What are we going to do? So I start to plan...start?! I've already been planning...I've looked in the paper and on-line for lists of things to do with your kids in the summer, 101 crafts to make with your kids, 99 things not to miss this summer. Why am I planning all this, so I enlist the boys to make a list of all the things they want to do this summer. "Challenge yourself! Try to make up 50!"
No...Let's not just make a list, let's get a board and write out our list, then cross off what we do so we have a sense of accomplishment! Then we can plan our next adventure by referring to the list!! AND...let's make a homemade journal so the boys can document their summer in their own words. They can use one of my old cameras to take pictures while having a spontaneous picnic or a hike at Saylorville!
But wait...we are also going to read, read, read! We will participate in the library program and fill out the book log that was sent home from school! We will go to the library and the bookstore. We will read while sitting on our patio or while having a lazy day at the beach! My kiddos won't lose anything over the summer!
We will play board games, card games and visit the local museums, zoos and science centers! More opportunities for picture taking and documenting!! We will eat healthy...we have nothing but time to plan a lunch and dinner menu...TOGETHER!!! I will buy healthy snacks that we will cut and put in snack baggies so they can grab something yummy from the fridge when needed!
I will start to exercise..again! We will take bike rides together...as a FAMILY! We will shoot hoops and play catch!
We will watch movies, but not go over the suggested two hours of screen time a day! We will be so busy together, that THERE WILL BE NO TIME FOR VIDEO GAMES!!
Sam and Jack will bond this summer and when they look back, they will say this was the best summer yet!!
Yea...none of that is going to happen this summer!
Confession time, please don't judge.
If you are a planner and a summer "doer" more power to you! That's awesome.
But, that' not our family.
I won't wake up chipper...I'm not a morning person. The boys will get up first and then I will drag myself out of bed already figuring out when I can take a nap later that afternoon. I then check to make sure the air is on...I really don't like the heat and humidity.
The boys did create a list of things they could do this summer, but we have already lost it. Oh well. I think Jack had legos on numbers 1-10. I'm good with that.
I won't be putting our list on a board. Yes, I am a list person, but lists stress me out. I have to get things crossed off..that's what a list is for..right? So, no lists. I have attempted the homemade journal. I even signed the boys up for an on-line class that gave daily ideas of what they could take pictures of and what to do in the journals. That lasted a good week..if I stretch the truth.
Will we read...we will. I love to read and so do the boys. Jack loves the library program and will be ALL ABOUT the library program. Until he reaches the goal. Then he's done. The boys usually read in bed before going to sleep. There is no way that Jack and Sam would sit at the beach and read...with all that water and sand! And about the beach. It's nasty. If you can get past the gunk, bird/gull/goose poop and dead fish (why are there dead fish in the sand anyway?) and find a spot to park it, that's an accomplishment. By then either Sam or I are so grossed out, we call it a day and head to the pool.
OH...the pool. The boys don't like to go to the pool in the middle of the day. (YEA!) It's PACKED! We went one afternoon and it was so crowded that the boys couldn't jump into the water due to SO MANY PEOPLE at the pool. One afternoon the pool was closed early due to the water being foggy because of the amount of sunscreen in the pool. So we opt to go in the evening. I don 't like the pool. I don't like putting on a swim suit. It's like my girdle..on the outside of my clothes for all to see. Yuck.
Zoos, museums and science centers...there's not a children's museum in our town. Jack would probably pull his hair out if I took him to the art center. Sam would ACT like it was fun, but he can only put on the act for so long. The zoo...only if its cool outside!
Eating HEALTHY? Absolutely...if that means Popsicles, smores by the fire (on cool nights) trips to tropical Sno and Dairy Queen. Cool eats...that's what our summer is about! Pre-baggied healthy snacks? Probably not.
The furthest I have planned is our family sleep over on Friday night...AKA: we fill the living room floor with blankets and the boys nest. I get comfy on the couch and we watch a movie. Then we stay put and go to sleep..Until Jack starts smacking in his sleep and Sam starts to grind his teeth. It's great.
But the truth is that our summer just going to be our summer. Our summer won't/can't be orchestrated or planned. I am just going enjoy it and go with it. There will be days that we do nothing but hang out. The boys may have to entertain themselves for a few hours (or a day) while I scrapbook in the basement. (I love my me time!!) I will put in a movie so I can catch a snooze! There are days that I will have to put on my outside sausage casing and head to the pool. We do have camps planned and swim lesson to take. We will play board games..a must while being in the basement during a tornado warning! We will go on bike rides. The boys will also catch frogs and hang out with friends.
So basically, we will just do summer.
Though I would prefer not to do the heat, humidity, bug bites...mosquitos.....
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