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summer break| pad patter 6.4.18

keepscrappin

keepscrappin

ScrapWithTheWind
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Apr 2, 2010
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YAY... it's the first official day of our summer break! As much as I'm glad we don't have to wake up early and head off to school, I know that the days of summer can drag on and on if we don't have a plan to fill them. I was thinking of ideas for our summer break and this song from Phineas & Ferb started going through my head.


We don't have big plans like Phineas & Ferb, but we do have season passes to a local water park and my girls love doing crafts, so we'll do some of those. We have a family vacation planned in July and of course they'll hang with friends too. My girls are old enough to know that you don't tell mom you're bored, because then you'll get jobbed cleaning something.

I've told the girls they have to keep their rooms and bathrooms cleaned plus do one job for Mom each day.... bwwhahaha Then we can decide if we'll go swimming, watch a movie, do a craft or hang with friends. I'm hoping to keep our schedule pretty relaxed and just do what sounds good.... at least that's the plan!

So how about you? Do you have big plans for the summer with a set schedule for each day or do you fly by the seat of your pants like me and hope by the end of the first week of summer you're not wishing they were back in school?
 
Our last day isn't until the 15th! That weekend we are headed out of town to visit my dad for fathers day & then that next week- I've scheduled all the kids' appointments. lol! SO the first week might be a bit wonky, but I really like your idea of 'one job for mom each day'- I'm totally going to steal that! ;) We always make a bucket list & try to get something checked off each day- even if it's just a picnic outside for lunch. A few things we look forward to this summer: Silverwood Theme Park (kids get free tickets for reading hours through school), A week at grandma's, Summer Road Trip (this year is BC & Alberta & Glacier National Park), Ed Sheeran concert & weekend in Seattle. Phew... ;)
 
This Friday is our last day *whew*. My plan is to spend the first week cleaning out and working on some neglected things around the house. I do a room a day and then I don't have anything hanging over my head at the end of the summer or when school starts again. Chance's birthday is the 21st, not sure what we are doing for that yet. The plan right now is vacation to the beach mid-July. Other than that, we fly by the seat of our pants. I'm sure I'll be babysitting some, and we'll go to the pool as often as possible. We may throw in a few day/weekend trips. My personal plan is to sit on my deck with my coffee and read, read, read.
 
The boys' last day is Friday too. But, we have tickets for Legoland, so we're ditching the last day. Just a quick weekend trip to San Diego before the chaos of summer camp(s) begins. The traffic is so much better in the summer, so I'm looking forward to that. No homework is a good thing. I still have two online courses that will take nearly the whole summer. I have my Guest Polly spot at the end of summer & I'm booked through the end of the year. I'll be a busy little scrapper bee.
 
amien1 said:
Our last day isn't until the 15th! That weekend we are headed out of town to visit my dad for fathers day & then that next week- I've scheduled all the kids' appointments. lol! SO the first week might be a bit wonky, but I really like your idea of 'one job for mom each day'- I'm totally going to steal that! ;) We always make a bucket list & try to get something checked off each day- even if it's just a picnic outside for lunch. A few things we look forward to this summer: Silverwood Theme Park (kids get free tickets for reading hours through school), A week at grandma's, Summer Road Trip (this year is BC & Alberta & Glacier National Park), Ed Sheeran concert & weekend in Seattle. Phew... ;)
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Funny, you said appointments. I just got off the phone scheduling DD 18 for wisdom teeth extraction and DD 12 for an orthodontia consultation. Looks like the next 2 weeks will be all about the teeth at our house.
 
IntenseMagic said:
This Friday is our last day *whew*. My plan is to spend the first week cleaning out and working on some neglected things around the house. I do a room a day and then I don't have anything hanging over my head at the end of the summer or when school starts again. Chance's birthday is the 21st, not sure what we are doing for that yet. The plan right now is vacation to the beach mid-July. Other than that, we fly by the seat of our pants. I'm sure I'll be babysitting some, and we'll go to the pool as often as possible. We may throw in a few day/weekend trips. My personal plan is to sit on my deck with my coffee and read, read, read.
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A room a day is an awesome idea! I've got DD 12 working on her room today, but it's a BIG MESS! I told her she could take the week to do it and focus on one area a day. Today she is doing the closet. Tomorrow, she'll do the desk. Then, the bed/dresser. Then, the last day we'll hang up her shelf and memo board and let her pick out some pix to have printed for her walls.
 
jesskab said:
The boys' last day is Friday too. But, we have tickets for Legoland, so we're ditching the last day. Just a quick weekend trip to San Diego before the chaos of summer camp(s) begins. The traffic is so much better in the summer, so I'm looking forward to that. No homework is a good thing. I still have two online courses that will take nearly the whole summer. I have my Guest Polly spot at the end of summer & I'm booked through the end of the year. I'll be a busy little scrapper bee.
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A quick trip sounds fun! Hubby is in San Diego for a couple of days for business, but we weren't able to go with him. Maybe we'll be able to tag along another time this summer.
 
