And then it happens. Summer Vacation comes and we find ourselves sitting here with kids who expect us to entertain them! Who don’t sleep in just because it’s Summer. Who’s idea of a lazy morning includes snacks and art projects and snacks and It’s not FAIR that it’s raining today Make it Stop Now Mom Now!

Oh, yes. Lazy, relaxing Summer Vacations are one of those urban legends. Like playdates where the kids actually go off and play happily, allowing you to have uninterrupted adult conversation with an actual adult.

So, how does one survive a Summer with young kids? I’m keeping my fingers crossed that our combination of scheduled activities and impromptu adventures will do the trick!

Scheduled Activities:

The nice thing about the girls being close in age is that {this Summer} I can sign them up for some classes/camps together! They have each other for moral support and I’m not driving all over the city all day!

What we have on the schedule so far: Ballet/Tap/Jazz Summer Session with Miss Jodi’s Dance and Princess Science Camp. I’m still looking for maybe one more camp/class for August. That would give the girls one big thing each month. Which I think is a perfect amount for their ages.

We’ll also venture out to some of the weekly-ish events around town:

• Holland Farmer’s Market Kids’ Events (Wednesdays 10am)
• Downtown Street Performers (Thursday nights)
• Kids Tunes (Fridays noon)
• HSRT productions of Diary of a Worm, a Spider, and a Fly and Junie B. Jones in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells

Impromptu Adventures:

Sort of. I’m not the best at “impromptu”. I want to do those random, spur of the moment outings {and I’m sure we will on occasion}, but I tend to get caught up in other stuff and then, next thing I know, it’s dinner time and we’ve done *nothing*.

This Summer I’m following the lead of my friend Jodi and creating a Summer Jar with the kids.  We’ll toss in some activity ideas — go to the library, go to the park, art project day, in-door movie theater, build forts, splash pad, beach, etc. — and on the days that we don’t have something already scheduled or find ourselves needing some inspiration or spurring-on, then we’ll go to the Summer Jar!

I’m hoping the Summer Jar helps the girls find excitement and joy in doing some of the simpler things! {I’m tempted to toss in a few “take a nap” or “help mom clean” pieces.}

What fun things do you have scheduled {or not scheduled} for the Summer?

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