Summer Family Fun

We're just a little over a week away from Summer break and I can't wait.  (Although check back in with me mid-July and I'm sure I'll have something different to say).  I love having the freedom in our schedule to do what we want, when we want for how ever long we want.

If you follow me on Pinterest you can probably tell I've been scouring pins for summer activities to keep my four almost five and two year old entertained. I've found a ton of great, FREE outdoor ideas including Dandelion Fireworks, A Frozen Sensory Treasure Tub, and Washable Chalk Paint.

My favorite thus far has been a Summer of Miles poster.  (I apologize but the pin I found had no traceable link. If you see the original pinner please let me know so I can give them credit!)  The original pin had 100 miles for the family to complete either running or biking.  Seeing as we aren't runners and bike rides usually only last 20 minutes we started our poster off with just 20 miles.

I'm pretty proud of myself for this one- not often do I pin ideas and actually follow through on them!  This was super easy though- just need paper or poster board and colors!

Every time we walk, bike, run, skip or hop a mile we color in a square.  When all 20 are colored the family gets a trip to our favorite ice cream shop!  If you're in Des Moines, that would of course be Snookie's Malt Shop.

I did the outline and my little girl was in charge of the coloring.  I'll admit that was a little hard for my type A personality to give her artistic control but I think it turned out rather charming!

My little boy is always up for a ride but sometimes my girl needs a little coaxing to leave the sandpit or tree fort so this provides great incentive for us to explore the neighborhood.  Not to mention I get additional activity and on top of that, we can work on counting, using maps to track our miles and coloring!

I hung that sucker on our dining room wall where we can see it everyday.  A great reminder of what to do when we get "bored"!

Your turn:  Do you have any family fitness activities you do to keep you busy during the summer?