We have declared this summer the summer of fun over at the Shull house!
Several of my friends and I have been discussing lately how we can do simple things every day this summer for our kiddos to make this season extra special (and to create fun memories!).
With Kensington heading off to kindergarten this fall, I know my time at home with her is about to be limited, so I want to make the most of every single day. We will still have our structure, routine, naps and such but with just a little extra fun peppered in each day. Here are some of my ideas so far…
1. Meet friends to swim
2. Go to the park
3. Eat popsicles on the patio
4. Make homemade ice cream
5. Visit the library
6. Go to the museum
7. Go to the zoo
8. Ride our bikes to friends’ houses
9. Surprise daddy at work
10. Go see a movie
11. Get a snow cone
12. Happy Hour at Sonic for slushes
13. Have movie day inside in our pjs
14. Blow bubbles and use sidewalk chalk outside
15. Stay up late to find fireflies
16. Go visit our town square
17. Make patriotic cupcakes for July 4th
18. Water balloon fight in the front yard
19. Play in the sprinklers
20. Go to the water park in town
My kids have been so excited about our “summer of fun”! And seriously, some days, it’s just a little popsicle outside…but to them, it’s special…and that’s what I want. I want them to have special little moments.
What are some of your summer of fun activities? I would love to hear! I refuse to just beat the heat this year. I refuse to just survive (which in Texas, can be really easy to do during the hot summer months!). I want to look back and remember how we made the most of every single day God gave us.
Speaking of summer, today is Meal Planning Monday! I have some simple and easy summer dinner ideas your family is sure to love! Click here to see!
And don’t forget, this is your last day to enter to win our fabulous Erin Condren Giveaway!! Click here for details.
Happy Monday friends!
Kel says
We've done summer lists for years, and it's a lot of fun. Some of our ideas have been bowling, night swimming, playing in sprinklers in the yard, special museum visits and pancakes for dinner!
Aubrey says
Love! I am going to do this too! Granted our list will be completely different (i.e. I refuse to act grumpy because the high is 60 every.single.day and it's too cold to swim or eat popsicles or make home made ice cream) and won't start until July (school is still in session on this side of the pond). But I'm going to do this too. Summer of fun, here I come!!! 🙂
Tab & Erika says
Wahoo!!! It's going to be a great summer! I think you should add, "Andrew and Tab take the kids camping"…wouldn't that be fun? ha!
Amy Heinl says
When my son was little we rented a projector and used it with our DVD player and shot it against the side of the house and had our own litle "drive in" in the back yard watching movies…he loved it. I would also do mystery drives….I gave him a map and we would determine which way we wanted to go and how many miles–no less than 10 no more than 50 in one way and we would stop at whatever caught our eye. sometimes it was pulling over to the size of road and feeding horses carrots, you never knew what you would see or find but we always found neat little places to stop or things to see, I gave him a disposable camera and he could take pictures of whatever interested him…it was some of his favorite memories
The Kettes says
So fun! Have you made "bubble snakes" yet? Look them up on Pinterest. Tons of fun! Happy Summer!
Tracy says
What a fun list! I'm working on my own list of things to do with teens. My son is busy with work but I want to come up with some fun things to do with my daughter this summer.
When mine were younger we would do a "Summer Bucket List" of things we wanted to do. A few things we did that yours might enjoy – visit a local cupcake shop (we visited one that had been on the show Cupcake Wars), visit an ice cream shop we hadn't tried before, host an ice cream party for friends, do a scavenger hunt around the house, visit a "paint your own pottery" place.
Your kids are at such a fun age. Enjoy!
P.S. I know you weren't asking for things to do but I remember those days and was always happy to find new ideas! Hope you don't mind the suggestions. 🙂
Slightly Askew Designs says
I love your list!!! Was water balloon fight on your list??
Sheaffer {Pinterest Told Me To} says
#21: Eat brisket tacos as often as possible.
