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Monday, August 4, 2014

August is our month for fun!

While many American's calenders indicate that summer just has 1 month left, in our family we're just hitting the middle of summer. My daughters don't start up with classes until the end of September. I'm grateful for that, as it gives me more time to plan summer fun. And we won't really think about classes until mid to late September.

So, in making plans for this month, I've come up with a list of things I want to do, just for fun. Usually my lists are work lists. But after a hard year, I want some fun.

Here's what I've come up with so far:
  • take breakfast to the beach (actually doing that this morning, just with daughters as they have the day off from work)
  • go to the Seattle Art Museum (free on the first Thursday of every month)
  • do Glazed and Amazed pottery and glass painting with 2 daughters (this has been on our list for a very long time! And now I've found a coupon in the most recent flyer -- yippee!)
  • farmer's market at the beach on Wednesday, then browse the second-hand bookstore in Old Town, just up the hill
  • tour the lighthouse on a Saturday afternoon and bring dinner to the beach, for the entire family (you'll notice that we go to the beach either in the early morning, or late afternoon evening. I'm just not a fan of beach at midday -- too hot, sticky and crowded!)
  • visit the u-pick flower patch in the farm area near us. The micro-climate in that area is drier, sunnier and about 5 degrees warmer, so many more varieties of flowers do well in that area.
  • set up croquet and horseshoes in back yard -- Sunday afternoon family time, and practice practice, practice my croquet stroke for the upcoming church picnic -- don't want to have a 9 year old beat me again!
  • church family picnic
That's it for my August plans. What will you be doing this month?

12 comments:

  1. I forgot about our croquet set! Good suggestion!

    Today is our beach day. It's been a bad beach summer here--cooler than normal temps (actually, I like the coolness) and the water temps have never warmed up much due to the cold winter we had. The beach is often foggy and 10-15* colder than it is 5 miles inland, but today promises to be mild. I have a picnic lunch ready to go and the towels/sunscreen all packed. :)

    We plan on camping next week, plus I have a few day trip ideas for the rest of the month. We like camping in August--less crowded, not as hot (although that's not an issue this year!), less buggy. The last 2 weeks of August our schedule gets choppy--6th grade orientation, Meet and Greet and Find Your Seat, etc., so those weeks are best for day events. I've been trying to involve my kids in more cleaning/cooking activities this summer, and I've somewhat succeeded--but the lure of playing while we have a chance to play means I'm not as consistent as I "should" be. The school year gets so scheduled that I like to have fun while we can.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Kris,
      it sounds like August will be a full month for you and your family. And do play while you can. The school year becomes a grind after a while and you'll appreciate that you took time to do fun stuff with the kids (and they'll appreciate it too!).

      Why would camping be less buggy in August? I wonder if August is a less buggy month (mosquitoes, I'm thinking) here, as well. I've never even thought about when bugs are worse/better.

      Have fun at the beach today! I'm waiting for the sleeping beauties to awaken so we can go for breakfast at the beach.

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    2. I'm not sure about the bugs--I think fly season is coming to an end and mosquito season, as well, although it's been a rainy summer so the mosquitoes will probably still be hanging out.

      I wanted to do breakfast at the beach this summer, but our weather just hasn't been conducive to it. This is supposed to be a good weather week so maybe we can still squeeze it in. My kids like to swim and I think breakfast won't work for swim time, due to how cold it is, but it still might be a fun adventure.

      What food do you take for a beach breakfast?

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    3. We'll be taking coffee, milk, fruit from the garden, and stopping by the donut place and each choosing our favorite. We've done more elaborate breakfasts at the beach before, but as it's me and the girls, it'll just be simple. One year, I brought hot cider and hot chocolate, homemade donuts (made from canned biscuit dough), an aluminum foil pan of cheesey scrambled eggs (which we kept warm on a grill) and then grilled kabobs of ham chunks, pineapple and green pepper. That was by far the most elaborate of beach breakfasts we've done, but we had a larger group with us, so it was festive.

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    4. You picnic like I do--with simplicity. I'm willing to go more often if I make it easy. Our typical lunches are PB&J (don't have to worry about keeping them cold), fruit, and a snack--today, blueberry muffins. And water bottles! In thinking about a beach breakfast, I've considered making an egg sandwich, but I'm afraid it would be cold by the time we got there. Maybe hardboiled eggs, fruit, muffins, and something fun to drink. Thanks for your ideas!

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    5. Simpler is just more fun to me. Otherwise I'm spending too much time fussing. And kids really don't care at all whether they're eating pbj or something more elaborate. In fact, they'd rather have you in a good mood the entire day, than you feeling stressed trying to make everything "perfect". We're planning a picnic dinner at the beach soon, and it will be sandwiches, apples, water, cookies and maybe we'll splurge and buy some chips from Dollar Tree. That sounds easier than trying to get a grill started and bringing meat and all the sides, so we can just enjoy our time there.

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  2. Our "summer" is actually winding down. After many years of homeschooling, my older four children are off to school this year. The little guy (4) will attend preschool 3 days a week at a little Christian preschool nearby. We hope to have a couple more fun days at the spray park this week and next before they start school on the 15th. Our typical summers being as hot as they are, we are planning for fall camping in October (too hot in the summer) and also a church family camp in September.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Cat,
      I understand about your summer winding down. I keep seeing ads for back to school stuff. I'm so glad that we have September of summer, here, still. Summer is never long enough for me.

      Your days will certainly change! But how exciting for all of you, embarking on something new.

      That makes sense about camping in October, where you are. I hope you all have wonderful time!

      Delete
  3. You mentioning croquet brings back some great memories of playing at my grandma's house as a kid . . I'll have to see if she still has her set. I wasn't very good either, but had so much fun! :)

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    Replies
    1. Hi Amanda,
      croquet seems to be that activity that you can enjoy even if you have no skill whatsoever! How wonderful to have those memories of playing at your grandma's house! I hope she still has her croquet set. That would be so fun.

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  4. We've started the month with a visit to my mother and a family reunion. Now, my husband is off on a two week backpacking trip and I'm looking forward to some girl-time with my sisters and friends. I also need to plan our family trip which is happening during the first week of September, but first I have to catch up on all of the things that I let slide while planning the reunion.

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    Replies
    1. Hi live and learn,
      you have had such a family-busy summer, with your week at the beach with family, now a trip to see your mother and a family reunion. I hope that you and your sisters have a blast together. My sister lives so far away I only get to see her every once in a while.

      Where will your family go for your own family vacation? It's nice. now that kids are out of school and you can plan trips for September, isn't it? I'm looking forward to being able to plan trips for the off-season, someday.

      Delete

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