Planning for Summer?

craftytam

craftytam

Executive Chef, *Master in the kitchen!*, *Scrapp
Every year I've planned activities out for the summer, and we haven't done half of them! :36_1_19:

I would like to be more realistic in my planning this year. Both of my boys are teenagers and would much rather just sit at their computers playing games. I want to be out doing fun stuff!

Do you plan out activities for the summer, or just do things on the fly?

If you plan out, what fun things are on the agenda for this summer?
 
We only plan big trips like camping or cottage. Other than that, the kids and I fly by the seat of our pants most days lol. Water parks, picnics, mall etc.

I am planning on taking the kids tent camping for a long weekend or a couple nights during the week. Chris doesn't get paid if he doesn't work, so he will probably work. The kids want to camp "in the wilderness" so maybe not even in a campground...might hike in a forest/conservation area with them and see where we end up.we will see.
 
We plan the bigger things, the ones that involves a lot of money. But the smaller plans, those are on the fly and how everyone is feeling. Say we want to go to the zoo, we aren't going if the little man isn't having it. But if everyone's miserable and just wanting to get out of the house, wham, we'll go to Focus on the Family or somewhere free/local just to get the wiggles out.
 
I am looking forward to summer and having all of my boys home. My oldest 2 will be working, so that will limit the things we can do.... but I would like to do some hiking and biking this summer for sure. Also, I was talking to friends tonight and we're planning a July trip to Niagara Falls, which I'm super excited for. I've always wanted to go.

I'm applying for a teacher academy (with 2 other teachers from my school) in Montana at Flathead Lake that will take place during the first week of August. Fingers crossed.... I was in Wyoming in HS and I loved it out west.
 
We have two things on the books and that's it: Camping with the entire family at the end of the summer (the 2nd weekend in August) and Church camp the last week in July. Since I just started my new job in January I don't have any vacation time so all the time I have to off I'll be doing so without pay :(
 
Also, I was talking to friends tonight and we're planning a July trip to Niagara Falls, which I'm super excited for. I've always wanted to go.
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OMG WHEN!!!! I'm an hour from the falls!!! ACK!!! Would you be coming across to the Canadian side?
 
I wish we were in town when you come up Tammy! Like the others we plan big things, that involve taking time off work, etc. This summer we are going to the Philippines for about 3 weeks. Other than that, day trips to the city or the beach. or a movie or hang out with friends.
 
We are driving up to San Francisco at the end of June. That will be our "big" trip for the summer. I'm planning on lots of stops on the way up and back.
I would like to drive out to Zion Nat'l Park in May, but we'll see.
It's hard to find activities that will pull my boys away from their computers.
 
how old are you boys Tammy? I know my son (16) is a little bit bummed to be away from his friends for over 3 weeks. I told him, DUDE! We are going to see all your relatives and cousins in the Philippines! No gratitude, geesh....

My daughter (almost 13) and Joey (9) still like to hang out with us, lol.
 
emscraps said:
I wish we were in town when you come up Tammy! Like the others we plan big things, that involve taking time off work, etc. This summer we are going to the Philippines for about 3 weeks. Other than that, day trips to the city or the beach. or a movie or hang out with friends.
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I wish you were, too, Em! You'll have to give me suggestions. I'm planning on going to the Disney Family Museum, but that's all I know for now.
You're going to have an amazing time in the Philippines! I can't wait to see your photos!
 
emscraps said:
how old are you boys Tammy? I know my son (16) is a little bit bummed to be away from his friends for over 3 weeks. I told him, DUDE! We are going to see all your relatives and cousins in the Philippines! No gratitude, geesh....

My daughter (almost 13) and Joey (9) still like to hang out with us, lol.
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My boys are 15 & 16 (17 at the end of summer). They're both introverts, so they would rather hang out at home with each other ;)
I remember when my daughter was that age...she ONLY wanted to be with friends! She would have had the same reaction the taking a long trip!
 
