It's Morning! Let's Have Fun!

When school let out for summer vacation we took a three week break.  We made a point of laying around and enjoying having nothing to do.  July was a crazy month full of tumbling and swimming lessons and dance camp.  Now July is all but over and we're all but exhausted.  I am purposefully delaying any more structured activities so the kids have some down time before school starts in *yikes!* 21 days.

Even though I don't want more classes or lessons,  I do want to enjoy the last days of summer.  We had enough just laying around in June.  I've decided to try planning fun activities we can do in the mornings before every one feels hot and lazy.  We should be able to squeeze more fun out of our school break, yet we're not running around trying to be on time for more classes.  Also, the kids can still have the afternoons to be bored - which can be very good for kids in the right doses.

Here's a list of the ideas I've come up with so far.  These are mostly things we haven't done yet this summer.

• walk the dogs on a different walking path each week
• nature hikes - gather interesting stuff for crafts
• visit playgrounds we haven't been to yet this summer
• visit the library (We haven't been once this summer!)
• go to the pool just for fun
• picnic at the lake
• photography session (I like to go someplace pretty and make the kids model.  I also give them their own cameras so they can be photographers in their own right.)
• visit our favorite ice cream parlors

I'm sure the kids will have their own ideas, too.

Ideally, I'd like to do one of these things every morning from now till school starts.  And, since there's no time like the present, we're starting now.  This is a good day to hit a pretty  little walking path near our house.  Our city has several paved paths all over town that are perfect for strollers.  They wind through mostly quiet, natural settings so you feel like you're hiking even though the walking is much easier.

That's what we're doing today.  What are you up to?