Top Ten {Tuesday}: Summer things to do with the kids

It’s funny… we’re not even “in school” right now, but I’m already in summer mode!  I looked over the calendar this weekend, and the summer is already packed with trips to the beach, church conferences, and other summery-activities, and I started thinking about what I’d like to do with the boys this summer in between all the running around.  Some of them are pretty cliché, but they are things we haven’t done with the boys yet, so I would like to start adding the “typical” summer traditions into our summers!

photo by jamelah

1. Catch fireflies! See? Cliché all over the place!  But how many fun memories are truly made of these types of things.  It just so happens I have several jars saved up, and the fireflies should be making an appearance soon!
2. Go to the James River. We are so blessed to have a beautiful natural resource like the James just minutes from our house.  The James River Park system has some amazing places to visit with the kids, and there are even some great “urban” areas to explore the river at the Canal Walk.  Very cool things!  What natural resources do you have close to home that you can explore with your kids this summer?
3. Do the Summer Reading Challenge! As a bookworm from an early age, I did many library summer reading programs.  I thought my boys were still too young until I read Allison’s post about her Summer Reading Challenge – we are so in!  Will you join us?
4. Continue our homeschool time. We have already been going rather light on our preschool lessons, so I see no reason not to continue as we can… I’m still working to get into a good schedule, and I don’t want to lose the progress we’ve been making!
5. Learn more Bible verses together. This is an offshoot of our homeschool time – and something I definitely want to keep up all year round!
6. Go to the zoo – a lot! We have zoo passes this year – what a great place for the kids to run their energy out and learn some stuff, too!  The Metro Richmond Zoo is not huge, but it is a really great place – well-kept, very doable for a short trip, and a whole lot of fun!
7. Build a new swing-set/play fort. Seriously.  I am even excited about letting the boys “help” a bit.  I was my dad’s helper in building things, and I know I practiced pounding nails at an early age.
8. Ride bikes. We need to do some bike maintenance and even some bike purchasing before we can all go rising together, but we have a great neighborhood for riding bikes!
9. See fireworks on the 4th of July. Classic!  We now have a baseball team again in Richmond, so we have a couple more options for fireworks shows in town.  The biggest question now is do we want to pay money and get a guaranteed good seat for a show, or brave the masses to find a good seat on our own for free?
   
10. Run through a sprinkler. Again a cliche, but since we don’t own a sprinkler (no actual grass in our “yard”) this could be a tough one to plan out.  But how much fun! Maybe we can get a sprinkler just for this?

What are your “everyday” plans for the summer?  Any special traditions you want to start or carry on? I’d love to hear your plans and get some more ideas to add to my list!

For more Top Ten {Tuesdays}, visit Amanda’s site here!