Each Summer I create a “What do we do in the Summertime” jar with fun ideas for the boys and I. I started this tradition because I use to feel like the whole summer passed us by before we knew it and before we had done any of the fun things I was planning.

My goal is that the items on the list are not too hard or too difficult that we don’t get them done. We try to draw three or four a week depending on how involved they are. A few of them are repeats because they were big hits or we didn’t get to them last year. I have included our new list here with links to the ideas if they have a tutorial or printable that goes along with them. I also offer it as a printable so you can print the list off and create your own jar. All you have to do is cut the list into strips and then add them to a jar. You can take the ideas off that don’t fit your family and add in your own ideas.

1. Glow in the dark ring toss

2. Water balloon fight

3. Make glow in the dark slime

4. Nature scavenger hunt

5. Wash the car

6. Splash and Score

7. Build a fort

8. Magazine Coloring

9. Play dough

10. Squirt bottle water fight

11. Make your own board game

12. Jump on the trampoline with ice cubes

13. Flashlight tag

14. Simple Chemistry Experiment: Clean Pennies with Vinegar

15. Make tiny bow and arrows

16. Write a letter to cousins with fun items under 13 oz

17. Water Balloon target practice

18. Backwards Day – Have dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner, eat dessert before lunch

19. Hold a bike wash

20. Sponge Tag

21. Organize a game of Dodge Ball

22. Jelly Bean bracelets

23. Play catch

24. Make watermelon cookies

25. Plan and create a picnic for your stuffed animals

26. Golf tee water gun target practice

27. Make cookies and visit a Grandma in the neighborhood

28. Plan a lemonade stand or bake sale and donate the money to a good cause

29. Ivory Soap experiment

30. Create a Hot Wheels obstacle course

31. Visit the fire station

32. Have a paper airplane contest

33. Freezer Baggie Ice Cream

34. Pick a snack from Moms Cooking for kids Pinterest board to make

35. Pencil top mosaic stamping

36. Excavate toys out of ice

37. Lego Board Game

38. Drive in Movie Night

39. Sumo Wresting

40. Spaghetti and marshmallow creations

You can download a printable copy here:

I updated my label too and am offering that as a printable too. It comes in 8 different colors.

For even more ideas check out our lists from 2011 and 2012. We cant wait to get started!

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I can not believe that Easter is over already! I feel like I never got a chance to even get into the spirit of Easter before it was over! We did put up a little Spring decor…

Free printables from here and here!

As far as celebrating goes we attended a Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning that was a ton of fun for the boys.

They even had live bunnies!

We dyed eggs!

The Easter bunny brought us a big surprise this year!

They are having a blast with them! The boys also got some fun candy in their baskets from a newly discovered store called the Candy Blitz in St George. Bertie Botts beans, Rock candy, Lego candy (yes it even works!), Big League chewing gun, and tons of cool flavored salt water taffy. I could have bought so much more but I held back!

Hope you hall had a wonderful Easter too!

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I saw the cutest idea from the blog Living a Redeemed Life. I am so excited to do this to a few families that live around us. All you do is hide 12 eggs with fun things inside. I did some with candy and some with dimes, nickles, and pennies in them. Make sure to leave 1 egg empty to help remind them of the resurrection. I made a tag to leave on the door and just wanted to share it today just in case any of you want to pass some Easter spirit around your neighborhood too! There are 3 notes per 8.5×11 sheet.

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I would love to say that my kids have escaped the entitled attitude that seems to permeate the world, but they haven’t. They want to be able to buy Legos all the time and when we go to Legoland they expect that they can but at least one souvenir. That’s an expensive habit to keep up and honestly I don’t like that going to Legoland and the experience doesn’t seem to be enough. I’ve decided that its time to stop the madness!

So I created Lego money. It is redeemable for anything Lego. They can use it to purchase Legos or anything at Legoland – including the fair type of games that I am tired of saying no to. I printed up a bunch and laminated it so they can ask to do extra chores like baseboards, blinds, washing cabinets, etc. Anything that is a not normal chore around the house to earn Lego money. Then on our next trip to Legoland the only money that will be spent is money they have earned.

