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Natalia
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| Posted: May 21 2009 at 8:31pm | IP Logged
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This summer is going to be challenging for us. We are adding on to our house which means that the backyard is going to be unavailable for several weeks. This means no pool in the backyard. Also, because the addition, our funds are limited right now. In July we are going to be going to the Dominican Republic but June and August we are going to be here.
I am hoping that you ladies would share with me what you do to keep the kids busy during the summer, especially ideas that do not involve a lot of money.
Thanks a lot,
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Natalia
http://pannuestrodecadadia.blogspot.com
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Kathryn
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Water balloon fights
Lots of library trips
Lots of park days
Lots of afternoon movies at home w/ microwave popcorn
:-)
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JodieLyn
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any sort of free movie or concert at the park type things in your area?
sprinklers on the front lawn?
would you use the public pool? check into a pass.. costs money but might be fairly reasonable when you consider the number of people.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
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anitamarie
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Long walks or bike rides. Hikes in local (or not so local) parks. Fruit picking trips (can get pricey, though). Our local movie theater shows morning shows of older movies for free or low cost ($1 or $2 per person). Scrabble tourneys. Get a few families together for an afternoon of board games on a rainy day, or really hot ones!!. Library programs. Ours has a kid's movie a week for most of the summer, as well as themed programs. Crafts, lots of crafts. We are blessed here with a free Zoo, free Art Museum, free History Museum and nearly free Botanical garden.
Good luck. We lost our basement due to finishing for about 8 weeks now and it has been tough to have one less play space. I feel for you. But it is almost done and I can tell you, you will survive renovation!!  I wasn't so sure I would. 
Anita
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KackyK
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Did you catch Ruth's thread about free bowling? Maybe there is a center near you participating.
And there are free movies at Regal Cinemas. Check here for participating places.
At least they are free and indoors with the A/C!
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KackyK
Mom to 8 - 3 dd, 5ds & 4 babes in heaven
Beginning With the Assumption
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JodieLyn
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oh yes, a/c any malls with a play area indoors? I used to take my then 3yr, 2yr and infant to a mall just to window shop but it got us into the true a/c.. we were in Tucson AZ and only had a evap cooler for the house we rented.. it would keep it cooler.. but every once in a while the heat would just drive me nuts and we'd go running for the grocery store or the mall just to wander about in real a/c and chill 
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
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Natalia
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| Posted: May 22 2009 at 10:03am | IP Logged
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Thanks for the ideas.
I am sure you guys must think it is a silly question but I am really a boring person. I would be happy to just stay home and read. It helps me to have some activities planned so that the kids don't resort to playing wii and watching TV all the time. I don't mind them play Wii or watching TV but I want a nice balance of outside and inside activities.
When trying to plan ideas, I always run into the problem that my kids are very far apart in age (5 years). That makes it a little tricky. Also some activities are more fun with a lot of people which means that we have to join with other family(ies) which can be tricky also.
Anyhow,I think I am going to take the calendar and schedule some of the activities based on some of your ideas. If you have any other ideas keep them coming.
Thanks,
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Natalia
http://pannuestrodecadadia.blogspot.com
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Natalia
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| Posted: May 22 2009 at 10:07am | IP Logged
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Oh I forgot to ask for:
-movie recommendations
-favorite board games (I am always on the look out for new games)or any other kind of games for inside.
Thanks,
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Natalia
http://pannuestrodecadadia.blogspot.com
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MelissaClaire
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Our recent favorite board game is Blokus (my kids are 7, 5, 3, and 1--but the 2 big can play by themselves or with us and the 3 year old can play too with a little help. Sometimes my husband and I play it too after everyone goes to sleep.)
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: May 22 2009 at 10:13am | IP Logged
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Natalia wrote:
Thanks for the ideas.
I am sure you guys must think it is a silly question but I am really a boring person. I would be happy to just stay home and read. It helps me to have some activities planned so that the kids don't resort to playing wii and watching TV all the time. I don't mind them play Wii or watching TV but I want a nice balance of outside and inside activities.
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Oh, honey, I understand and I'm right there w/ you. This is what would happen at my house too.
What I usually do is have the children make a list of things they'd like to do during the summer. The ideas have to be local and cheap.
We haven't done that yet but my autumn and winter b-day girls are already planning a water party here at home. The planning is keeping them quite busy. 
There will be more staying home this summer. Staying home and reading. Sounds just dandy to me. 
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
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Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Cay Gibson
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| Posted: May 22 2009 at 10:14am | IP Logged
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I meant to add that even though I have my children do lists each summer, this thread is exactly what I need.
Exactly!
It motivates me to hear your ideas.
Keep sharing!
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Natalia
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| Posted: May 22 2009 at 10:16am | IP Logged
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Cay,
Could you share what they are planning? That sounds like fun!
I could have a multi age water party... in the front yard?!
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Natalia
http://pannuestrodecadadia.blogspot.com
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Jody
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Here are some inexpensive ideas:
1) waterslide- we set up the little plastic slide on the edge of a large sheet of plastic. Then we have the sprinkler spraying wataer on the whole thing. The kids run through the sprinkler, zip down the slide and zoom across the plastic. They love it! We have done it without the plastic slide and that was fun too.
2) campfire- we plan this for the evening-night time as its cooler. The keds have fun planning and collecting sticks and wood for the fire. Plus gathering sticks for the hotdog, marshmallow roast.
3)campout in the backyard--They have fun all day deciding where to set up their tent, putting the tent up, collecting all the supplies like sleeping bag, stuiffed animals, snacks etc...
