Ideas for Summer Fun

By now most people have finished school, or are just about to in the next few days.  The school year flew by for me this year. It is probably, because I was not teaching full time, and we had a Senior in school.   We have a lot of fun things planned for this summer, I could not help but reminisce about the things the kids and I did when they were younger.

One thing they really enjoyed was the time we made a water blob using plastic drop cloths. You can see how we made it here.  

** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

A fun way to cool off is to make water bombs out of sponges from the Dollar Tree.  We made them by cutting several sponges in to strips and then fastening four of five strips together with a rubber band. They were softer than water balloons and you could use them over and over.  

Another easy water fun toy that we enjoyed making was the pool noodle sprinkler.  I covered one end with duct tape, securing it as tight as possible.  I then a skewer to make the holes in the pool noodle. Once you are ready attach the pool noodle to the end of a garden hose. 

An as and useful craft you do make is to decorate flip flops with strips of colorful fabric.  You can find both items at the Dollar Tree.  

Here is one of the pairs the girls made. 

Another favorite summer craft we made was the year I made cardboard surfboards for my daughter's 10th birthday.  I used large pieces of cardboard and some of the decals. They were the hit of the party and only a few dollars to make. You can see how they were made here.

Watch for more summer fun ideas soon! 

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Backyard Water Fun

Tomorrow is my last day of school for the 2020-2021 school year, and we are going through a heat wave.  Since it is the start of summer break, I  am also thinking of making a printable summer fun checklist for my Etsy shop.  I started going through my old summer challenge posts, and began reminiscing about the all the fun things my kids did when they were younger.  After going through the rabbit hole for awhile, I realized that a lot of our summer projects  we so much fun they should be shared again. 

** This post also contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

In this post I am going share the inexpensive ways you can have fun with water.  All of the items used in these projects can be found at the Dollar Tree.

I buy all of my sponges at the Dollar Tree. They have many different types and colors to choose from.  We made these water bombs cutting several sponges into strips and then fastenings a few of the strips together. I am trying to see in the picture what we used it was either a rubber band or a small piece of pipe cleaner that was tucked in.  They kids enjoyed throwing them at each other, and they were much easier  than water balloons.  

We made our own sprinkler from a pool noodle. It is very easy to make.  To make one you need to duct tape one end of the noodle as securely as possible.  Then use a skewer to make the holes in the noodle for the water to come out.  The last thing you do is insert your garden hose in the open end of the noodle. 

The water project my daughter and her friends enjoyed the most was the water blob. To make a water blob you need plastic sheeting, strong duct tape, and the garden house.  We made two of them that summer.  You can see the first version at this post here.. The water blob experiment  

and the second version here.. the water blob.. Redo!

What ways do you like to have fun with water in the summer? 

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Summer Fun 2015

 In years past, I would share a Summer Fun Challenge with lots of things we wanted to do during the summer.  This summer has been different than any other we have ever had.  We have some major changes that we have been taking care of, which took up the entire first part of the summer. I realized today that we are at just past the halfway point of our time off from school.  While some people in other areas of the country are busy preparing to go back in the next few weeks, we still have 5-6 weeks to go. (we go back Sept 8 this year)   I hope to still make memories this summer, as my kids are almost all grown up now. My youngest is starting high school in just a few weeks, so I know time is precious. 

Some of our high points so far this summer. 

On June 6, my oldest graduated from high school.  It was a surreal moment for me. Her four years of high school had a lot of ups and downs, and until I actually saw her walking out with her classmates, I did not feel like it was actually happening.  She is still adjusting to her time as an adult, and currently looking for a job. 

Kara celebrated her 12th year of dance, and her 11th recital. This was big feat for her.  As many of you know, she started having severe migraines about six months ago,and has not been 100% healthy for pretty much this entire year.  

This past weekend, I got a much needed break. I had the chance to spend four hours at a friends house, enjoying this beautiful view. 

Some other highlights that  I do not have pictures of..  my mom came to visit for two weeks. (she was helping me pack pretty much every day which is why no pictures)  We have made some new friends that we have been spending time a lot of time with the last several weeks. We had the chance to see Inside Out a few weeks ago, and thought it was an excellent movie. 

