With the last day of school on Friday and a long summer ahead of us, I did what I do best. I sat down and made some plans. I love to make plans and schedules and I thought I would share some of the things we are planning to do this summer.
1. Have fun at the parks. There are so many parks and playgrounds in the area that we can enjoy. So I have each Wednesday scheduled as park day. The plan is to spend the morning at whichever park or playground we choose that week and eat lunch there before we come home to crash for naps. I'm also going to post on facebook when and where we are going and see if I can interest others in meeting up with us and joining the fun.
2. Picnics. Lots of picnics. Monday will be our backyard picnic day and of course, on Wednesdays we will be enjoying our picnics in the park.
3. Water play - We don't have a pool but that doesn't mean we can't have water fun. Friday mornings will be our water play day and I'm planning to set up the sprinkler, put out some tubs with water and water play toys, and provide water guns or squirt bottles for lots of water fun.
4. Backyard Camping - Our family really hasn't gone camping at all in the past so this year I want to start us out with some backyard camping. My plan is to camp out in the backyard every other Friday night. I'm hoping to make this as realistic as possible - cooking out on the grill or fire pit, making S'mores, sleeping in a tent. We have a tent somewhere but we need to dig it out and see if it is still usable. If not we will make some makeshift tents with quilts. This is one of the activities that I'm looking forward to the most. Maybe, if we do well with the backyard camping, we'll get brave enough to take the kids out on a real camping trip or two.
5. Berry Picking. On the land behind us there are SO many berries growing. There are at least two different kinds although I'm waiting for them to ripen so I know which two they are. I can hardly wait to introduce the kids to the joys of berry picking . . . and eating . . . and preserving.
6. Foraging. This weekend I plan to visit the bookstore and find a good book on foraging. Then we're going to have some treasure hunts - with the treasure being wild edible treats. I'm really hoping the kids like this idea as much as I do.
7. Schoolwork. Both CJ and Michael need to continue with a little work this summer to make sure they keep the skills they've learned so far. So most afternoons we will do about an hour of work. I've found one sight word game I can print, and I have ideas for making two more as well as some fun math games. We'll do some reading as well and some fun online work.
8. Play Games. I know there will be some hot days when we do not want to be outside and playing games will be a great way to fill this time. CJ wants to learn to play Skip-Bo and I think Michael is ready to learn to play UNO. Both boys know how to play Go-Fish. Connect Four is another option for us.
9. Gardening. Both vegetable and flower gardening are in my plans for the summer. CJ has already said he would like a small garden space of his own, and I'm sure when CJ gets a garden space, Michael will want one as well.
10. Sit on the front porch and watch the world go by. What is summer without sitting on the porch on a warm summer evening, relaxing and listening to the summer evening sounds - insects and birds, children at play, a lawn mower somewhere, conversation and laughter. I can feel myself relax just thinking about it.
So, those are my plans for the summer. Do you have some fun summer plans. I'd love to read them in the comments if you do.
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