It's so you go to like 10 different parks or
however many parks you have like kind of in your
area for the whole day. So like you just go park
hopping. It's like bar hopping, but for kids.
I was like, do they serve margaritas? I mean,
that would be great. Welcome back to Keep It
Good. I'm your host Carly. And I'm your host,
Emily. So we have hit summer. It's here. What
are we doing? What are we doing with these kids?
My kids cannot stand being bored, as they say.
Oh, it's time. It's time to shine as cruise director.
Yes. We are here today to help you with some
ideas on how to keep these kiddos busy, even
if you are working. But once you get them from
camp or daycare, you need a little help for the
nighttime, just something for some good summer
memories. Yeah. Make a little magic happen this
summer, right? Yeah. So, Carr, you're home with
the kiddos. Like all summer. Yep. This is my
second time doing it. It was the best decision
I ever made. Like I'm very lucky as a nurse because
I can kind of switch my schedule, pick up different
hours. So yeah, last year we kept it very simple.
We love hiking. So we'd wake up, we'd go for
a hike, different hike all the time, and then
we'd come back and do like the pool or arts and
crafts. So every day you kind of did like a similar
routine. You went for a hike or a walk of some
sort every day? Yeah, that we're definitely going
to keep in the routine. My son thrives on structure.
He does not do well with surprises or not knowing
what to expect. So that's something that I kind
of have to keep in mind and base our days upon.
I made like a whole list of things that we can
kind of do this summer to add in a few extra.
Because it was great for like the first month
last year, the hiking, swimming, art. But then
it kind of got, they kind of got a little bored
of it. And I did too, you know, so this year
we're going to incorporate that, but also add
in a few of these fun things that I found and
we'll see how it goes. But yeah, I mean, it's
a struggle entertaining them all the time. Well,
it's like, once they're done with one thing,
they're like, so what, what is next? Like what,
why? Like I just had a conversation with my older
daughter and she was like, I never see my friends.
It's been three weeks. And I was like, you've
been out of school for nine days and you saw
someone two days ago. What do you mean you haven't
seen? They're just so dramatic and just cannot
be bored. I'm like, sorry, dude, you got to be
bored for a little bit and we'll see people tomorrow.
And that's like the number one thing too is like
we... have to let them be bored at times because
that's when the imagination really takes over
and they start to problem solve and like, you
know, make up things, like draw things, create
things. When you're constantly filling them with
activities, it takes away from their own ability
to kind of manage their self. And like, you know,
like I said, problem solve, like, okay, I'm bored.
I don't have somebody constantly setting up my
day and things, you know. And along with chores,
too, we are very, you know, still got to do the
chores in the summer. Like, things got to get
done. Those towels got to get folded. Garbage
needs to get brought up. So, yeah, we have a
really fun summer, but there's also structure.
There's also chores. There's also reading. Like,
it's not just a free -for -all, you know, because
then I think it's that much harder to reel them
in for school. So if you can kind of stay on
the same... schedule, you know, with some flexibility
here and there. I think you're setting yourself
up for the fall, you know. Right. Well, we like
structure as adults, too. You know, like we like
to go to the gym at a certain time or, you know,
do this at a certain time. So that makes sense.
Yes. So what are we going to do, parents? What
are we doing this summer? Here's a few ideas,
things that, you know. don't usually cost a lot
of money or there is you know some activities
that might require a little bit of a little bit
of pocket change but so backyard let's start
in the backyard okay let's do it you don't want
to leave your house that day totally get it these
are some things that i have set up in the past
that worked out really well especially with boys
but i'm sure it would work for girls as well
yeah of course You got stuff lying around the
house. You don't need to go out and buy a whole
kit. There is so many things that you can turn
into an obstacle course and let them help you
create it. So not only are you getting their
imagination going, but you can get involved too
and do the obstacle course. So then you're like
fully, you know, it's just, it's funner I think
for kids when adults jump in and do it as well.
So that's a good one. It adds activity. Exercise.
Yeah. I think every day of the summer, they need
to be moving. They need to be moving their body.