Some of the lower points this summer 

Between graduation, the recital, a garage sale, packing up the house, and the endless move we have not had any down time so far.  

Kara's special mouse Lucky unexpectedly died a week ago. She was doing great one day, and was gone the next. While she was getting up there in age, we were hopeful to have at least 3-4 months with her. She was the one we had fed as a teeny, tiny baby.  

Because the movers were coming right after the 4th of July, and we were very behind in packing, we did not get to celebrate the 4th or see any fireworks this summer. 

This was the first year that Kara did not have a birthday party.  With everything going on, she was just not into it this year. We still might do something small even though her birthday was almost a month ago.  My oldest has yet to have her graduation party. We were going to have it at a friends house, but my friend had some unexpected house repairs to take care of, and can no longer have it at her house. 

The free Saturday night movies at our area outlet mall are not being held this summer.  We were really looking forward to going again his year. 

So today is a new day, and from this point on, I am declaring we will be enjoying our summer!

Here are some of the things we hope to do between now and the start of school 

Go to Cedar Point 

Go to Lake Michigan 

Visit the beach 

Go to the zoo 

Pick some blueberries 

Go to the farmers market 

Go to the Art and Music Festival 

Do an Ikea run 

Go swimming 

Go for a boat ride 

See a concert 

Go to the Metropark 

See some movies (Minions, Pixels etc..) 

Have you been able to do everything you wanted to do this summer, or have you been too busy like us?   What do you still hope to do before your kids go back to school?  

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Summer Fun Challenge 2014

For the last couple of summers, we have consciously tried to get the most out of our summer. My kids are getting older, and they do not have many more summers of  their "childhood" left. This year is the last one for my oldest.  In exactly one year she will be graduating from high school, and will start preparing for the real world.  I want to make sure we make happy memories for her, instead of allowing time to just slip away.  

School is ending for us in just a couple of days, so we are putting together this year's list. It also helps to look at pictures from past challenges to remind us of the fun things we did.   

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Summer Fun Challenge Check In

Today is August 1st.  Where did the summer go?   While some areas  of the country will be going back to school in the next few weeks, we are lucky enough to have one more month before we go back .  We do registration and other important school days in late August though, so it is beginning to feel close to back to school time

Now that the summer is 2/3 of  the way over, did you cross off everything on your summer bucket list?   We have crossed off quite a bit, but still have a few more things we hope to do in the next few weeks.    Here are some of the fun things we were able to do so far .  

June flew by. As soon as school was out, it was recital week. Kara got her 9 yr recital award (she has been dancing 10), and   danced in the recital and ballet production.  A few days after that she got to see one of her best friends for the first time since C. moved away two  years ago.  They got to go together to  Sleeping Bears Dunes with  their Girl Scout Troop. 

The week of the 4th  it was someone's actual birthday. We took her out to dinner at her favorite restaurant.  We  also went to see an outdoor movie at the mall.  It was kind of  funny when the screen collapsed. It was set back up quickly, and we got right back to the movie. (but not before I took a few pics)  We spent the 4th at a friend's house who lives  on a lake. We enjoyed a great meal, and watched fireworks over the water.  The day after that we took friends to our local Metropark to see the baby animals on the park's farm. 

A few days after the 4th it was time for grandma to arrive for a visit. On the way to the train station we stopped at a Cabelas to see all the fun animals on display While not fans of hunting, how the store is set up is impressive.   We then had to stay all night in a train station with no sleep when grandma's train was 7 hours late. After a day to recover, we made an Ikea run to get supplies. A few days after grandma arrived,  Kara  had an art themed birthday to celebrate with her good friends. 

The kids had a lot of fun taking grandma to Frankenmuth, which is a Baravian tourist town in Michigan.  It has several specialty shops and lots of great food. In the last picture, the kids are posing with Kara in front of the taffy store. In just a few weeks, she wont be able to have it anymore, so we had one last taffy hurrah.