We do a combination of planned, ideas for fun outings and then last minute. We have a week long trip to Yosemite in July, a week long camping trip in June for a our big stuff (I wish that we had a Disney trip in the plan - I am going thru massive withdraws! Then, we have our zoo passes and summer reading program at the Library (where they have weekly fun activities), and the Movie Express (where they play last year's kids movies for a dollar). There is also a inexpensive Bowling program. We usually hit a museum (here in Sacramento, we have Train Museum, Crocker Art Museum, Discovery & Science Museum, Aerospace Museum). We will also do some sort of crafting or building of something, because my kids love that. And, of course, visiting family.
Of course, I don't have just teenagers, I have both: 16, 13, 10, and 6, so they all get dragged to everything.

All that being said, I try not to go crazy with the "plans" - it is vacation after all, so we do a lot of taking it easy.

*btw - I will hitting SF twice within a week this month - Next week, hubby and I are doing a weekend in the city - Giants game and general visit and then my 10 yo's 5th grade class is taking a field trip to the Exploratorium and walking the Golden Gate Bridge at the end of the month.
 
Well, I work full time so I only have 1 whole week off during the summer (I take another week off in February and then spread my other 3 weeks off throughout the year to make long weekends and for "emergency" days when I need a mental day off :36_1_19:
So, to answer your question, no, we don't plan much - LOL. Cheyanne does summer basketball which starts the week after school gets out and runs until the end of July Practices 4 days a week for 3 hours and 2 games on Tuesday and Thursday nights). She also does conditioning (weight training, stretching, running, planks, push-ups and all that good stuff) 3 days a week (MWF) for 2 hours until the end of July, so that keeps her busy. We have our week at the lake planned for the 2nd week of August and on Sundays (my day off) we usually do day trips around to the state parks and our national park for hiking. We also have a few college visits planned for this summer.
 
meagan43 said:
All that being said, I try not to go crazy with the "plans" - it is vacation after all, so we do a lot of taking it easy.

*btw - I will hitting SF twice within a week this month - Next week, hubby and I are doing a weekend in the city - Giants game and general visit and then my 10 yo's 5th grade class is taking a field trip to the Exploratorium and walking the Golden Gate Bridge at the end of the month.
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Ooohh!! what days?
 
Hubby & I will be there the 23rd for the Giants game and the 24th to visit the wharf and "whatnot" ;)
and then I will be back again on the April 28th for the day for 5th grade Exploratorium trip and walk across the GG Bridge.

emscraps said:
Ooohh!! what days?
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It's a tough one for us. We have 2 kids grown and moved out of the house. Then two who are turning 17 next week - they like to complain we never do anything, but when we plan something, they don't want to come along anyway. :( Then we have 7 and 8 year old boys so at this point in time, we mostly concentrate on things for them since the older ones aren't really interested. We are taking them to Build a Bear tomorrow. We are planning to take them to Ripley's Believe It or Not museum in Baltimore sometime this summer. Possibly Lakemont Park. We do take them to the movies every other month or so (usually 3D for an extra treat). I'd love to go to DC to the Smithsonian, but driving and parking in DC is anxiety inducing. My husband has a fishing boat so we go out on the river fishing fairly often. Otherwise, we just kind of play it by ear. It's also hard for us to do much because we have pets that need taken care of (mostly the dogs and a "not so mini" potbelly pig need let out / fed a few times a day at least) and no family or friends willing / able to help out.
 
We have year round school so don't get much time off in the summer, and we took our big vacation to Disneyland in January. We made a list of things they want to do around here and will work away on that during our few weeks off- like the children's museum, the city pool, and going to the family cabin near Yellowstone.
 
We'll more than likely try to hit the beach every nice day that we have like we did last year! ;) Weekend camping trips.

I'm hoping to take the kids on a road trip somewhere this summer. We might actually road trip with Trina's family; otherwise, the kids and I are heading to NC to visit all of our friends there. We are going to Hawaii in May, so my husband won't have vacation time left for summer trips. That's ok though. I'm completely ok with hopping in the car with the kids and driving anywhere without my husband. We wish he could come, but we aren't going to sit around the house all summer. ;) I have to take advantage of the perk of having summer off.