Let's see, camping. You could do an outdoor camping.
Don't even have to do it necessarily at night,
because I wouldn't be caught dead camping in
my backyard at night. Same. I'm terrified. There's
bears in wildlife. But I'm more afraid of a spider.
Yeah, I just I'm not a fan of it. But I mean,
You can set up the tent in the shade in your
yard, just like something different. And you'd
be surprised what they come up with doing it.
It could be a little book nook. It could be Barbie
area. Yeah. Yeah. So many things. Just having
that tent set up, like it's a whole different
play zone, you know? One thing we love doing
is scavenger hunts. I come up with a list of
just the most randomest shit that they have to
find. Yeah. and it takes them forever, and it's
fun. And a lot of it too, you can incorporate
it into your afternoon art activity too. If you're
into art like me, I like to get that. in at least
three times a week, something creative, crafty.
So the other day we did a scavenger hunt and
we found all these wildflowers, herbs, little
tiny ferns, and we turned it into a bookmark.
And it was super easy. You just need cardstock,
tape, and your wildflowers. And these things
came out beautiful. I love them. They were cool.
It was so much fun. But, I mean, you can do any
type of scavenger hunt. Look for a toad, four
-leaf clover, find an old coin. We've done it
on a walk, too, just like we're going for a walk,
but let's make it a little more fun, you know,
something a little different. Yeah, it's crazy.
But you don't even have to leave your backyard,
you know? You can do this anywhere, really. What
else? You ever do, like, water balloon baseball
or tag or anything with your kids? Yeah, my kids,
in our backyard, I mean, they love to ride their
bike and scooter and stuff like that. We have
a really good neighborhood for those kind of
activities, too. There's a lot of kids. It's
like a big circle. So it's, you know, not a lot
of car traffic besides the neighbors. But yeah,
backyard stuff. They like to do soccer, those
Velcro balls, you know, those, like, you put
the little mitt on, you catch the ball. Honestly,
I think we bought them at the dollar store for
maybe $1 .25. Like, a set. or Target for under
$5. It was very cheap. But yes, we have a little
sprinkler that we set up sometimes, almost like
a little splash pad or just the regular old sprinkler.
But yeah, tag a little bit. The girls kind of
get bored with that. If they're playing with
other kids or like hide and seek outside with
other kids, they'll be more into stuff like that.
But yes, we love a good water balloon toss. I
actually just. added some to my target order.
You know those ones like where you fill it in
like 20 or 30 or whatever on that stupid plastic
thing? You like fill them all up at the same
time. You got to be invested for that activity
though. You too. You got to know what's in store,
you know. Another thing that we started doing
with the boys is gardening. We have this little
tiny, even if you don't have room for a garden,
you can do it in pots, anything where they have
to tend to it every day. you're going to have
to help me do that because we don't garden and
I don't know how I can barely keep things alive
indoors. So it's cool for them to see every day
like, oh wow, this basil is getting bigger and
bigger and see what happens when you water it.
And it's just a really cool learning experience
for the kids. So we always start it on Mother's
Day. We plant squash, whatever we want to incorporate
into our diet that summer. And then the kids
get to see it grow and how it works. It's it's
just a cool activity to get your kids started
in early, you know, right? But like I said you
can do it in pots if you don't have an area to
put in a garden just little pots and they can
do like a sunflower or Mint or you know anything
right? It could just be a flower even yeah wild
flower anything to just watch the process of
how it works from seedling to This beautiful,
you know creation. Yeah drawing contests we like
to do. So I'll set up, you know, like when you
go to like the art studio and they have like
this one thing and like a vase of flowers, you
know, and then everyone draws the same thing.
Yes, right. It's like that for a kid. So you
could set up like a Barbie or a Spider -Man,
you know, like any type of, any type of thing.
And it just keeps them all entertained because
they're all focusing on the same thing. You know,
we do a lot of art during the summer. And it's
fun. And then when you do it all the time, at
the end, you can have like a little art show.