Frankenmuth is also home to Bronners, the world's largest Christmas store.  This store is huge, and has every kind of Christmas item you can think of.  Where else can you find a life size Detroit Tiger, and  be able to pose with a 5 and 6 foot polar bear.  

We enjoyed a little bit of outlet mall shopping, and bought a few things for school. Kara almost got stuck in Scoop from Bob the Builder when she decided to  climb inside. (yes, I had to look that up on Wikipedia)  We had another road trip to take grandma back to the train station, and  then spent the day at the Toledo Zoo. 

This last week things calmed down a bit. We spent a few more days just hanging around the house.  I took Kara to the county fair twice. Once with one of her bfs, and once with our church youth group. (the other two did not want to go)  Kara also become one step closer to becoming a hamster hoarder. (just kidding/sort of)  She brought home her 3rd and last hamster Cocoa, who is another sweetheart. She is not allowed to add anymore pets to the zoo until we have a few less animals.   

In the month of Aug there are a few more things that we hope to get crossed off our Summer Fun Challenge list. 

Go to Six Flags (its happening soon!) 

Go to the beach

Go berry picking 

Attend the Art Fair 

Go to a local festival 

Go to the farmers market 

Go on a boat ride

Kara who seems to have the busiest summer will be 

attending dance camp

going camping with girl scouts 

and 

getting braces! 

(though I am sure she would not consider that fun) 

That is our summer to date.  What fun things have you done this summer? 

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Our "Wild" Weekend

Funny how a night with very little sleep can throw you off for a couple of days.  It happened when we picked up mom at the train station, and her 11 p.m. pick up time ended up being an all night ordeal.  It also happened when we dropped her off to get back on the train, but at least the hour of the day was a bit better. 

After what happened last week,  Kyle and Kara decided that they would not ride along for the return trip.  My mom totally understood.  Since the train had a 6:15 a.m. departure time (we do not have any other time choices) mom, my oldest daughter and I made the hour drive the night before.  On the way we were stuck in the middle of a torrential storm. It was raining so hard that I could not see the road at all, so I pulled to the side of road under a underpass with another car.   It amazes me with how many people think they can still drive regular speed without being able to see the road.  

When mom was getting us a room at a hotel not too far from the train station, a small group of bikers pulled into the parking lot. Their bikes were extremely loud, they were blasting music, and they were shouting as loud as they could.  (possibly because they could no longer hear with all  the noise that their bikes made) While they were checking in, we decided to go to dinner.  We saw a Boston Market nearby.  I had never eaten at one, because we do not have one near where I live.  It was good, and portions were HUGE.   With our bellies full, we went back to the hotel.   

I logged on and tried to do some blog work online.  I had not had a chance to schedule Dare to Share, and I had to check my messages and Facebook account.  It took me quite awhile because I would lose the free hotel Wi-Fi every few minutes. I was finally finished and able to lay down at about 12:30 a.m.  With a 5 a.m. wake up time, I knew I was not going to get much sleep. Little did I know how little.   At 1 a.m. the entire hotel heard the loud roar of motorcycles, and booming music that was blasting in the parking lot.  Luckily their rooms were on another side of the hotel, so it was quiet again after a few minutes.  I was just about asleep again, when my two roommates (who will remain nameless :)) both started snoring. Being in such close proximity it  was loud enough that I was unable to fall asleep.  At one point I grabbed an extra pillow and covered up my head.  

