Free Summer

I love summer for a lot of reasons.  It's just my season.  The sun makes me happy and I love to be outside.  The only thing I don't like about summer is having to find things to do for my kids.  Really, it's only Everly.  But she's the type of kid that just needs something to do.  If she doesn't have structured activities, she's going to be on me all day.. literally.  Hanging onto my leg, sitting on my lap, following me into the bathroom.  I just can't.  I know that I should relax and let my kids figure out how to entertain themselves.  Anneliese is great at that.  She just wanders the house and finds something she's interested in, with no assistance from me.  My first child is simply not like that.  I don't know why, but she cannot do anything on her own unless I force her.  I do play with her, but it gets to be a little exhausting and I can only be with her for so long.  I envy parents who have the patience and desire to do that.  But it's just not something I can do.

I could register her for a different camp or activity every week, but I don't have that kind of money.  My solution is to research the area and find every free/cheap activity I can and form a "summer schedule."  I know that if I don't come up with some ideas, I'll end up getting in the car, driving to the mall or Target, and finding something that I "need."  So far, my summer schedule includes:

parades
carnivals
library programs (Boise and Meridian)
movies in the park
free concerts
open gym
discovery center programs
dollar movie days
princess in the park story time
free swim day
kids day at the art museum 
farmer's market
other random community events

I plan to fill in my extra spaces with splash pads, parks, walks, MK nature center, the river, random library trips, and skyping my parents in the afternoon(and letting them entertain my children.)  As you can see, this area has so much to offer for young families.  We have amazing parks and splash pads, shopping, activities, and libraries.   There is so much to do, it's hard to keep track of it all. 

Today, there wasn't anything going on, so we went to the splash pad.  The fire truck even showed up to spray the kids at the park.  Ev had a lot of fun, but Annie hates water so she just ran away from me over and over again.  And cried when I put her anywhere near the water.

This is when the fire truck showed up to spray the kids.