Category: Family Matters

We are on to week 3 of summer break, and I have to say, so far, so good. We’ve signed up for summer reading, we’ve attended VBS, scout camp and nature camp are on the horizon, and we have a couple of in-state getaways planned (more on those later). We’ve been to a taping of the Friday Zone in Bloomington, attended the June Indy Monthly Magic show, and we’ve been getting in plenty of pool time.

Here’s what we are hoping to accomplish in the next 7 weeks (yes, only 7. It’s sad):

Visit 6 different Waterparks- this is Mam’s idea. They are water bugs, so this is a good goal.

Get all 600 points for summer reading. This would be fantastic, we’d get all the prizes, and just imagine how good it would be for our brains! I do say though, I hope the comic/graphic novel phase wears off. I have a really hard time following/reading those.

DONE: Visit Wolf Park – we have plans with the Eternal Lizdom crew to visit in a couple of weeks. We’ve been meaning to visit basically since it opened, so you know, it’s good we’re going now. (post on this coming SOON)

Visit the Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo– again, this is something I’ve wanted to do since I learned about it. Again, good that we’re going before the children are able to drive themselves there.

Visit Holiday World & Splashing Safari– we had a blast there last year. To make this work to our advantage, the children are are earning this trip by cooperating on a daily basis. Their goal is to spell the word H O L I D A Y by the end of the summer. They earn a letter a week if they’ve made good choices. If we can get to HOLIDAY, we’ll go- probably sometime when school is back in session. Because school starts August 5th. Which is weird. But, I digress.

Visit the Indiana Dunes- we try to make it to the beach at least one day each summer. This year, my baby brother is getting married in Valparasio, so I foresee us driving up 49 to the State Park. I mean, how could we not?

I think these activities and trips, along with camp and you know, our day jobs and trips to the neighborhood pool will definitely fill our days.

What’s on your Summer Fun List?

Thanks to all free clear for sponsoring today’s post, and for getting our summer laundry clean, clean, clean.

Week one of summer is in the books, and it was good one. We signed up for summer reading, made it to the pool a couple of times and hung out with friends. The children also managed to eat ALL of the food, and wear all of their clothes. Being home all day uses a lot of resources, I’m working to get things streamlined.

Meanwhile, the kids are busy doing what they do.  The kids LOVE our new neighborhood and neighbors. Every morning, the Fox jumps on his bike and rides up and down the sidewalk, just waiting for someone to come out and play. MaM sleeps a bit later, but then joins in the fun. Grass stains, popsicles stains, marker stains, wet pool towels and toys all over the yard tell the stories of their days. Just today the Fox played with friends at the park. This particular park has a brand new playground…so of course the boys just played in the hill of dirt off to the side. We were not stopping, passing go or pausing to take a picture of the dirty boy, trust me. Imagine a kid dusted in dirt like a a bundt cake dusted in powdered sugar. Yuck.

Enter all free clear detergent (click for a coupon). Since we switched to he machines last year, I’ve been using store bought detergent again, and this has been by far my favorite. My kids are extremely sensitive to scents- why just today MaM proclaimed the bathroom soap to “stink- it smells nothing like the avocados on the label”. She also sniffed out the scent of stale cigarette smoke and attributed it to a library book (she was right). When I use other detergents, she tells me that her clothes smell funny. Clearly, we can’t have that. For anyone with a true allergy to perfume or dye, all free and clear is completely free of all perfumes and dyes. Our clothes come out smelling refreshingly neutral- the sunscreen, the campfire, the chocolate, the pizza stains are all gone without a trace, but the clothes don’t smell perfumey.

All free clear leaves the kids #FreetoBe wild & crazy- it cleans up whatever they cook up, leaving nothing behind in its wake. So bring on the dirt piles, the ice cream, the arts and crafts, the daycamps and whatever else summer might bring. We’re ready!