Last summer I was all over it...I had our
summer plan planned before school ended...
I knew how to make our summer not too boring, and not to scheduled and we had a wonderful summer...
We are 2 weeks into summer and I keep thinking I need to look at last years plan...so I finally did, this morning...wow I was on top of it!
We did start the summer by camping on the Oregon Coast {only a 7 hr drive on the last day of school!}...
I can also see how things are a little different this summer but I still like the basic idea...and to top it off the kids and I have been brainstorming some 'bucket list' ideas, things we want to do before summer is over!
Here is our plan for summer this year...
*Swim Team again...and boy to they love it {sarcasm!}, it's a little earlier this year starting at 8 rather than 8:30 and that 30 min make a HUGE deal...there have been 4 practices so far and my kids have made 2 of them, {that's 50%}...I'm buckling down on bed times this week so they can actually wake up...and by 'buckling down' they need to be in bed by 9:30, last week they were getting in bed after 11, it was CRA.ZA.Y! around here, we took the whole "Schools out for Summer!" and lost it a little!
anyways, M-W-F an hour in the pool...it's great for them!
*Summer Reading Program...they are signed up for the reading program at the library, and the boy child will participate in the
Barnes & Noble Summer Reading again {it only goes to 6th grade and girl child is going into 7th!...so disappointed in B&N for not continuing to reward and encourage older kids to read!}. The reading is actually huge this summer, the girl child got reading glasses the last day of school,
that coupled with the 'reward' for completing the Library Summer Reading {for teens} is that they are entered into a drawing for a Kindle...she has had her nose in a book most afternoons, this.is.not.normal! I usually have to encourage reading using various little tricks, but I have actually said to her,
"you need to put that book down!" Seriously, this is a sentence I never thought I would utter in my life to her, I am so blissfully excited about her reading!!!
*Piano...summer is the easiest time of year for them to buckle down and actually get in ALL of their daily piano practicing and listening {they have a CD that they are supposed to listen to daily}...and it helps me when they are begging to watch something or play a video game to say, "have you done your piano yet?"...
*Summer Journal...I didn't do this last summer and it was obvious when school started up again that they weren't use to writing...we have always done summer journals, not sure why I flaked last summer, and when Wilson was too young to journal he had a summer doodle book, where he would draw things he had done.
*Limited Screen Time...I know it's summer and summer is all about zoning out and losing yourself in tv right? wrong...I HATE the kids to be zoned out in front of that thing! But I also know it's summer so I relax my tone just a bit. They are allowed 30 min screen time before they have to do their reading and piano for the day, and then after that I will look at our day and decide if they need/can have any more screen time....but also depending on the day we may be too busy for them to have their 30 min before reading & piano and I may use it as a reward for them getting all their tasks done and with a good attitude.
Now for our weekly 'schedule' {I use that term loosely, it is summer}
Movie Monday's...either a trip to the 'dollar theater' or a movie at home.
Work Day Tuesday's...this is the day we will pack up and I will drag them into work with me {they can take their bikes and ride in the HUGE empty parking lot}! And then when we get home they will do any 'work' they need to around the house above and beyond their normal daily chores {clean bathrooms, organize bedrooms, help to clean the garage, weeding, etc}...I figured we should get this done earlier in the week...help the rest of the week go more smoothly.
Activity Wednesday...their piano lessons are early {right after swim and before lunch} so we have the whole afternoon to do whatever, this is one of the days we'll try to check items off our bucket list. This is also the day that the library has activities planned that correlate with their summer reading program...
And of course it's church night, this is a great night for them to have a friend spend the night because they can come to church with us {or pick them up from church} and bonus no swim team Thursday morning so they can play all they want on Thursday.
Bucket List Thursday...I will let the kids sleep in while I head into work and get a few hours of stuff done, my goal is to be home by 10:30 on Thursdays...then we will do an item or two from our bucket list, we'll probably choose the items at the beginning of the week so we can plan accordingly.
Family Fridays...Friday is Beau's day off so we will treat it like a Saturday and just do whatever needs to be done or whatever we want to do....hopefully we can also check off more bucket list ideas on these days.
to create the Bucket List I opened up my
pinterest and had the kids look over ideas I had pinned in '
School Vacation,' '
Yum - Cookies,' & '
Craft Ideas'...and other ideas were just theirs...
and now the Bucket List!!!
just in case you can't read the list above or want links to some of the ideas...
flubber ... Paper beads …
Glitter play dough ...
paint rocks …
Glow in the dark slime …
Newspaper fort ... Bubble week {
giant bubbles,
bubble blowers,
bubble snake}...
Water blob …
Bleach t-shirts ... Soda can jewelry ...
Duct tape purse & Wallet …
paint t-shirts ...
homemade tootsie rolls...
homemade nutter butters ... Make pudding pops ... Make butter ... make bagels... Bake treats for neighbors ... film a cooking show ...
Circus animal cookie truffles … Berry picking ... Kayak {picnic on an island}... Bowling ... Museum ... Zoo beach {sand castles} ...
go to the snow {Lassen National Park usually still has snow in late July}...
Bumpass Hell ...
Sun River {we usually go to Sun River every summer with my in-laws, great summer place}... bike river trail ... Build a catapult ... Make sling shots ... origami ... Fireworks
.....
so that's our summer...
do you try to organize your summer with a plan or do you just let it happen?
