Operation: No Couch Potatoes

That's my goal for the summer. I am sure I am not the only one who's children would quietly and happily while away the entire summer watching cartoons and playing video games. I am going to out myself here and admit that there has been more than one summer day that we've not bothered to change out of pajamas as we moved from bed to couch, and no one's even been sick! (Gasp! Shocked denials! I know, you'd never have thought it of me...) For me, it all boils down to needing some form of structured schedule. And it's only taken me eight years of being a mother to figure that out, imagine that.

And so I've done just that. I have outlined a weekly schedule that includes mostly free activities that necessitate getting dressed and leaving the house to interact with the public. That means shoes, shirts and hair done in the morning!

Mondays: Swimming. Free at Grandpa's pool. (We are so lucky!) Added bonus of Lila not fighting taking a nap, and all the children going to bed early. Hmmm, swimming might become a daily activity for us...
Tuesdays: Movie Day. $1 movie showing at our local theater. So $4 at the theater or $1 to rent a Redbox if it's a movie we don't want to go see.
Wednesdays: Story Time at the Library. Free, also helps cut down on library fines because if I go once a week I don't forget to return my books.
Thursdays: Picnic and Parks. Free and fun to try visiting all the different parks around us. This is something my mom used to do when we were children and is one of my favorite memories of my childhood. Hours and hours playing at different parks with cousins and friends.
Fridays:  Make or Bake Day. My kids love to do crafts and they adored having cooking lessons with Grandma-great last year. So I am seeing what materials I have on hand and coming up with different crafts or cooking lessons we can do. Jake has expressed much interest in making a puppet theater. That may be our first project.

All this comes after doing our daily chores, which I have high hopes of getting back to a place where the daily chores only take 15-20 minutes. Sometimes that feels so do-able... sometimes not so much.

I'd love to hear any ideas or success stories people have about keeping kids entertained and active during the summer. Us moms gotta stick together now that we're outnumbered!

P.S. We went swimming for the first time this summer and had a blast! I am still kicking myself that I forgot to grab my camera though. I guess there is always next week...