We will also hit up the zoo and a bunch of the Historical Society museums and such too.

It sounds like everyone has some fun summer plans!
 
BoomersGirl said:
It's a tough one for us. We have 2 kids grown and moved out of the house. Then two who are turning 17 next week - they like to complain we never do anything, but when we plan something, they don't want to come along anyway. :( Then we have 7 and 8 year old boys so at this point in time, we mostly concentrate on things for them since the older ones aren't really interested. We are taking them to Build a Bear tomorrow. We are planning to take them to Ripley's Believe It or Not museum in Baltimore sometime this summer. Possibly Lakemont Park. We do take them to the movies every other month or so (usually 3D for an extra treat). I'd love to go to DC to the Smithsonian, but driving and parking in DC is anxiety inducing. My husband has a fishing boat so we go out on the river fishing fairly often. Otherwise, we just kind of play it by ear. It's also hard for us to do much because we have pets that need taken care of (mostly the dogs and a "not so mini" potbelly pig need let out / fed a few times a day at least) and no family or friends willing / able to help out.
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We had that issue when my daughter was a teenager & my boys were younger... she didn't want to do a lot of things with us and then I felt guilty going without her. LOL! Now she's married, so it's just us & the teenage boys. We really only have 2 years until the older one starts college...I want to do things together before he's gone, too!
 
For the first time in two years, my son (he's 20) is coming on vacation with us, yay! We are going to fly into Washington DC and stay for 5 days, then take the train to NYC and stay for 5 days. So much to see and do, we can't wait! Hopefully the humidity won't kill us.

The hubs and I also have a few beerfests plan (shocking, I know). One in Long Beach where we are staying on the Queen Mary and one in Northern San Diego, so we are staying in Oceanside. Fun, fun!

(Me and my bestie are spending two days at Disneyland this week! Never in all my 40-something years have I spent two days in a row there ...weeeee!)
 
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I stayed on the Queen Mary with my kids a few years ago. We had so much fun.

I used to live in Oceanside. I wish we still lived there!

DC and NYC are so much. That'll be an awesome trip!

Lisa said:
For the first time in two years, my son (he's 20) is coming on vacation with us, yay! We are going to fly into Washington DC and stay for 5 days, then take the train to NYC and stay for 5 days. So much to see and do, we can't wait! Hopefully the humidity won't kill us.

The hubs and I also have a few beerfests plan (shocking, I know). One in Long Beach where we are staying on the Queen Mary and one in Northern San Diego, so we are staying in Oceanside. Fun, fun!

(Me and my bestie are spending two days at Disneyland this week! Never in all my 40-something years have I spent two days in a row there ...weeeee!)
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Colleen said:
I stayed on the Queen Mary with my kids a few years ago. We had so much fun.

I used to live in Oceanside. I wish we still lived there!

DC and NYC are so much. That'll be an awesome trip!
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I can barely do the tour on the Queen Mary...I'm one of those weird people who actually feels the motion of the ship and gets sick :( I would love to stay there, but I don't think I'd survive!
 
Same here!! I am always motion sick. Sometimes even when I'm driving I get really sick! lol. I take motion sickness pills and they seem to help. Both Jassy and I are the same, she's worse. On our trip to Hawaii, she threw up twice on the plane. Poor thing. When we go the Philippines, I'm packing a bunch of motion pills!!
 
emscraps said:
Same here!! I am always motion sick. Sometimes even when I'm driving I get really sick! lol. I take motion sickness pills and they seem to help. Both Jassy and I are the same, she's worse. On our trip to Hawaii, she threw up twice on the plane. Poor thing. When we go the Philippines, I'm packing a bunch of motion pills!!
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We tried taking a short 4-day cruise down to Ensenada...I was so sick. I didn't throw up, but I felt so awful the whole time. I hope you & Jassie do okay on your flight...that's a long time to not feel well :(
 
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