Beat the Heat!

Summer is here and it is in full swing! This weekend its supposed to reach the 100's and I'm already starting to get anxiety about it. Can we just fast forward to Fall? No, I kid.. but really. Summertime is bittersweet to me: I love hanging out by the pool with my family every weekend, but with summer also comes fruit on our trees. Sounds great--but its more of a hassle. We have a nectarine tree that produced HUNDREDS of nectarines last year--we couldn't keep up with it. The fruit eventually just started falling off the tree, and at one point I went outside to pick up the fallen fruit and counted 256 on the ground--that's not counting all of the fruit that we had picked off the tree, eaten, made jam with (my husband is a jack-of-all-trades: we had so many nectarines that he got creative and looked up a recipe to make nectarine jam.. it turned out so good that we jarred it and handed it out to family). We promised ourselves that we would keep up with the tree this year--even if we weren't going to eat it, we'd pick it and give it away to neighbors (or whoever wants them). I know it doesn't sound like that big of a problem, but with fruit falling off the trees, the squirrels get to it and eat half of them, leaving the other half for bees. Ah! That alone is reason to keep up with all of this fruit. Anyways, our nectarines are almost ready to be picked, and we're going to have to start getting creative with what to do with it. 

We also have an apple tree--last year it didn't produce much fruit, but this year there are already TONS of apples almost ready to be picked. I've already got some plans for those: I've pinned some apple butter recipes on pinterest that I'm excited to make. 

Now that the heat is here, I'm finding that I have to get creative with our time. I don't want to be outside all day (like I said earlier, its supposed to reach the 100's this weekend), but I also don't want to spend all day inside in the AC (okay, wait, that sounds kinda nice.. but the kids don't like it). If you're in the same boat as me and have no idea what to do to occupy your kids, here are a few cheap ideas to keep them happy:

• Obviously, first and foremost, find a community pool if you don't have one accessible to you. We bought an above-ground pool this year so I know we'll be spending a ton of time in that. 

• Find a local splash pad. We have a few that we can go to; a small one at a park down the street from my house, or a HUGE one at a campsite about 10 minutes away from my house (it costs $6 for a day use--totally cheap). These things are an AWESOME way for kids to stay cool (and to run around and get all of their energy out!)

• Find a local trampoline park. I know, I know--I wrote a blog about this the other day--but these really are a great way to get your kids energy out and stay out of the heat. These places are cheap to get into and a lot of them have coupons and groupons that you can buy. 

• Chuck E. Cheese. I know--sounds kinda awful--but this place is usually pretty dead during the week. I didn't realize how cheap it was to take my kids there; we went and spent about 4 hours there and I only spent $20--that's pretty good! The kids had a blast, I didn't break the bank, they were worn out, and we were able to stay out of the heat!
• Take your kids to the movies! Not sure whether your child will do okay at a movie? Find a theater that plays older movies. We have a theater down the street from our house that plays movies that were recently in theaters, but no longer in them anymore. The tickets are really cheap--about $3 a person--so if your kid throws a fit and you have to leave, its not like you'll be out $30. Win/win. :)
• Arts and crafts at home! Its never too early to start planning for Christmas. Do you plan on making a hand print plate for grandma? Or salt-dough hand print ornaments for grandpa? Do it now! You'll be occupied inside with an activity, and it'll give you plenty of time to perfect how it looks--or, if it turns out a disaster, plenty of time to shop for a new gift ;)
• Frozen yogurt! My kids are obsessed with this stuff--its totally a treat when we take them to go get some. It gets you out of the house, you can choose however much money you want to spend there, and your kids will LOVE it!

I fully intend on utilizing all of these ideas this summer to keep my kids occupied. Its 3 months until Fall--so that's plenty of time to make lots of memories. Make this summer the best summer you've ever had <3