Like, look at all the things that we did and
just hang it up for them. I hung them all up
on this like privacy screen that we have. It's
like a fence. And they just got to like, you
know, it's like playing art studio, you know?
They just get to like see their collection all
up on the wall. And it's like, whoa, we did this.
It's so cool. But yeah, I mean, there's tons
of things you could do in your own house. There's
so many DIY things that you can turn popsicle
sticks and an elastic into one of those things
where you launch the balls. You just have to
Google and like Pinterest, hello Pinterest, like,
yeah, but it makes the whole activity the whole
morning because they're right, you know, they're
following the directions and they're cutting
up the the paper towel holder and they're turning
it into this and then you can paint them and
do this and right you there's like activity after
activity like once you build it then you can
paint it then you can try it out well and these
are stem activities too which are so popular
in the schools now too right to get this kind
of engineering and this mathematical mind working
but you're also being creative at the same time
you know you're making it how how you want it
and how you visualize it. So neat. Yeah. And
you're not spending any money because, I mean,
how many of us have empty toilet paper rolls
that we can collect? Oh, yeah. Milk jugs. Collect
stuff in a week, you know? Yeah. Paper towel
holders and... Yeah. If you plan ahead, then
you know the resources that you need and you
are set without even spending money. We love
to even paint rocks. Like, my kids will paint
rocks. Let's go find rocks. There are those kits.
You can buy, like, DIY, like, rock kit, you know,
and you paint them and you're like, I just spent
this money for a bag of rocks. I know. That you
can find on a hike. Go find some. Yeah, I know.
I love it. It's like we find some on a hike,
and then you can paint them. Activity number
two. Yep. Yep. I know. And then another thing
we do, too, is we make our own popsicles. And
I started getting the boys involved. So then
we start with the mango. They help me chop up
the mango. And then it's literally just mango
and yogurt. There's so many. recipes that are
two ingredients, and you blend it, you put it
in this Amazon little popsicle holder, and they're
so good. We've never done a yogurt one. Oh, they're
delicious. And it follows the fine gold diet.
So I mean, that's why I kind of got into that
activity, because we have to be kind of careful
with what we let them eat. But that's a great
little snack for summer. Highly recommend. All
right, so some of the local things that we've
been looking into and trying is, I mean, we're
very lucky we have our own pool. But if you don't,
I remember growing up and going to the local
pool. You get a season pass. And I mean, that's
where we grew up. So there's so many local pools
in your area that you can just sign up and do.
activities there, meet up with other families.
Those were the best days of summer. Yeah, even
if there's nothing in your town, surrounding
towns typically have these activities for you
to do too. Splash pads and, you know, communities
all over have them for a family for the day.
But love those. And then museums. We're going
to be checking out a lot of museums this summer.
The first one that we're going to is this airplane
one. I'm bringing my dad for Father's Day because
he's very into planes. all these things. So,
I mean, and with boys, I don't think girls would
really be into it. But that's something we've
never tried, we've never done. So we're doing
that like the first week of July. But there's
so many museums. There's the Norman Rockwell.
If you're in our area, there's just so many.
So whatever area you're in, and a lot of times
they do kid activities that are free. So just,
you know, really take advantage of... your computer
and start researching things in your town because
there's so many things available that you would
have never even thought to try with your kids.
Like, I just looked into fire stations. They
do tours for kids. So you can go into the fire
station, look at all the equipment. If you call
ahead, I'm sure they'll have somebody, you know,
ready and prepared to kind of take your kiddos
onto the truck and, like, all the things. Like,
how cool is that for a little kid? Oh, yeah.
I would have loved to do that. So that's definitely
on our bucket list. And speaking of bucket list,
you got to make one with your kids. It's so cute
to see what they come up with, what their goal
is for the summer. Pick like five things that
you really want to accomplish or go to or see
and you make it a goal. At least it gives you
kind of like an aim to like, okay, so he really
wants to go mini golfing in three different spots.
