Friday Favorites - Summertime!

OK if you haven't caught my drift this week...it's SUMMER here in this house, and WE LOVE SUMMER. 

We are all about the pool, the beach, the FREE STUFF happening in town,..I love it all. I love that I get to play with my kids all day long, that we travel and have new experiences, that my husband's job eases up in the summer, and that he likes to do the cooking! I love BBQs with our neighbors, playing out in the yard until the sun goes down (super late) and bible studies with friends. I drink up every last ounce of summertime with my kids, because in Florida, you have to either love the heat or hate it, so you may as well make the most of it!

Here are some of my summer favorites!

Making Memories!

The kids and I made a summer bucket list and some summer journals this week, and they surprised me with what they remembered from last year! I saw the idea online for the summer journals and the teacher mom in me immediately loved it! The kids sat down with a bunch of my scrapbooking supplies and created the covers to their journals and answered the first prompt inside by gluing in some of their favorite vacation photos. Every day they answer a question with a picture or a story. For example:

"What did you do today that was FUN?"

"Draw a picture of yourself at the beach"

"If you spent a summer day with Olaf, what would you do?"

If anyone has more ideas, throw them my way! I am guessing we will have lots of repeats!

Traveling!

As a homeschool family, we have many opportunities to travel without the restriction of time, but we do have many "school year" commitments (4-H, sports, lessons, etc.) that limit us to the weekends quite often. I love the summer because, not only are there a ton of travel deals, but we are able to go somewhere on a Tuesday night if we really want to. We live in Florida...land of summer opportunity! We have lots of fun plans this summer, and we kicked it all off with our beach trip last week!

Summer Camps and Classes!

It's like our town comes alive in the summer time. I joke with my husband that even grocery shopping is more fun just because there are more kids and families at the store. There are so many camps and classes and opportunities here in the summer, but one of my kids' favorites is Michael's summer art program. I love an excuse for walking through the store alone, and they love the independence of an art class! I have gone through the classes with them and signed them up for the ones they were just dying to do, the rest we will sign up for as we hit rainy days or feel beached out!

Pool Toys!

So last summer, days before his third birthday, my little man learned how to swim across our pool unassisted. He was SO proud of himself, but stayed rather timid in other pools. This year, he is a darn little fishy and all hope of a calm pool day is out the window. He is diving with his sister, doing underwater flips, and begging to stay in for "fibe more minutes"! Enter...the dive sticks! I used to LOVE these as a kid, and Izze loves them, too, but they are just WAY more fun when you have someone to compete with! These Melissa and Doug dive sticks are just too cute!

Cook Break!

Who doesn't just LOVE the easy meal plans of summer? I feel like I have the summer off, because (one) I can't grill to save my life, and (two) every side dish is cool or fresh or just simply doesn't require baking or stove prep! Throw a chicken in the smoker, cut up some fruit, and you've got dinner! My Monday recipe posts will reflect a light and easy summer feel until school starts up again, so make sure you check them out. Here is this week's recipe:

Summer Studies!

I'm not a huge fan of book studies. I would say I'm more of a verse by verse type of person, and given the choice of classes, I lean toward a class studying a book of the bible vs. a devotional or study guide type of book. However, our chapter by chapter bible study lets out for the summer, and last summer my girlfriend and I read through The Power of a Praying Wife. This year a group of us are reading Passion Pursuit - I have done this study once on my own, but can't wait to do it in a group setting. If you are looking for a great study, check it out. I've said it before, but I will say it again: before I did this study, I knew that I had a good and happy marriage, I couldn't think of an area that needed improvement or "work". This study about knocked me flat on my back when I started it. It brought up tons of heart issues I didn't even think about prior, and I'm so glad I get a chance to go through it again!

Last but not least, I have started a new Thursday series here this summer:

Check out this week's topic, and share in the fun by clicking HERE!

Happy summer, happy Friday!