Since I was still awake at 1:30 a.m. I very happily watched the Jesse and the Rippers reunion on the Jimmy Fallon show.  Man, does Uncle Jesse still look fine!!  (Even in a fake mullet) Hard to believe that he is 50!  I started to drift off to sleep, but not for long. Around 3:00 a.m. the thunderstorms started. The area where we were staying was hit with a series of severe thunderstorms that lasted for a few hours. I started to drift off to sleep for a few minutes.  Mom was worried that we were not going to receive our 5:00 a.m. time wake up call. (we didn't) She was up and starting to get ready by 4:45 a.m.  We needed to leave by around 5:30 a.m. to check in for her 6:15 train. I stayed in bed as long as possible, but it didn't help.  I finally got up at 5:20 a.m.  As soon as I was dressed, she told me that I could go back to bed.  She just got a text alert, telling her that they train was delayed until 7:39 a.m..  I laid back down and got maybe 20 more minutes of sleep.  We were now planning on leaving the hotel around 6:45. Mom did not get a second text, but something told her to call the hotline to check if there were more delays. There were! The hotline was now saying around 9 a.m. I tried to lay down again, but couldn't sleep. I started watching the Today Show.  On the next call,  the time had been pushed back to 9:39 a.m.  Since that time was only a few minutes later, we decided to go grab some breakfast, and head to the station.  We got to the station around 8:30.  At that time they still had the 9:39 time.  We met a woman who had been waiting for a couple of hours. She was not happy that they only sent out one text. Since she did not get a second text, she thought that it was only delayed a little bit, and came to the station.  We were waiting for about 30 minutes when there was an announcement.  The train that my mom was waiting for was now going to be delayed another hour, BUT their was good news!  Another train that was going to be there momentarily, and scheduled to leave at 9:15 for the same destination, had room for everyone. The conductor knew that many of the passengers would miss their connections if they were made to wait. We said our goodbyes and mom  boarded the train.  I decided to wait for the train to leave just in case there were anymore problems. They are usually only in the station about 20 minutes or so. This time is sat for over 45 minutes.   Right before it left, there was another announcement on the loud speaker. The train that my mom was originally going to take was now delayed until 11:30 a.m. Over 5 hours later than it's departure time. The delay was because there was flash flooding in some areas of the route, and it could not cross those areas until it got clearance.  The train she had been waiting on,  finally pulled out of the station at 10 a.m. 

Since we have a zoo membership, and the zoo was only a couple of minutes away from the train station, we decided to go for a few hours even though we were tired.  It was a good day for the zoo, because the animals put on quite a show for us.   The polar bear cubs were doing somersaults in the water in front of us. We were able to  see the  wallabies up close and running free in a new exhibit. The tiger who had been relaxing in the pool, decided to get out and play while we were watching him. The sloth bear spent hours in front of the window eating bugs and looking right back at the humans. 

The baby elephant was so adorable. After a cuddle with mom, he started rubbing it's face on the ground like he was really tired. Then he started rolling all over covering himself in dirt. After a few minutes he ran outside to start happily playing in a mud hole. I wish I could have taken a picture of  him doing that, because he looked like he was having so much fun, but it a weird angle and too far away.

After a much needed nap, and some made up hours of sleep, things are finally getting back to normal.  Well at least for a few days. 

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Our Summer Fun Challenge Trip to Cabelas

Last week we decided to make a stop at a Cabelas store on the way to the train station to pick up grandma.  We had passed this store many times, but had never stopped and gone in.  We decided to make our visit part of our Summer Fun Challenge.  Right away you can tell this store is going to be BIG.  In front of the store they have this massive sculpture of two bears fighting over food.  I am not sure if they are in front of all of their stores (there are many around the country) or if it is just at this one. 

We do not come from a family of hunters.  In fact, we are not really fans of hunting at all, but the animals displayed around the store were quite beautiful to look at.   When you first walk in, one of the very first things you see is the mountain in the middle of the store.  

The size of this display is also amazing.  On one side of the mountain there is an actual waterfall and pond filled with live fish.  Kara loves raccoon, so she really enjoyed seeing this one up close. 

In the middle of the pond stands a massive moose.  Even though he is quite big, he is not the biggest animal in the store.  

That honor would go to this elephant from Africa.  It is so crazy to  be standing next to an elephant in the middle of a store. 

At one point the kids wanted to sit down for a minute, and did so on a camo color couch and sofa with hunting scenes all over it.  It was quite an interesting look.  

Kyle's favorite display with the giant standing brown bear.  You might have see this picture on Instagram a few days ago.  I shared that I hope this is the closest he ever comes to a bear. 

We considered eating in the cafeteria.  Kyle really wanted to try the buffalo burger.  The girls would have no part of it.  I can't say that I blame them, there wasn't too many things that I was willing to try other than the fries or salad.  Instead of trying the game, we settled on a stick of beef jerky, and dinner at Arby's down the street. 