4) picnic
5)rollerblading at the park or local grade school
6)swimming at the beach (we really enjoy going to the lake in the summer)
7) playground
8) sandbox fun
9)bubbles
10)pinwheels/kites
11)water balloons/ hose/water fight very fun with a group of kids
12)creek day - ou local state parks have a few creeks that we enjoy ewploring by walking through them with water shoes or old sneakers. (We did this last year with another family and the kids are still talking about it)
Jody
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sewcrazy
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Check your park district and forest preserve district, many offer free or low cost activities. Ours have ongoing service projects that you can help with that are fun and educational! We work at a local nature center pulling noxious weeds and collecting seeds from endangered native plants. Another activity in our forest preserve district is animal counting. You go out with a pair of binoculars and a clip board and keep track of every animal you see/hear within a certain area. You also log any dead animals you find. Also a local CSA farm happily near us accepts volunteers and they pay in food!
We also volunteer at our church a lot. This summer on days we can't be outside, we are going to work at sorting out the church's lending library. Finally, we will have a room to put everything in, so we are going to catalog the books and arrange them on shelves.
My children do not do well with idle time.  So I try to keep them purposefully busy.
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LeeAnn
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anitamarie
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Let's see - board games: Qwirkle, Quartile, Plext, Walk the Dogs, You've Been Sentenced, Heart of Africa, Mastermind, Spy Trackdown, Penguin Rescue, Red Letter, Quiddler, Fill or Bust, Set - we do Set for hours around here - are our current favorites. Oh yeah, Qwirkle Cubes just came out by the makers of Qwirkle and Crosswise. Rings and Gobblet have both been popular, too.
We have others if you need more suggestions.
Anita
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JodieLyn
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I don't know how old your kids are.. but we love Hullabaloo.. it has an electronic "caller" and these little mats for the floor.. different shapes, colors, items on them.. and then you have to follow the directions and move to this or that shape or color or whatever... kids can share mats.. and then it will randomly call out the "winner" mat and the "winner" gets to do a jump or a dance or something the machine comes up with.
But it gets the kids active in a fairly comfined space.. and watching it is HILARIOUS so the adults have a good time too
Even the toddlers join in but they don't follow the directions.. they just run from mat to mat cause the other kids are
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G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
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anitamarie
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Jodie: we love Hullabaloo, too! I forgot about that one.
Natalia:
We also work on jigsaw puzzles as a group. We either leave it out and work on it as each of us gets time, work as a group, or roll it in our felt mat when we need space for other games. Can you tell we like games?
Anita
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SuzanneG
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I just got our local "summer guide" , which i go through every year, and mark down stuff that we may want to do throughout the summer.....low tide days, free day at the zoo, parade, shakespeare in the park, sandcastle-building-contest, pony rides, pantomime at Walgreens, ice cream day at the grocery store, music in the park, farmer's market, car shows, festivals, etc....it's on the calendar.....
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BrendaPeter
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anitamarie wrote:
Let's see - board games: Qwirkle, Quartile, Plext, Walk the Dogs, You've Been Sentenced, Heart of Africa, Mastermind, Spy Trackdown, Penguin Rescue, Red Letter, Quiddler, Fill or Bust, Set - we do Set for hours around here - are our current favorites. Oh yeah, Qwirkle Cubes just came out by the makers of Qwirkle and Crosswise. Rings and Gobblet have both been popular, too.
We have others if you need more suggestions.
Anita |
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Thank you for all the game suggestions! We've bought some real duds so it's nice to get recommendations. We love SET too.
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Blessings,
Brenda (mom to 6)
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Cay Gibson
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Natalia wrote:
Cay,
Could you share what they are planning? That sounds like fun!
I could have a multi age water party... in the front yard?!
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Natalia,
Not sure if you wanted the children's lists or the water party plans so I'll share both.
First, I sit down w/ the children and make one list, then I include things I'd like to do w/ them during the summers (trips and such). This year, I decided to break down the list to see exactly what we could afford this summer. Free things are definite and I want to make sure we have enough of them.
All in all, I'm keeping the summer quiet. We haven't signed up for any camps or commitments other than library storytime and a babysitting class. We had our baseball party tonight so that is finished. 
FREE
- Spar Waterpark (our local waterpark where we have membership through dh's employer---we've been 4xs already so we're on a roll)
- Library Storytime (free---yearly tradition)
- Campout in backyard (free)
- Beach (free)
- Swimming @ aunt's/cousin's/friend's who have been dear enough to offer (free---we'll bring the watermelon)
CHEAP
- Blue Bayou Waterpark (done---4-H end-of-year paid field trip for C & G/only had to pay our tickets & Annie's)
- Sno-cones
- Ice Cream Parlor & trip over the crosswalk (yearly tradition)
- Roller Skating ($10 for girls to skate---Garrett now has his own spending money)
- Movies (the children want to see Up. I want to see Night at the Museum 2 price varies depending on popcorn and cold drinks ---we might not even get to go if they don't all agree to get the kiddie pack )
- Shangri La Botanical Gardens (I do plan to make this a priority---if not this summer than this autumn)
- Blueberry Picking
- Visit Marcie, Alice, and Colleen (and see those BABIES!!!---price of gas)
- Zoo (small area zoo)
- 4th of July Summer Trip to Family Camp (cheap except for lots of food purchasing)
RATS! LIFE IS NOT FREE
WATER PARTY @ HOME
I have to ask Annie for her very detailed, drawn-out list.
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Cay Gibson
"There are 49 states, then there is Louisiana." ~ Chef Emeril
wife to Mark '86
mom to 5
Cajun Cottage Under the Oaks
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Topic: Summer entertainment on a budget
