Fresh Summer Fun Idea

So we were in the market for a new family activity. I wanted something to do outside so we could enjoy a little fresh air. I needed an activity that provide stress release and good old fashioned fun. We wanted exercise without feeling like work. The biggest obstacle was that it had to appeal to all ages and activity levels.
The answer you ask??
A bike rack, four bikes and helmets. And yes, we'd like a bell installed on the pink bike! ;>
Andy's bike was actually his early birthday gift.
Joseph bought his bike with his grass cutting money.
James had just gotten a new bike for his birthday.
Last but not least, I purchased mine with my yard sale money.
Whew, thank goodness for yard sales!
This afternoon we loaded up and went for our first ride. We road for a couple of hours and had a wonderful time. I forgot how much fun it is to go for a bike ride!
Our plan is to take them to the beach with us. The next couple of weeks will be used to get in better shape. We'll also work on bike safety with the boys.
I know bicycle rides weren't in the original summer fun plans, but I'm so glad we added it in! We'll keep you posted, but until then enjoy a few pics.
God's blessings and happy 4th of July! :D

Summer Fun, Putt-Putt Edition

Remember the blue Solo cup from the beginning of the summer?
It housed all our fun summer ideas.
Well, we f-i-n-a-l-l-y made time to play Putt-Putt!
It was hot, really hot.
So we decided to start out with dinner.
We had a delicious dinner at Ruby Tuesdays.

They have the BEST salad bar!

Then we headed over to Funzone.
We played our 18 holes of torture... I mean fun.
I believe I am the worst putt-putt golfer that has ever graced their course.
My boys were complete gentlemen and tried to help me as much they could.
Joseph was kind enough to give me a brief lesson.
Something about their being a line on the club, and you line it up with the ball... I dunno?!


James happily retrieved all my wayward balls.
Thank you son!


He even made a hole in one!!!


Andy kept score, and tried not to laugh at us.
I think he might have been a professional Putt-Putter in his youth!


A good time was had by all.





We followed up our evening out with an ice-cream cake from DQ.
Look, I found the perfect cake and it was half-off!


Once we got home I took a picture of it.
Yes of course, how could I blog about our putt-putt cake if I didn't take a pic?!
That's when Joseph spotted a little problem with the cake...


No worries, I took it back.
I quietly explained to the cashier that I needed to exchange my cake for one without a dead fly on it.
She was appropriately freaked out, which made me feel better!
Wanna know the sad part?
For a split second I considered just cutting off that corner of the cake and throwing it away.
And yes, feeding it to my family and eating it myself.
I was t-i-r-e-d, you would've thought the same thing too!
After showers we collapsed on the couch.
We ate our fly-free (although not as cute cake) and watched Wipeout.
Whew, summer fun at it's peak! ;>

On a side note: Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and prayers! Op made it through surgery fine and will probably be in the hospital until Monday. Please continue to pray for my grandparents as they go through this together. Rehab, doctor's appointments, etc. I think they've got a long few months ahead of them.
God's blessings on your 4th of July weekend! :D

Knife Throwing Contest

Hi all!
If you remember, a few weeks ago, we developed a "summer fun" system.
It's a way for us to actually do all the fun things we dream about, when summer kicks off.
We wrote all our ideas on slips of paper.
Then, once a week, we draw an activity.

Our first activity drawn was a knife throwing contest.
Between t-ball, our yard sale and just life in general we got a bit behind.
But today we FINALLY got around to having our contest! :)

The boys decided to make a new target.



We added in some points for those of us who are challenged-
+ 1 point for actually hitting the board
+ 1 point for style (like the time I hit the bird house).

The game ended with Joseph in first place and James in second.



Great job boys!

On a side note:
For those of you thinking that knife throwing contests might not be your cup of tea. I ask you to remember this... the time we spend with our children is about making memories, learning teamwork, and building relationships. It's never really about the activity itself. There are a million other things I might rather be doing, but no other people I'd rather be doing them with.
And one day, there won't be anyone wearing olives at my dinner table.


Or falling asleep in my bed.

That's when I'll miss silly activities like knife throwing contests.
So today, I chose to soak them up!

Summer Fun

Happy First Official Day of Summer Break!!!

The kids are celebrating by having an Airsoft war with their friends.
Gotta love those boys. :)
So, while they're outside I thought I'd share an idea with you.

Every year at this time the boys and I dream up all the fun things we're gonna do all summer.
But, it never fails, come August 1st we'll look back and sadly realize we didn't do most of our ideas.
I hate that feeling, so this year I got smart.

I took a plastic Solo cup and with a Sharpie wrote Summer 2009.
Today while we ate lunch I wrote all our fun ideas on slips of paper.
Things like putt-putt golf, a knife throwing contest, skating, bowling and even a Wii contest.
I tried to think of inexpensive things we could do locally.
Some of the things will be just the boys and myself, while Andy's at work.
Other things, like going to the movies, will be all four of us.
We briefly entertained the idea of ice-skating.
Briefly entertained and then dismissed because...
I'm too chicken to take the boys by myself,
and Andy said we depend on his income too much for him to break his neck ice-skating.
Hmm, good point!
We plan on pulling an idea from the cup every Sunday.
Then we can plan what day of the following week we will have our "summer fun".

Edited to add: I'll probably divide these into categories like rainy day activities, back yard activities, etc. I also see a cute little container in their future as well.

I'm really excited that we've started our summer with a plan, and not just a dream.
We still plan to spend a lot of time at the new Aquatics center.
We're doing a yard sale next week, with the McPhillips, to clean out clutter and give us some summer funds.
I'd consider that a two for one!
Of course we're also looking forward to our annual beach vacation in July.

Whew, so much to look forward to...
memories to create...
AND more activities to blog about!

So, what do you have planned for summer?
I'd love to have some fresh ideas to add to our cup.
As always, God's blessings! :>