We also walked through the store Aquarium that is going to be remodeled soon.   This is where we were when we got the call that mom's train had left the station on time.  We stopped in the kids section, and Kara found a stuffed fox that she wanted bad enough to use her own birthday money to buy it.  We spent over an hour exploring the store, and will probably even go back again. This week we will be going on another Summer Fun Challenge day trip, this time with grandma.  Stay tuned to see where we went! 

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Six Flags Great America Premieres IgNight

Long time readers may know that my family, and I love amusement parks.   We try to go to one at least once a year.  Recently I was asked if I would like to work with Six Flags Great America,  and visit the park.  That would be a great big YES! While our visit will be a little later in the summer, I did want to share a bit about Six Flags Great America with you now.  We are really looking forward to their new nightly show igNight. 

Six Flags Great America is pleased to present the premiere of igNIGHT – Grand Finale, a mesmerizing and immersive nighttime spectacle bursting with energy, vivid colors, brilliant visual effects, lively performances, fascinating imagery, and pure imagination. 

The groundbreaking new high-tech show — the most advanced show in the park’s 37-year history! — plays on all your senses, taking you on a wonderfully wild journey to a beautiful never-before-seen world. Watch in wonder as igNIGHT illuminates the dark night, magically bringing to life a phenomenal bright and vibrant multimedia universe filled with music, singing, dancing, laser lighting, and pyrotechnics right before your very eyes. Guest interaction along with advanced audio, enhanced video projection, and special effects round out the brand new show that is sure to stun and delight audiences of all ages.

igNIGHT – Grand Finale will premiere in summer 2013 and will take place in the evenings right before the park closes because there’s no better way to end an adrenaline-filled day at Six Flags Great America than with a big bang!

My  Readers Save $20 Off One-Day Admission to Six Flags Great America http://www.windycitykidsguide.com/coupon.php?bid=11220&dealid=1287


Disclosure:  For being part of the Six Flags Blogger Promotion, I may receive two complimentary tickets to visit the park with my family. 

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Summer Fun Challenge Day 6

Originally we were going to go to Colonial Days at a nearby Metropark today.   Colonial days is fun because you can walk around a Colonial camp and see how things were 300+ years ago.  The re-enactors all wear authentic costumes and teach about blackmith, wool spinning, weaving and more.  There are even a couple of  Revolutionary War re-enactments to watch  that are actually quite entertaining  because there is no real blood or anything like that.  The entire day it was gray and looked like rain, so w e decided to stay inside and come up with a Plan B.   

In the evening, the sky had cleared up.  It was still cool, but did not threaten to rain anymore.   A nearby open air mall has free outdoor movies every Saturday night  during the summer.   Tonight's feature was The Adventures of Tin Tin.  

When we first arrived the temperture was actually quite comfortable.  They encourage you to bring your own chairs and blankets.  You are also welcome to bring in your own food. It is kind of nice to bundle up and get cozy while watching a movie.

Since we had not had dinner yet, a run through the nearby McDonalds was in order.  We all  LOVE the fries.  

We ran into a friend who took our picture.  I know it looks like we were the only ones in the parking lot, but it would fill up just a few minutes later.

 By the end of the movie, Kara was bundled up.  After yesterday's freezing blueberry trip, she was prepared today.   I tried to take her  picture,  but she threw the blanket over her head..

I am not sure what I thought to the movie. The animation was FANTASTIC, and at a few points almost looked life like.  The story though, was quite confusing to me.  Another thing that was kind of interesting is the main character of Tin Tin looked almost exactly like Nevel from ICarly.  If you have kids who watch ICarly, you know that he is not the nicest character, so that was kind of weird for me during the entire  movie.  We both loved watching the dog Snowy, who made you wish you had a dog like him. .   About 20 minutes into the movie, I was so confused,  I started playing with my phone.  Thank goodness for email, Facebook and Twitter.. :)   Even if we didn't understand the all of the movie, we still had a lot of fun.

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