What are your summer plans?

[dflanag2]

I would love to hear about what everyone has planned for the summer, from big plans down to daily routines and activities.

I have an almost 6 yo (who will be finishing all-day kindergarten next week) and an almost 4 yo. I'm hoping to figure out a good balance between interesting things to do and free down time, while supporting DS's desire to learn and explore. (I'm almost in the mindset of seeing summertime as 'homeschooling time'.)

So, what are your plans and strategies?

[dflanag2]

No one?

I can't be the only one who doesn't have a plan yet... can I??

[mommariffic]

Not really much of a plan

Going to have a baby

Other than that, we will do a lot of outside play. DD is going to be 3 in August, so we have a big woodland/fairy theme bash for that...and I plan on doing a lot of fun play dates and BBQ's with family & friends.

There's a natural pond about 30-40 minutes away, and some pools. I think we will make weekly ventures there to swim because DD LOVES to, and we don't have a pool anymore. Also lots of sprinkler/water table outdoor play, farting around in the garden, and reading.

[Logan's mommy]

Lots of outdoor playing, family cookouts, swimming at FILs, and this isn't really a family summer plan but my cousin is paying for me to fly out to Oregon for 5 days in July. It'll be just me and my cousin driving around the Oregon country side taking pictures of anything that catches our eyes I'm sure we'll squeeze in a trip or two to the zoo, childrens museum, and a possible trip to a water park.

[hillymum]

To give all of us some routine (and to get my lazy ass out of bed before noon) all three boys are in the swim team this year. There is a practice every morning and 2 evenings a week we can go to. Minimum attendance is to 3 a week.
Inbetween those we will be doing fun swim at the pool, play dates, trips to the creek, a few day trips hopefully and if I hear "I'm bored" I have plenty of material to do some homeschooling more than the additionsl 4 hours a week per child I aim to do.
We also just bought a trampoline which seems to be a huge hit so lots of outdoor play on that and in the paddling pool.
I am hoping for a few weekend trips to Great Wolf Lodge or to Holiday World but at the rate our major appliences are dying on us we may not have the cash for that.

[CherryBombMama]

we will be moving (out of the inlaws house YYAAAAAY!!!!)
i will be having baby #2
and TONS of outside time. walls just cannot contain my little man lol

other than that, just the usual daily routines with some disneyland trips thrown in (we have passes) for the walking to help baby #2 get into position

[Meksmama]

We don't really have a plan here either... lots of nature hikes, beaches, playing outside in the yard and garden, a camping trip or 2.

We might head to Niagara Falls this year also for a weekend.

[annethcz]

Daily routine: screen-free mornings, hanging out at home. Clean up before lunch. Some sort of activity outside the house in the afternoon. Clean up before dinner. Do things together as a family after dinner. That's about it.

Weekly schedule:
Monday- guitar lessons for DS2 and DD2 in the afternoon
Tuesday (crazy day)- gymnastics for DD1, dance class for DD2, drum lessons for DS1. I often run errands while DD1 is at gymnastics (it's a 90 min class), and DD2's dance class is right next to the library, so we go there while we're waiting for her. DS1's drum lessons are near my sister's and parents' houses, so we're going to try to have dinner with them most Tuesdays.
Wednesday- small playgroup day
Thursday- park day
Friday- FREE day. DH sometimes works from home on Fridays, which means that I go out for lunch with friends or run errands/ do the shopping without the kids.

In addition to all of these scheduled activities, we also spend time at the pool and library, we go hiking, we go to the occasional museum/zoo. I also go out at least a few times a month with my girlfriends on the weekend. And DH and I have been better about getting a babysitter so that we can go out together as well

[Abraisme]

I have a 6yo DS and a 10mo DD..

-We're going to WI for a week, then we head directly to Maine for 2 weeks.
-Every week we have a pot-luck style mommies night, which will be taking place in a park now that it's warmer.
-My DS is taking violin lessons and swimming lessons
-We plan on taking 2-3 camping trips to the Oregon coast
-My DS has a day camp planned for 1 week in July
-We will be going to lots of parks, water fountains, hiking trails, beaches, etc.

Pretty much our whole summer is booked up with activities or traveling. We're pretty busy people.

[Grace and Granola]

I have boys ages 3 and 4 and I am babysitting girls ages 3 and 6. I needed to get a schedule and routine set right away for the summer so I didn't have a bunch of bored and whining kids!

