching her.
*Have a huge family game night tournament complete with snacks and beverages.
*Visit Mrs. Curls, our favorite summer ice cream hangout.
*Going golfing with Dad. (Just for the record, I will not be golfing. I will be enjoying the comfort of air conditioning and a childless house.)
We do have a few GRAND AND EXCITING things planned for this summer, because occasionally bigger is better.
* We are definitely going to the Indiana State Fair again this year. I yearn for fried green tomatoes and the kids have a burning desire to see the world’s largest pig. Plus there are a million other incredibly cool things to do. This year we’re buying an armband that will let the offspring go on the rides to their heart’s content. It’s going to be completely wicked awesome.
* We’re going to visit Michigan this summer and hopefully play in the Lake and camp nearby. We also plan on stopping by and visiting Notre Dame campus on the way. (I have absolutely no idea why we’re visiting Notre Dame, but the husband came up with the idea and who am I to rain on his admittedly bizarre parade?)
The kids have never been to Michigan before and it’s not that far away, so it’s something we can do over a long weekend. Best of all, I have a few friends we will hopefully get to visit while we’re there.
So, gentle readers, do you have any fun plans (big or small) for this summer? It’s only fair to share your ideas.
we’ve been making popsicles each week. Our family favorite so far: Lemonade and vanilla icecream. That one surprised me! mix to taste, blend it together, it is delicious!
Hello neighbor! I’ve missed you. Gotta catch you up! So summer has begun…kinda. The two teenagers are out of school finally but the two younger boys are in year round school and are going back tomorrow and will be out end of the month. We have to do summer stuff even though they’re in school or else we get very little summer. So, we’ve cut out music lessons for the summer, except for Elijah, who is starting guitar lessons! My younger two are running track and field while my oldest son is doing band camp and daughter is starting Karate. Then there’s a week of scout camp, a week of girl’s camp, and a couple days of cub scout day camp, which of course all land in July during our three weeks the younger boys are actually out of school. SO…our family vacation will be next week to Steamboat Springs, CO for three days where we’re meeting up with friends who just moved west from WV. And yes, I’m pulling my younger boys out of school to do it! Cuz that’s how I roll. Other than that, I really would like to get my house under control and hope to have my kids’ help, if that’s humanly possible. They are super good at chores, but the dejunking is typically up to me. We’re also hoping to figure out if we can go camping for a weekend at some point.
Oh, and visiting college campuses is SO cool! It helps motivate children to plan for college. My DD has seen both BYU’s this spring and she’s gearing up to start filling out college applications. My boys were with us when she saw BYU ID this week and they thought it was pretty darn cool. Besides that, it’s a free activity! Sara got a cool BYU tote for touring. How cool is that? Oh, we also plan to head to Cedar City to tour a couple campuses there, and I hope to see a couple plays at the Shakespearean Festival while we’re there. That might end up being a mother daughter trip since funds are running out quickly.
Happy Sunshine!
Christy
Having you family on different schedules kind of sucks. But it sounds like you’ve got it all covered anyway. (And I would totally pull the kids out of school, that’s how I roll too.)
I think it’s hilarious that you are able to teach your kids to keep their expectations low, yet you managed to get two activities on the list that equate to two free days for you (fishing and golfing)! That right there is an incredibly HIGH expectation in my world.
(Kid-free days? No comprendo.) Shoot for the stars, sister!
My husband is finally, FINALLY done with school. And since he missed so many things over the past five years, he’s feeling a little guilty about the whole thing. Hence I capitalized on that guilt and got some free time. You have to answer when opportunity knocks on your door, right?
Ah. My heart swelled when I saw the “visit Michigan” one. Let me know when you get to planning that one – we know a thing or two about campgrounds around here and also, YOU CAN STAY AT MY HOUSE WITH ME ME ME AND AVA. And Danny, Danny made us stop by Notre Dame once too. Not really sure why but the chapel on campus is beautiful and totally full of cool architecture and stain glass and beautiful paintings. So, it turns out my husband is as weird as yours. Heh heh.
We’ll probably do Michigan towards the end of August. Are you going to be around? Have any small plumbing problems you might need some help with? (Don’t tell my husband I’m lining up work for him.)
Okay, I just have to weigh in on the Notre Dame thing. Before you go you must watch the movie Rudy. Tell the kids they’re going to watch “Sam” from Lord of the Rings. Then you will know how cool visiting that campus can be. Have fun! Your summer is going to rock!
Good idea!
I love the way you write!!! Makes me giggle!!!
Thanks! I’m firmly convinced that we need to giggle more in this life.
Lots and lots of little things that resemble your list make up ours. One item we’re all looking forward to is a trip to Cahokia Mounds near St. Louis. I use to take my 5th graders on field trips each fall, back in the day when there were funds for such things. It was their favorite trip of the year, and we were always amazed at how many people from other countries put this visit right next to the Grand Canyon. It’s a World Heritage Site, and yet few people from the US know about it. Add to that a trip to Springfield and the Lincoln sites, and we have some culture and education packed into some fun trips. Door County in Wisconsin will be our “Ahhhhh…. Trip”. LOVE summer!
We are going to have to visit Cahokia Mounds some year, I had never even heard of them before. Thanks for the tip!
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Great idea, we have the same thing up in our kitchen. I just read about making a summer bucket list. I like that idea too!!