I decided this summer that I would have a weekly schedule
in order to save my sanity have some quality family time.
It's posted up in the office and looks something like this:
Mon: Cleaning
Tues: Field Trip
Wed: Library
Thurs: Letters/Table
Fri: Free
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Monday's are pretty self-explanatory. We clean. Each kid has things that they're individually responsible for, like their bedroom and laundry. Then we basically clean the entire house top to bottom.
It wouldn't pass any white glove test but I'll take whatever help I can get at this point :-)
Actually, they're all pretty helpful when we chip in together, play some music and keep it fun.
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Tuesdays I pile everyone in the van and we have a field trip. I've planned something for every Tuesday until the week before school. The kids helped create the master list and it's posted in the office. Some things are more exciting than others but the kids are super excited for Tuesdays this summer. Not every kid goes on every activity depending on what else they have going on and whether or not they can handle that activity that day. For example, one week, Zeke had Camp Adventure (his day camp for kids with disabilities that lasts for a week) so I gave him the choice. He chose Camp Adventure, since it's his all-time favorite thing!
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Tues June 7th - Tour of Parks
I had the kids do some online research about all the parks and play areas in Brookings. You'd be surprised at how many are actually in our small town. Then they had to determine which parks they wanted to play at and the order we would visit them. And they had to come up with the list together and agree on it!!!
Usually we're so busy running from one activity to the next that when the kids ask to play at a park, my typical response is, "Maybe later."
I guess this summer is later!
I also had the kids pack a cooler full of ice
and cheap frozen flavored water in plastic
freeze pops we had left over from Brittney's graduation.
After we left each park, they had a frozen popsicle.
I think we played at seven parks that day but I kind of lost count towards the end.
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June 14th - Seratoma & Nature Park in Sioux Falls
We had already planned to be in Sioux Falls that morning for a hearing check for Steve and Zeke's new leg braces fitting and then Anthony's therapy appointment in the afternoon. So I had the kids pack sack lunches and we headed out. I don't have any pictures from that trip because Zeke had an epic meltdown shortly after lunch so he and I spent the remainder of the time in the van.
We had also planned on going to Falls Park to check out the waterfalls but we cut the trip short because I decided I couldn't handle any more meltdowns. :-(
Anthony and Brittney did continue on anyway
with Grandpa Larry, Grandma Connie and Grandma Sandy.
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June 21st - SkyZone
Because of schedules, this one ended up being just a girls trip. Originally, I wasn't sure how Brittney would feel about our little family field trips but I've been pleasantly surprised that she's chosen to go with us. She specifically requested time off at work on Tuesdays!
For this trip, we had lunch at IHOP and then spent the afternoon at SkyZone, which is basically a big building with tons of trampolines. They even have a dodgeball court and basketball hoops underneath trampolines.
I try to keep most of our field trips fairly cheap or free so that we can have a few more expensive trips too. This one was worth it!