The first day of summer vacation, we came up with a list of places to go, field trips. The kids came up with about 12 ideas which is perfect for 12 weeks of summer! Our church has a weekly playgroup that meets on fridays at a different park each week. So, each week we do one field trip and playgroup. Apart from that, I bought a blow up family pool, some art supplies, outdoor toys and alot of library books. I also signed them up for vacation bible school for two weeks which actually gives me 3 hours per day with no kids (first time ever!)

Our daily routine includes a few separate reading times, chores, snacks, lunch, rest time and free play.

I am starting homeschooling in the fall, so I look at this as sort of a trial run, or at least getting into the groove!

[Fay]

Field trips in the AM, quiet time in the PM. That's my plan.

[MommaCrystal]

I have 3 right now. 2 DS 4.5 and 2.5 and DD 1 month old.

Right now we spend 3 mornings a week reading books and doing projects or learning activities around those books. Plus snack! After lunch they head outside for a couple of hours until nap/rest time.

The other two mornings I we get out to a playgroup/library/playground/museum/whatever! As soon as our local pool opens up we'll probably do that one or two days a week.

Since my DH just ate up all his vacation time for the birth of our daughter... that's about it.

Oh and we have passes to the local amusement park. We usually do that with daddy in the evening or on weekends.

[bluebirdiemama]

Grace and Granola, I am impressed with your plan! I think you are going to have happy children!

I need to get a game plan. My kids are 3 and 1 so they are pretty much happy tagging along anywhere with me
But I would like to plan a few trips, get involved in some play groups, and make sure they get some good one-on-one time with the folks in our family.

I am totally excited about packing up the kids and going with my hubby 1x, my friend a couple times, on road trips!!! ..... yay!

[Mommabean]

Before I had dd the boys and I talked about what they'd like to do for the summer...I found out about a promo the local museums are doing so we signed up to visit all 9 this summer (we have until sept. 25th) ...

So weekly we go to the park Monday mornings.... to the movies on Tuesdays (it's the summer promo for only a dollar each!) ...library story time on Wednesday mornings....Thursdays we do a water activity (either the pool, spray park, or our own sprinklers)...Friday is our free day and every other week we'll hit one of the Museums on the list....

Also daily we go to the free summer lunch program that the school system hosts at our local park. It's a HUGE help because I can do easy breakfasts at home or on the go and then hit the park for lunch and not have to worry about cleaning the kitchen all day just doing dinners. In the afternoons we relax while reading books and trying to cool off. We'll do some homeschooling workbooks twice a week at their leisure.

So far we've had a TON of fun...they get to do boys night out with dad once a week every other week to the local soccer team's games....and then we go out for ice cream the other week!

[Reebekah]

i have 3 sons -- 4.5, 2.5, and 9 months. this is my 1st summer as a SAHM, and i must admit that i went a little crazy. we went to a homeschool conference in april and a beach vacation in may. we have passes to 2 childrens museums and the zoo and a huge amusement park. my oldest is going to a program at the library one evening a week for 4 weeks, nature camp 3 mornings in july, and art class 3 mornings next week. my mom's group meets at playgrounds on tuesdays and thursday mornings. we just finished up a week of vacation bible school. i also want to take them swimming at a few state parks. i went from working to being bored and stuck in the house all winter to a crazy busy summer. daily - i try to let them play for awhile in the back yard, take them for a walk around the block, read at least 3-5 stories a day, help my oldest do some workbook pages, etc.

[Violet2]

Neighbor girls over to play with DD from 10-12 on Tues and Thurs

Story time on Wed

Big trips/adventures this summer include...

--outdoor concerts and dancing are every week, we're trying to go as much as we can

--July 3 outdoor concert with fireworks

--grandma comes to visit for a week

--going to KY to visit Mammoth Caves (DD will go to Dinosaur Land and not the caves)

--Going to beaches in UP MI for a week with family

[BetsyS]

We had a baby this week, so I have a newborn, a 23 month old, and an almost 4 year old.

We try to get out in the mornings several times a week (park, pool, storytime, etc), and we are home by lunch. By 11 or 12, it's way too hot to be outside. In summer, we watch a lot more TV than we do in winter time, because it's so hot. Fairly miserable honestly. And, it's only June. I dread August.

The little and medium always take naps, and the bigger one sometimes. But, if no nap time, then we read books and work on the summer reading program list (just a contest to see how many books we can read adn write down the titles).

We do one big field trip every week or every other week (dairy tour, farm tour, puppet show, museum, zoo, etc). Library weekly. If it's a stay at home day, I try to find a fun arts nad craft project for them to do.

This year, we're not going on vacation (cause my dh took a week off with the new baby), but we might plan a camping weekend this fall.