Thriving in Summer

Summer is a big, beautiful mess.

That is the way I at least feel about it.  

My husband is a teacher so we get soo antsy those last few weeks of school.

Not only will my older ones not have to go to school/preschool, but Daddy is home too!!!

It's the best thing, but it's utter chaos if we don't get a handle on it. 

Imagine being on vacation for 2 months.  It can be overwhelming having no routine, frustrating with soo many personalities home all day and it can get expensive if you aren't planning. 

Every year since we've had the pleasure of this arrangement, we've gotten better at it.  We plan ahead and start talking about what we do the weeks before summer starts. 

Don't get me wrong, we are still major flex these days.  We just created a loose schedule for the weekdays and tried to look over the whole summer for special appointment/events.

So instead of just surviving this summer, we are trying to THRIVE!
Here are a few things we are doing to accomplish this:

USE YOUR BRAIN.

To keep the kids on top of all they learned this past year, we've tried to keep on with summer learning.  Just reviewing and working on things they already did.  They honestly enjoy it.  

 We got these workbooks at Sam's for pretty cheap. 

They've been a great way for them to work if we need to be doing other things.

I also wanted to do fun and creative things with the kids this summer. 

We made sure to pencil in time for this during our days home.  

CREATE SOMETHING.

Crafting. Experiments. Baking. Group Playing.

To help with the arts, I got this book. 

I can't help it....I love Martha's stuff.

It's really just a pretty book to look through. 

This was the first one we tried.

Easy and they loved it!

I let them help pour food coloring in.

It does look like Water Fireworks! 

GET OUTSIDE.

I'm not going to lie. I'm a weeny when it comes to hot weather. 

I would just rather be cool and not sweating.

Thankfully, this summer hasn't been horribly hot.

Either way, we make sure to let them run off some steam everyday.

 So we climb trees.

We play ball.

MEAL PLANNING.

I'm the worst at this. No joke.

Even when I plan, I get off from the schedule I planned.

This is one area, we struggle.  

Because summer seems like one long vacation, it's easy to eat out too much.

We'll be out doing something as a family and think that it would be convenient to just grab something while we are out.

I've decided to try to cook more for lunch. 

Sometimes, it's easier because we have been going lots of places in the afternoons/evenings.

If  we get home later, it's easier to make sandwiches/ heat up left overs for supper.

I've tried a few dips and fun summer recipes.

I'm always looking for new, healthy and different recipes....so send them my way if you have any.

GO ADVENTURE.

We have tried to make sure we get out of the house and go somewhere at least 2 times a week.

This hasn't been hard at all.

We have had lots of cousin play dates, parties to attend and of course VBS with our church.

If anything, I feel we are rarely home during the week.

It's been our Saturday and Sundays that have been slower. 

Which is a nice change too.

Adventures can be close to home, a local hike or a day trip to a near by attraction.

We love free or cheap things for our kids to do.

Obviously, there is parks, the library and Granny's pool!

We've been swimming lots!

There are also some cheaper things that are great too...

Summer Kids movies at Malco

Having a membership to O'boro Science Museum

Bowling

Reid's Orchard

Laser Tag

Play Places

Camping

County Fairs

Drive In Movies

Anyways, we have lots more we want to do and summer is slipping by.

Any ideas you have to share for thriving during the summer instead of just surviving?