Then you can plan ahead, and you can make that
happen, and mom's a hero, you know? Yeah, for
sure. Yeah. Well, we just did a fun little experiment
with the kiddos. Not experiment, but a field
trip, we'll call it, with the kiddos for kind
of their little bucket list. And that was fun.
So much fun. Yeah. We brought the kids to Bell
and Raven, my favorite little spirituality store.
And they have what's called a spell jar bar.
and it's not like witchy like you know it's more
of just making a wish setting intentions and
you fill this little jar with herbs that bring
out like either prosperity or protection or get
away negativity like and then crystals and salt
a little salts, yeah, a little charm. And all
the kids wrote out their summer intention, their
wish. It was just so cute to see the four of
them. I mean, they took it serious. They were...
Yeah, they were very into it, which was awesome.
They were very quiet. But yeah, that was a super,
super fun, out of the box adventure day for them.
Right. It was good intention for the rest of
the summer, right? Let's see, what else? Farms.
I love taking them to farms. Yep. It costs you
nothing. You get to experience animal life and
a lot of them have guided tours or this one garden
actually I just was looking up and it's huge
and it's like a kid day. So like you walk around,
they learn about all the different plants, all
these different things and then afterwards they
have this big barn and they do this whole arts
and crafts center. And I think it was like $5
a kid, you know, it was so cool. But like if
you look up different farms, the gardens in your
area, like anything like that, they want to help
you moms or dads, whoever's with these kids all
day. Like they set up these free activities,
which are so cool. So definitely, you know, look
into your farms so you can have them pick their
own vegetables, go strawberry, blueberry picking.
We are lucky we have a lot of farms near us too
for all these fun adventures and farmers markets
and things like that. Oh yeah, and farmers markets
you can turn into a treasure hunt as well. You
can hit up three different farmers markets and
have a list of things that you want to find and
it just turns it into a game for kids but it's
a win -win because you're kind of grocery shopping
at the same time. Right, right, right. You get
the stuff you need and it's local and organic
and all that. Yeah, it's so fun. Have you ever
done like a park, a park passport day? No. It's
so you go to like 10 different parks or however
many parks you have like kind of in your area
for the whole day. So like you just go park hopping.
It's like bar hopping, but for kids. I was like,
do they serve margaritas or? I mean that would
be great. That's like literally like a park like
slides and swings. Yeah. Like that kind of park?
Okay. Yeah. look in your town or surrounding
towns and be like, what are six that we've never
been to? And just go around, check them all out,
bring some snacks. Crown a winner, like this
is the best one. Yeah, name the winner. Maybe
stop for ice cream in between or whatever you
want to do in between. But it's so fun to just
check out all the different parks in your area.
And I mean, going to the park was like my favorite
thing when I was little. Oh, yeah. So fun. I
loved a good seesaw. I just always was scared
of that bridge that shook. Oh yeah, it kind of
rumbles. That part, like, nah. That's hilarious.
Did not like that. What about bike paths? We're
very lucky again in our area where there's bike
paths and they call them rails to trails. I don't
know what they're called to other states, but...
That's so fun to either go for a walk or to bring
the kids scooters or bikes. We love doing that
too. And you could also bring chalk and decorate
a little area or write like a fun message to
people who are like maybe gonna run. Like you
can do it. Just something a little different.
Oh, that would be fun. Yeah, to do. And again,
there's like a lot of these also have like little
stands like look for this bird or over here these
flowers mean this and it's kind of neat for them
to learn and they can stop some have like exercise
equipment on the sides that's kind of fun for
them to like oh okay I'm gonna try these push
-ups or I'm gonna you know do hopscotch here
or something kind of again gets their body moving
and again in the summer it's like you know try
to do these things early because it's just so
hot That's that's the thing you got to get out
at like 8 in the morning to go hiking or these
these things because once 10 30 11 hits like
you're not you're not gonna want to do any of
that right But when it does get hot the next
one on the list is libraries nice AC They also
provide free programs and activities. Like weekly,
there's a lot of stuff going on at these libraries.