I made three money options:

You can customize the minifigures of the money in our etsy shoppe.

I felt like I needed more ones so that is why there is a sheet of ones only. I am excited and feel a little more empowered to handle the “I wants” next time we head to Legoland or when they beg me for a new set. This money can be used for so many things! Hope you enjoy it. If you love Lego’s check out our Lego birthday party and be sure to come back on Wednesday for my post “An Insiders guide to Legoland!

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As you are aware – Easter is coming quite early this year.  I can’t believe we are just about a month away from all the Easter Egg hunts, candy and fun!!

I got thinking that this year, it would be fun to come up with a fun tradition to have the cousins do a different type of Easter Egg Hunt then we’ve done before.  So, a couple days ago I started looking around at different themes and here is what I came up with.  I’m gonna go over it with my oldest son and let him choose the theme this year!

1. Glow in the Dark Easter Egg Hunt!  You can buy glow in the dark easter eggs I believe, but To make it more affordable I’ve seen where people just use a Glow Bracelet and put it inside the plastic egg along with the candy and tape it shut.  You’ll just want to make sure the plastic egg you are using is a lighter color or even pastel colors!

2. Treasure Egg Hunt!  Create a map for the kids to follow to find all the eggs!  To take it to the next level you could even get the kids an eye patch and cardboard pirate hat to wear during the egg hunt!  Also, don’t forget to have a few eggs filled with chocolate gold coins (aka the treasure)!!

3. Golden Egg Twist!  My SIL’s family does a hunt every year where one Golden Egg is hid with an extra great prize!  In her family they do a larger amount of money, but it really could be anything.  And, make sure to hide this Egg in an extra hard spot.  In my families hunt, my mom always did a hunt where a random egg had the best prize in it, but a couple years we couldn’t find it and they couldn’t remember exactly where it was.  So, they now use monopoly money to replace out actual dollar bills!  haha

4. Bunny Bucks Egg Hunt!  I thought this idea was so fun from Design Editor!  Put Bunny Bucks inside the eggs and then set up a Candy and Prize table.  After the hunt all the kids can come up to the table and buy what they want with their bucks.  You can set the prices for the prizes all differently!  You know this will be a guarantee win with your kids, plus Design Editor makes it easy for us with their amazing FREE printables!

5. Color Coded Egg Hunt!  Have each egg color assigned to a specific candy or prize!  That way if a child specifically wants a certain candy or prize, they can work extra hard to just get a certain color.

6. Inside Egg Hunt!  What a fun way to start the day then to have the kids wake up to an Easter Egg Hunt inside their house!  You can hide them all over the place and the kids can be finding them all throughout the day!

7. Easter Hunt Challenge!  I saw this on Pinterest and think it is SUCH a fun idea!  She even includes free printables to make it easier on all of us!  I can’t wait to do this with Nathan and some of his cousins this year as an activity!

8. Easter Egg Hunt w/ Clues!  I thought this was a great hunt for kids that are just a LITTLE older then mine (Lisa you should do this)!  Plus it relates it back to the TRUE meaning of Easter!  The Crafty Mummy even includes downloads for all the clues and some other fun suggestions!

9. Reverse Egg Hunt!  Who says only kids get to have fun?  Have your kids color and decorate some eggs (or stuff plastic ones) and hide the eggs for the adults!  The kids will think it is so fun to see you guys searching and searching for the eggs!

10. Checklist Egg Hunt!  Create a checklist of what each child should make – 1 pink egg, 2 blue, 3 yellow, 2 green, etc!  Then each kid has to go around and find all the items on their list!  You could make it fun by buying patterned easter eggs like Camo, Printed, Sports, or Crazy Faced!  You could also have a Prize for whoever finished their list correctly first!

I hope this gives you some fun ideas this Easter Season!  I know that putting together this list sure has put me in the mood to plan some fun activities!  This pregnancy is starting to get a little rougher for me, so hopefully I’ll find some energy to do some with my boys!!

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