In case you didn’t know from the 100 degree temperatures, it’s Summer time!! For me that means all 3 of my children are at home, for the most part, 24 hours a day. This can be good and bad.

Some of the things I love about Summer include staying in bed until after 8 a.m. Granted, I usually don’t sleep past 6:30, but I do get to lie in bed and snuggle with my babies and try to catch an extra 10 minutes of sleep while they watch cartoons! I also love going swimming. It’s one of the only ways to let the kids expend some major energy while keeping cool and it also usually also guarantees a really good naptime!

While this is really similar to swimming, I also love watching my kids Slip N’ Slide. There’s nothing like hearing their laughter as the torpedo down the slide. You’d think running and splashing would get old, but they’d slip n slide every day if I would allow it.

Another love is summer movies! There are always awesome new movies during the summer that are sure to keep the kids entertained (and it is inside, got to love that air conditioning).

My absolute favorite is VACATION!!!!! Last year we went to Moody Gardens in Galveston and we enjoyed it so much that we are going for the Fourth of July this year. It’s so much fun. There are so many things for the kids to do and it’s all right there, so you never have to leave if you don’t want to! When I asked my kids what they were looking forward to the most about Moody Gardens, Emma said she can’t wait for Shirley Temple’s by the pool and the hula hoop contest and Tyler can’t wait to see the sharks in the aquarium again!

Some more of our favorites include Sea World, the beach in Port Aransas (we usually stay at Port Royal b/c of the awesome pool), and the Hyatt Hill Country Resort in San Antonio. All of these make for a great family vacation.

Now, I don’t want to give the wrong impression. It’s not all Summer fun! The kids get bored and mom gets tired. I hear, “I’m bored!” and “What are we going to do today?” at least 2-50 times a week!

The simplest way to cure boredom is to tell the kids that they can either quit complaining or clean their rooms! That usually solves everything!

Seriously, though, when my little ones complain that they are bored, I can usually find something easy and entertaining for them to do.

They love any arts and crafts project. Give them a stack of old magazines, some glue sticks and safety scissors. Mine love making their own collages and can do this for at least an hour at a time.

They also love spray bottles. I bought 10 or 15 of these from the dollar spot at Target. They fill them with water and head out to the backyard. They ‘write’ on the fence and spray each other and it keeps them entertained!

No matter what you do this Summer with your kids, I hope it’s a fun one! Some days I am ready to pull my hair out, but I remind myself how nice it is to not have the constant go, go, go that the school year brings! Happy Summer!!!

- Contributed by Sarah H.

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