Tons. And it teaches the kids a lot about, you
know, just everything. I mean, it's so the library
is so cool. I love libraries. I don't want the
kids to like not read all summer and then show
up the next grade and they're like, oh, right.
You lose your skills. Yeah. So that's kind of
why we started the summer off with that adventure.
You know the scavenger hunt bookmark because
now we we have our bookmark ready. We went to
the library We picked out our book and we're
reading as a family because my husband was fine
Yeah, my husband doesn't read I read every night,
but it it makes it so that it's fun for them
They're not just because I don't trust them to
be like okay go up and read for 20 minutes they're
not reading for 20 minutes, you know and how
do you know what words they're getting stuck
on, like all this. So when you do it, like we
just climb in my bed, one son reads half a chapter,
because the book we got was like 12 pages for
the chapter. So one son will read six pages,
the other son will read the other six pages.
And we only read a chapter a night, but we're
all on board and we're all learning about the
Hardy Boys right now and we're all into this
story. And then, you know, and it's a series.
You just have to find something that the family
is all into and that's hard for our level right
now like where we're at Yeah to do a family book,
but with older kids and they both can read that'd
be yeah Well, you can kind of like maybe your
oldest one could do majority of the reading but
at least it's kind of like your little one could
be looking at the words to Yeah, and like she
probably will But my husband does that with my
daughter. That's kind of their time because the
kids are with me more. So they kind of have that.
They pick a book. They read together at night.
And that's been a nice little treat for both
of them, I think. And then hopefully once my
little one starts reading, I would love to incorporate
that. That'd be great. She makes up stories and
we read a book and she just goes with whatever's
on the page, you know? Well, that's also fun,
too, is when the kids do this story time where
I'll start off the story. Once upon a time, there
was this man who, you know, da -da -da -da -da.
And then I point to one son, and then he has
to add to it. And then, you know, it's really
funny to see where the story goes. Yeah. We'll
talk about imagination working. Oh, it's so much
fun. It's fantastic. Yeah. That and, like, writing
a play. Yes. Oh, my God. Love. We did that so
much growing up. Absolutely. Yeah, backyard plays.
I mean, you could set that up and that could
be like weekly or every two weeks. Right, get
the neighborhood kids involved. Yeah, even grandma,
grandpa. Like, you know, it could be just a really
fun. Yeah, it's just so much fun writing, directing,
setting up costumes. Like, you will be surprised
at how into it they get, you know, because like
in your mind, you're like, yeah, they would never.
No, they run it. You know, they run the show.
I remember doing it when I was little with my
friend and we would just like, they have little
books too that are kind of like plays, you know,
so like maybe you're not into writing. You can
just go to the library and look up these little
things and like, oh, it's Eric and Sarah, you
know, and like you each play your part and it's
just so fun. It's so cute. Or even a talent show.
showcase your talents, make it fun for your kids,
whatever. Doesn't have to be spectacular, you
know, if one kid's learning how to play the recorder.
Recorder, uh -huh. Big, big in our house right
now. Sounds great. Yeah, practice your song,
and then that's your spot on the talent show
on Friday night. Your hot cross buns. Yeah, so
that's just some fun little ideas there. Also,
you might not be into it with girls, but Lowe's
and Home Depot do these like free Project kits
you can go they learn how to do a birdhouse make
a car or I don't know they have all these random
little things that if you see one that kind of
Hits, you know the interest of your kid Those
are my husband has brought some of them home
We just haven't we haven't given it a go where
they haven't seemed interested in what they were
doing But I think that that's so cute I want
my kids to know how to build stuff. Yeah, definitely.
You know, put things together, and I think that's
great. It's such a good skill to have. Yeah,
my son, the oldest one, no matter what we buy
him for a toy, he takes it apart and makes something
new from it. Oh my gosh, that's awesome. That's
so funny. It's funny, but also like annoying
at the same time. Like we spent money on that?
Yeah, like we just bought that. It was a brand
new toy. I mean, it's awesome that you just made
something entirely different, but... Can we just
play with what it was intended for for just like
a week? Right. What else? So also going on with
the crafty Home Depot Lowe's Michaels, I just
learned this also does a free virtual camp creatology.