Last real day of classes for my highschoolers is the 11th. Sr is done that day! My Jr has 2 exams and only goes in for a few hours on 2 days for exams. School officially ends on the 21st. But ... my kids have their licenses so they make their own fun these days, lol.

I miss the days of planning summer activities with my littles. :cry I will live vicariously through all of you!
 
School here goes until June 28th. I run a home daycare so summer is pretty much filled with kids ranging from 1yr up to my oldest daughter (soon to be) 10yrs. Keeping my older 2 kids quiet during naptime on a daily basis stresses me out. I hope to ship them (my own kids) out for friend play-dates during busy days and tech-time on the computer or tablet during rainy days. Brielle just fits in with the daycare and plays/naps with them.

Weekends we have out family fun day trips. Usually one big place to visit every other weekend with the other weekends playing in the splash pad, beach, hiking or hanging out in the backyard. Disney World vacation is in August (last 2 weeks) Then it's back to School Sept 4th.
 
My daughters last day of school was May 24th; summer movies on Wednesday, bowling once once a week and hitting Sam's Club on Friday's for a frozen yogurt are our only for sure plans...the rest of time will be spent flying by the seat of our pants.
 
This is the last week of school for my two...they are more than ready for it to be over. I work outside the home so they will be stuck home for the most part. Next week we start our four 10-hour days, though, so I will have Fridays off. I try to do fun things with them then. We will keep that schedule until two weeks before school starts (I work for the school district's technology department...we don't get summers off).
 
My boys' last day is tomorrow. Hubby and I still work full time, so they are home alone during the day. I signed them up for tennis in the mornings, so they'll ride their bike a block up to the high school for that (forces them to get dressed and awake each day) Then we have a couple weekend trips planned to go visit cousins and family and camping, plus they have a week away at camp to look forward to as well. My oldest is going to high school in the fall and is wanting to try out for the soccer team, so there will be practices starting for that at the end of June. I have a feeling this summer is going to speed by a little quicker than I'd like.
 
My kids are out soon. They have a 2-week day camp that starts the Monday after school is done. (It's an art camp and they'll do the same program but in different age groups, which is good for them so they're not bugging each other.) Then they have a couple weeks "off" from activities, so we'll go do some fun stuff around town, like ice cream and shopping and maybe the beach. Then they're going to their grandparents' for 2 weeks. They're so excited, and so am I. It'll be my first time without them that doesn't involve either a quick house-hunting trip or me giving birth lol.

Now I'm debating signing them up for swim lessons at the end of July. The lessons would be 4 days a week for 2 weeks. That would free up our Saturday mornings in the fall (because that's when we normally take them) OR it would allow the kids to move ahead in the swim lessons so that we can be done with them sooner. DD is almost through the program and DS is doing...swimmingly. Sorry, I had to do it lol! Anyway, my point is that I'm not sure if I want to be "stuck" going to swim lessons 4 days a week in the summer...but I also think it'd be a great way to get them tired out so we could chill at home afterward.
 
Tree City said:
My kids are out soon. They have a 2-week day camp that starts the Monday after school is done. (It's an art camp and they'll do the same program but in different age groups, which is good for them so they're not bugging each other.) Then they have a couple weeks "off" from activities, so we'll go do some fun stuff around town, like ice cream and shopping and maybe the beach. Then they're going to their grandparents' for 2 weeks. They're so excited, and so am I. It'll be my first time without them that doesn't involve either a quick house-hunting trip or me giving birth lol.