Kathy Stevens says
We also have a summer bucket list! We always include strawberry and blueberry picking. We also make goodies to take to the fire station and they give us a tour in return! Our end of summer activity is always a piñata with school supplies inside.
Narci says
Sounds super fun!! It's going to be a great summer!!!
Leapfrog and Ladybugs says
We do a summer bucket list each year, too. It ranges from simple things like "catch fireflies" and "visit the zoo" to things we reserve of summer like "ice cream sundaes for dinner", "camp out in the backyard", "run through the sprinkler", and "have a lemonade stand" to day trip & summer vacation specific things like "visit ga aquarium" and "see Mount Rushmore"! :). Gave fun!!!
April Parrish says
Great ideas for some summer fun! Along with all the fun stuff you listed we are also going to try and do a little service to others each week. I've talked with my daughters about visiting with some elders in the church and maybe picking up their groceries or even just volunteering in our community.
Have a great day!
Melissa Watkins says
Last week we made smoothies one day and my kids loved it! We also did some finger painting which was a big hit!
Kristy says
My daughter and I stumbled upon a really fun experience last weekend while we were camping. It was too hot to swing at the park during the daylight, so we waited for the sun to go down and went to the 'park in the dark'. It was the best time. We brought a lantern and sang all of her favorite songs.
Trisha White says
We have a bucket list up in our kitchen this summer. My boys are so excited to check things off as we do them. Some of ours are bubble snakes, build a blanket fort, face painting, glow night (glow stick ring toss, glow in the dark silly string, glow sticks in bathtub), drive in movie, backwards day (do our daily schedule in reverse order), Christmas in July (listen to Christmas music, bake Christmas cookies and make an ornament craft), go to farmer's market, make smores, and do simple science experiments
Amanda says
My daughter wants to have as many picnics and dinners on the trampoline as possible 🙂 Something about eating outside at 6 is the coolest thing ever. Such a fun list!
J says
What a fun list! Your sweeties are blessed to have a mom who invests in them like you do. I was going to second April's idea to work in some random acts of kindness. Your kids would probably love surprising other people, and it would be a great way to teach them about giving back.
I actually don't have kids of my own but have this pinned on Pinterest for the future 🙂 http://ticklestogiggles.blogspot.com/2010/05/my-birthday-was-awesome.html There are some great ideas here. Happy summer, Shull family!
JESSICA says
I love your list! We like to stay up extra late, and play hide-and-seek with flashlights in the dark. We go to a local park and the kiddos LOVE this! We also love to go fruit picking. This week, my two littles are at VBS from 9-12, and that's always a fun week.
V @ X-tremely V says
Since I work full time it can be hard to make summer fun when we are limited to the evenings and weekends. We are taking our little guy on a beach vacation in a couple of weeks 🙂 Then I am going to take a few days off throughout the summer to go to the splash park, a buidling full of bounce houses, a trip to Cedar Point, camping, and lots of ice cream shop visits 🙂
Lindsay says
Bowling?
Our area has Kids Bowl Free all summer where kids gets two free games and shoe rentals.
{Hi Sugarplum!} says
My oldest will be gone a lot this summer, I love this idea of making a list of fun stuff S wants to do!!
Lana says
How fun! When my boys were little, their favorite thing was the slip and slide in our backyard. I can't tell you how many of those we went through – they pop easily! One of my fondest memories of living in North Carolina as a child was catching fireflies – wish we had them here!
MorganizewithMe says
Make smores 🙂 – even if it's just in the kitchen. Have special days – costume day, pj day, backwards day, ice cream only for dinner. We would try and find one new park a week and go there after getting some sort of drive thru to make a picnic lunch. I love summer!
Jaren says
Going to pin this list! Great ideas!
Michelle Ragsdale says
sounds like a fun Texas summer…I decided the same thing for our TX summer…I'm going to say why not as often as possible…we're going to go bowling, visit splash park, water balloons fight,camping in the living room, summer at the movies just to name a few