So you can either do it in person or online.
I wonder if that's with that brand. There's a
brand that they sell. Creatology. I wonder if
it's through them. Oh, OK. Yeah, I've never,
I never really looked into it, but you know,
when I was kind of researching like things to
do this summer, I found that I was like, get
out of here. Michael's, it's like one of my favorite
stores. How did I not know this? I feel like
basics you guys are going to think of too, like
the zoos and beaches. In our state right now,
all beaches are free for residents. I think that's
pretty cool. You don't even have to pay an entrance
fee. Someone told me that's been going on since
COVID. I don't know if that's true or not, but
a lot of things are free. You know, like again,
Google, stuff in your area, Pinterest, like there's
just, there's so much and you probably have the
things for arts and crafts like already in your
home, you don't even need to buy it. So, you
know, Sue obviously will not be here. We have
an aquarium around us. Like, but those are just
neat things and something simple and you only
need to go one time. Like it's not like something
you need to continuously go to so you don't have
to pay all that money every time. But, you know,
once even every other summer or something. But.
It's fun if they haven't been in a while or you
don't have a farm near you to go see the animals
or feed them or whatever. And like a lot of,
so like you're probably like, well, I don't have
money to freaking do all these activities all
the time. Right. So I don't know about your house,
but like tattling here is a big, it's a big thing.
Tattling all the time. We have a little bit of
that. All day, every day. And it got to the point
where I was like, enough, enough with the tattling.
If he's not bleeding. Nothing's broken. I don't
want to hear about it, you know, but that didn't
seem to work so I made a toodles jar and it's
Kind of like a tattle but in a good way. So if
you tell me a toodle You know, oh he he helped
me clean up my bedroom, you know without being
asked you catch him doing something good And
you tell me about it. We write it down. We put
it in the jar and we got a toodles When that
jar is full that's when we've earned the big
ticket items for summer is the zoo or the aquarium
or mini golf. Anything that costs money and time
and travel, you know, that's what we... So it's
giving them kind of something to work towards,
but it's also helping them acknowledge good behavior.
Because you should see their face when my oldest
son will be like, I just caught him... being
really kind to the cat. Or, you know, like, I
just caught him helping me without, I didn't
even ask him and he helped me clean up all the
toys. You know, and then your other son's like,
thank you. You know, like, I don't know, it's
just cute. It's adding a whole different dynamic
this summer already with the old toodles. So
if you have tattlers, turn them into little toodlers.
I have whiners, so. Oh, you could still do it.
We could probably still do it. Turn them into
winners. Turn the whiners into winners. Gonna
have to get a winner jar. And I made the jar
really cute. It was an activity day and we covered
a mason jar with construction paper with things
that said like, I saw it. You're awesome. Good
job. Yeah, it's important to have those wins
too. acknowledgement where it's due, for sure.
Yeah, so it's like, oh, you keep doing these
good behaviors. And I laid down the ground rule,
like I'm not getting all these toodles and you're
doing them just to get a toodle. It's really
like an authentic toodle, you know. So, yeah,
hopefully we fill that big mason jar soon and
we can do something cool like quasi or six flags
or like a really fun day, you know. Yeah, a bigger
day. Yeah. Yeah. Time capsule. Have you ever
done that? No, but I want to. We just talked
about that. Yeah, I would love to do that with
the kids. So fun. I think they'd both at their
ages kind of, you know, get it more too. Yeah.
Yeah. But that I think would be fun. That's a
fun one to do. Even for adults, I love the idea
of a time capsule and then it's just so cool.
Yeah, no, that's a really fun idea. Bucket list
for sure. Well, and what about rainy days? We
kind of have a little list for that too. We can
go through quickly. Yeah, so definitely you could
do a time capsule on a rainy day. Right. Buck
inside. Indoor. Just think outside the box, and
then put it in the box. Right. And baking? Baking.
