Summer Schedule

IT'S SUMMER! (at least for us!) Thank you for all of your patience. I have not posted on this blog for almost an entire YEAR.....the reason for that was that I took on a new blog with my local MOPS group. However, my time with MOPS has (sadly) come to an end. I am back to blogging and am planning for this summer to highlight our summer as we did last year with our blog series "Pinteresting Summer." I have made a very detailed list for EVERY SINGLE DAY for our summer, using many pinterest ideas. I am going to blog about our time, telling you about the fun we have had, as well as giving some tips as to what would make pinterest ideas better, if they did or did not work etc. I am excited!

Our first blog post for summer is about HOW to make summer plans. Making a detailed plan for summer can be very overwhelming....I know. But, I think it is essential because without it, you will hear the phrase that every parents dread "MOMMY, I'M BORED!" This summer schedule will beat the boredom, keep you focused and allow you to do much more than if you did not have a plan! This is the perfect time to make your plan as well because many things actually begin in the first week of June.

So, without further ado, here is HOW to make a (successful, fun, detailed, cost effective and amazing) summer plan!

1. Plan an evening (or 2) without the kids to build your summer plan. I like to go to Starbucks or a nice bookstore so you can be alone, have internet access and sip on a super duper lime refresher :)

Arm yourself with: a notebook and pen, a large calendar, a laptop or some way to get on the internet.

2. For the months of May, June, July and at least the first half of August, write down all specific dates on the master calendar (ie. piano lessons, rehearsals, Tball games and doctors appointments). You want a MASTER calendar for everything so you can keep track of what happens when!

3. Now you will begin to add other activities, so let's begin by adding activities that are happening in your town. Begin by getting on your local library's website for their summer reading program info. They also sometimes offer some free kid days. Write down these special days, along with one day per week to go to the library, check out some new books and record your reading plan. My library offers one prize per week throughout the months of June and July!

4. Check out your city's kids activity offerings as well as festivals etc. and write those down.

5. Mark out all summer travel dates including your vacations or family visiting you.

6. Make at least 1 playdate each week for interaction with other kids. These can be formal or informal (ie. you can meet at a local museum, or can just have a couple kids over to your house for a water balloon fight!)

7. Plan all summer birthday parties (I have 3 kids each with summer birthdays, so I have more planning than most!)

8. Get on pinterest and begin to research some fun summer activities. I would recommend following me on pinterest because I have pinned some AMAZING sites of fun summer activities! Begin to fill in fun activities for days that do not have anything listed. **LEAVE ROOM for flexibility. If someone calls up and wants to invite you to go somewhere but you have a pinterest activity planned, feel free to leave that activity behind.This schedule is good to have, but you do not have to follow it with military accuracy!

**I have 1 child who still needs to nap, while the other 2 really just need some down-time every day. I like to plan a naptime activity each day for the 2 older children. Pinterest is a great place to find and plan those activities! Some days it can be as easy as reading a new book while other days they can do a science experiment.

9. Check out the local movie theaters. Many of them offer free to VERY low-priced movies (ie. $1 per ticket including popcorn) for kids movies in the summer time.

10. Check out "kidsbowlfree.com". This is a bit deceiving, though because you have to pay to rent shoes. For our family it costs about $15 to bowl. But, it is a good activity for hot summer days when you want to be in air conditioning for a few hours!

11. Check out info. on community pools for both lessons and open swim times.

Hopefully this will give you a good start in making your summer plans. It DOES take some time to do this, but with a Starbucks refresher in hand, and a few kid-free hours to yourself, it is a fun way to spend an evening....and a REALLY great way to have an amazingly fun and productive summer.

Let's click our glasses to our summers! I can't wait to share with you all the fun we are going to have!