Jun17

Summer To Do List

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Summer To Do List

It’s the last week of school, and the kids and I are putting together a list of things we want to do over the summer. We do this every year, and have a rather mixed success rate.

Being able to check everything off the list isn’t the point, though. It’s more about having some ready made ideas for those days when the kids are bored, and to make sure we get in some adventuring before we get back into the daily grind of school.

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Sun, sand, water, and kids = fun at Grafton Park

Some of the things we’ve got on the list so far:

Crafty ideas:

  • painting with marbles and string and other found objects
  • creating exploding paint canisters
  • masking tape road for cars
  • popsicle stick explosion
  • homemade popsicles– as often as I can stand it…

Local places to visit/explore:

  • NY State Museum. Great, FREE museum. It’s got a bit of everything, from cultural history to geology, all NY state related
  • 5 Rivers– a local environmental center with walking trails and a small wildlife education center.
  • Grafton Lake State Park– our pick for the best local beach.
  • Pine Bush Preserve– another great place for walking trails and learning about our local ecology.

Road Trips (because every summer needs a road trip or two.)

  • NYC to visit my sister. We’ll probably do some or most of the following as well:
    • NY Aquarium
    • Bronx Zoo (Gotta see the dinosaurs!)
    • Metropolitan Museum of Art
    • Museum of Natural History
  • Niagara Falls– the kids haven’t gone yet, and I haven’t been since 1997 thereabouts. Definitely time to introduce them to one of the natural wonders of the world.

Get togethers:

  • A D&D night or two or three with family friends
  • A Magic:the Gathering get together for the big kid and his friends
  • Some kind of play date for the younger kid as well. Maybe a backyard camp out or movie night.

Sounds like a busy summer, doesn’t it? It won’t be, really. We’ll plan some fun and make sure we have down time. I’m a lazy mom, and firmly believe in the value of letting kids play and explore and find their own interests.

Now, what does all this have to do with scrapbooking? Well, I’ve got a plan for documenting it with a small photo book from Shutterfly. Come back later this week, and I’ll show you what I’ve got up my sleeve.