Baking or doing a little bit of cooking, even
some prep for dinner. My kids love to chop. We
have these Montessori knives, and they like to
help me chop vegetables and different things
like that. They still are kind of sharp, but
it's nylon. It's not actual metal. But they've
been using them since they were really little.
So they like to do that and obviously making
like, you know, sweets, brownies and cookies.
And, you know, we look up a different recipe
or something or you guys make those muffins.
Like, you know, it's kind of fun for them. Arts
and crafts for sure, because that's indoor stuff.
But sure. Yeah. Yeah. No, there's a lot of things.
Most of these things that we mentioned before,
too, can definitely be done on a rainy day. There's
definitely things you can do indoors. Oh, yeah.
Just to keep them busy. If you have an old t
-shirt, you can do a t -shirt activity where
you're repurposing it, making it into something
new. You can look how to make an American flag
with your handprint or anything. It's just a
fun little thing that keeps the tablets away.
That's the most important thing this summer is
to just pick up the tablet as least as possible.
And it's OK to be bored, too. I want to reiterate
that. I let's bring back the 90s summer, you
know, like we didn't have all this shit to do
growing up and we made it work and we went on
adventures in the backyard and like did all these
things. But sometimes I want to get involved
and have fun, too. I feel like whoever's home
with the kids, why not have fun yourself and
make it a memorable summer? These are the things
that they're going to remember. Right. Even I
have a couple things here too we talked about
for like with a mom friend right whether it's
a neighbor or just a girlfriend you know someone
you trust it's like trade kiddos for a couple
hours right hey Monday I have a doctor's appointment
anyway you can watch my kids for a couple hours
and then I'll take your kids on Thursday afternoon
and we'll go to you know the rails to trails
for a bike ride why don't you go get your nails
done or finish up that laundry you needed. Trade
things off if you are somebody who is home and
isn't working during the day too. Share the responsibility.
It takes a village. We hear it all the time.
I love my village. I'm very blessed. And we have
to take care of each other. So it's okay to send
the message like, it's not good here. Please
send help. Send help and a bottle of champagne.
Or even a box of wine. Or whatever. Whatever
you need. But I think that that's important,
too. Like, it's OK to ask for some assistance,
too, if you are home all the time. Yeah. Or even
just team up and do things together. Exactly.
Have a partner in crime, like, hey, we're doing
this. We'd love for you to come and join. You
get a little mom time to chat about stuff. The
kids have great time together. It only even you
know an hour and a half two hours doesn't need
to be a full day Oh, I know like last year when
we went hiking I had so many of our friends be
like we want to go on adventures with you Yeah,
definitely because then it you can go to the
same hike, but with two different kids with you
It's a whole new hike, and it's totally different
They loved it And then you have a buddy and you're
you're venting and getting all the things out
while the kids just explore in the woods Yeah,
it's awesome. Yeah, I love it your village and
yeah also those parents who are working you know,
when you get home from work, I know you're tired,
but after you're picking up the kids from camp
or daycare, you know, it doesn't have to be every
night, but you can make some of these memories
still for the summer. Like, you know, maybe on
Wednesdays, you guys do an outdoor movie night
or, you know, it's s'mores on Sunday s'mores
or, you know, you can make up different things
or like a game of basketball. Altogether, you
know, however many of you there are yeah, like
we have this one thing coming up, which is so
much fun I can't wait so one time one time we
went to a birthday party and it was kids versus
adults baseball and It was so fun as adults to
just let loose and like the kids see you in a
different light And you're like, oh my god, I
can't believe my mom can run like that, you know,
just it's funny It's just fun for the whole family.
So we've set up a family kickball and that's
coming up in a couple weeks, and I'm excited
to do that. Can't wait. Because it's just good
quality family fun. Yeah, that's so fun. Like
you said, something to look forward to. Yeah.
Do you ever take the girls to flea markets and
things like that? No. Nope. More or less because
that's just not my jam personally, so I've only
done it a couple times. I'm very into flea markets,
but you can make it into a treasure hunt, too.