Now I'm debating signing them up for swim lessons at the end of July. The lessons would be 4 days a week for 2 weeks. That would free up our Saturday mornings in the fall (because that's when we normally take them) OR it would allow the kids to move ahead in the swim lessons so that we can be done with them sooner. DD is almost through the program and DS is doing...swimmingly. Sorry, I had to do it lol! Anyway, my point is that I'm not sure if I want to be "stuck" going to swim lessons 4 days a week in the summer...but I also think it'd be a great way to get them tired out so we could chill at home afterward.
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This is the first year we’re not doing swim lessons. She finished the program last year for the second time. If they had more levels I would sign her up again just because she absolutely loves swimming, even though it’s a pain to do everyday for 2 weeks. I do love that it wears them out. We talked about swim team but it’s 5 days a week all summer and that’s too much for what we want, so the water park it is for us.
 
keepscrappin said:
This is the first year we’re not doing swim lessons. She finished the program last year for the second time. If they had more levels I would sign her up again just because she absolutely loves swimming, even though it’s a pain to do everyday for 2 weeks. I do love that it wears them out. We talked about swim team but it’s 5 days a week all summer and that’s too much for what we want, so the water park it is for us.
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DD broke her arm the end of June last year...so no swim lessons, no pool, no beach, NOTHING all last summer. Maybe that's part of why I'm so interested in these two-week-long lessons? We can pack what normally takes us 2 months into just 2 weeks lol.

As for your DD: is this the school's swim team? Because 5 days/week in the summer is intense! I wouldn't want to do it, either--or rather, I wouldn't want my kids to do it lol. They've yet to show an interest in any sport, so I've lucked out so far. ;)
 
Our grandson has been out since last Thursday. I spent the whole first day with him and he was with his dad on Friday. He's not happy about it, but he started in a neighborhood day care program yesterday. It's a wonderful place - he started there when he was about 3 and even went to Pre-K there. For some reason, he doesn't want to go now. He says it's for babies. It isn't - they take a field trip almost every day. Monday, they went ice skating and they were doing something special today. He doesn't understand why his grandparents (us) can't just watch him all summer. He lives with us most of the time and we really don't feel up to having him 24/7 all summer. :crazy3
 
I work so we have a set routine that will carry over into the summer. I have Mondays off so those will be the days we go somewhere for the day. Next Monday we're going strawberry picking! If we don't have big plans, it'll turn into chores & errands day. I work T-F. They go to my parents' on Tuesday and the babysitter Wednesday-Friday.

They have much more exciting plans than I do for the summer, actually. They have VBS next week, sports camp the week after, and spending a week at their grandparents' the week after that. We'll probably sign them up for swimming lessons in July, and then we might take an overnight trip someplace fun at the end of that month.

School starts mid-August so that's that!
 
I'm done with work this Friday (preschool teacher), but my kids have 1 more week after that. Is it bad for me to admit that's my favorite week of the year, LOL? Though this year so many of the days are already claimed by things at the kids' schools and a dentist appointment that my "week off" has basically been reduced to 1 fun day. Oh, well!

We'll be away for a week in July visiting family and another week in August vacationing with family. Each of the kids has 1 or 2 weeks of camp or a program through the schools, but unfortunately they're not the same weeks. So we'll have about 2 weeks at the beginning of the summer that are totally open to do things together and another week like that the last week of summer. The weeks in between we'll have to work around drop offs and pick ups. That's easy on the weeks that someone has a full day activity but a pain on the weeks it's a half day.

I'll come up with some sort of flexible schedule, but I haven't sat down to think about it yet. Usually each week I shoot for 1 lazy at home day, 1-2 pool days, 1 out-of-the-house activity day (usually chosen by the kids), and 1-in-the-house activity day. (The in-the-house activity could be something fun like baking together or chores like cleaning out a room together.) Every few weeks we plan in a library trip, too.
 
So first, Phineas and Ferb is one of my favourite cartoons EVER. Naomi and I sometimes sing the theme song to embarrass Ruth. School here doesn't end until the last week of June (except for the French kids who get off a week earlier). But, this is the first year my two will be kicking it at our house for a significant amount of time without parents.

But, Naomi is 13 and has started to age out of day camps. They've got two weeks at Girl Guide camp, plus three weeks at my parents, and two weeks at home with Jesse and I - but again, because of work stuff, we couldn't get the same weeks off, and aren't going on vacation this summer.

When they're home alone, my kids have to keep up with their regular chores + Do 15 minutes of Khan Academy (Math) + 15 minutes of Duolingo (Hebrew) + 30 minutes of reading in French. We are also working on some summer bucket lists, for fun (or "edutainment") stuff the girls can do by themselves. But... I'm still trying to work on what the boundaries of where an 11 and 13 year-old can go and what they can do while their parents are working. They have bus passes (Naomi takes public transit to school every day) and bikes. So far, the only idea I've had to veto is them going to the beach on their own. (It's a 15 minute bike ride, and there's a lifeguard, but still, it feels a bit much for them without an adult.) But, I said yes to public swims at the YMCA.
 
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