Summer Fun

We've had one busy summer already and so much more to do! So far we've gone to the Memorial Day Parade, hosted a family game night, went to Scout Day in the Park, went to 2 cookouts at the Y camp, 2 family picnics, Michigan Adventure, went wild berry picking, watched the fireworks on Gun Lake, a week of Vacation Bible School, and gone to the park and swam quite a few times. We've crammed a whole lot into June and July has just begun! The park has been one of our favorite evening activities. I can take all 3 kids by myself and swim with them with no problem. The water is nice and shallow so Lauren and Nick can do pretty well, and I'm having a lot of fun teaching them how to swim. Even better, the park used to charge $5 to come in, but they did away with it this year, so it's FREE! Now that's a deal! A trip to the beach for $5!

We've got quite a bit planned for July. For Father's Day, Matt asked for a new tent so that we could go family camping, and we've been scouting out campgrounds that are reasonably priced and geared towards families. I know it's not "camping" if you are doing activities and stuff that are all programmed out, but when you're dealing with a 4yr old and a 2yr old, sometimes you have to take one for the team.

One nice thing about where we live is that there is no shortage of yard sales. I've picked up a few really nice things this summer that were on my list (well one of my lists!) and we've saved quite a bit of money by shopping used vs new. We were seriously considering buying new bunkbeds for the boys, and we had gone so far as to go in at Art Van and look around, and before the final decision decided to give Craigslist another once over, and came across a twin over full set for $40! Considering we were ready to spend $300, it was a great deal! They certainly weren't perfect, but unless we spend $260 on repainting them, we're still pretty far ahead on the deal.

We're having a birthday party for Nick, and a half birthday party for Nathan in a few weeks, and I've been couponing my way to rounding out the menu. I've got quite a few things stashed like pasta salad mixes, hot dogs, buns, condiments, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to feed everyone we've invited for under $50! We're having the party at the park (the one mentioned previously with the beach), so no cost there either. Should be a good time and I'm really looking forward to it.