You know, like a scavenger hunt. and you'd be
surprised at the things that you find. You don't
necessarily need to buy them, but you could just
write a list of a blue diamond, a doll's hand,
gold coin, a skate, or an old bike wheel. And
literally, it's like I spy those books, because
it's just shit everywhere. So if it's a rainy
day, find a flea market and go on the most epic
scavenger hunt. and just cross everything off
of your list and then maybe treat yourself to
one cool vintage book or something if you're
into it. No, that's cool. Maybe I have to check
it out again. I haven't been to one since probably
10 years. Well, okay. It's on the bucket list.
That'll be on our bucket list. At the flea market.
There's just so many things. There's so many
things. There's so many. We could be here for
an hour. Seriously, I'm surprised we've been
going this long. One more thing that I think
is super cute before we go. As we were talking
about like cleaning our houses right and getting
rid of stuff and Like donating it letting your
kids see like yes, I can let this toy go You
know, maybe there's another child who would like
to play with it go through their closets and
clothes and you know, there's the Goodwills and
South Asian armies, but there's also domestic
abuse homes and different shelters and things
like that. I would look for some more of those
over some of the big companies to donate to.
Yeah, like the rescue relief funds. Yeah, but
because then you're donating things, the kids
are seeing that they're starting to understand
this is a great rainy day activity. They're starting
to understand like, okay, wow, you know, this
can help someone. You're kind of giving a little
teaching lesson there, too. But it started to
get me to think about nursing homes. And so we
were talking about that to like senior centers
and nursing homes. A lot of people who maybe
don't have a lot of family, a lot of family left
or people in the area maybe didn't have children,
so there's no grandkids. And we found out that
if you contact different nursing homes, you can
get like lists of people who live there and have
birthdays coming up and the kiddos can write
birthday cards to people or draw them pictures
and you could drop them off and that would just
make somebody's day and I love that gives me
goosebumps makes me happy and a lot of these
places you can just go and visit too so that
could be a kind of a fun activity too to just
kind of or you know spend the time go visit that
great aunt you'd really really make their day
and it would make you feel good too yeah My aunt
was in a nursing home and it was like right around
Valentine's Day and we were going to see her
and the boys made Valentine's for everyone on
the unit. And I mean, it was just a soul -filling
day to see these people get a Valentine and their
eyes lit up, you know, they see these beautiful
little boys come in and they're just like, oh,
sweetheart, you know, and it's so cute. It's
good for the kids. It's just good. It's a good...
thing to do. So even if you go once, I mean,
it's a really great. Just like a community project,
right? A little different. That's so cute. Two
years ago, I looked into getting the boys into
the soup kitchen, you know, to kind of help and
give back. And I think anywhere that you can
help out in your community is huge. It sets the
tone for the family, for the kids to kind of
aspire to and give back. You look on the news
and like, fires all over the place. House fires.
Guess what? That family lost everything. So instead
of dropping it off at Goodwill, you know, maybe
look into the towns that just had a house fire
and see where you can drop off the toys or the
old bathing suits that don't fit, like anything,
a lot of puzzles, games, whatever. That's a great
way to end it and to give back to the community
100%. I love that. I love that idea. I mean,
we literally could go on and on. I have like
local community gardens, like all these things
that you can, my list is ridiculous, but I'm
looking at the time and our kids are not going
to sit quiet for very much longer. So I feel
like we need to wrap it up. Let's do it. Give
us our quote, girl. Yeah. So this quote that
I found kind of just is perfect for a summer
vibe as a family. I hope I say this name right.
It's either OG or OG. It goes, the greatest legacy
we can leave our children is happy memories.
I'm putting it out there that every family listening,
every mom, father, you just make the most epic
family memories this summer because that's what
it's all about. It's not about where you go.
It's about you as a unit and just making the
best of what you got. You can literally have
nothing and still make it really, really cool.
Core memories. Yeah, for sure. So, I mean, happy
start to summer. Yay. Wishing you all a really
good week. And as always, keep it good.