Summer!!

School's out for summer! After eight weeks back to work post maternity leave and what seems like the longest weekend of my life (we had to go back for JUST ONE MORE DAY on Monday), we're officially on summer vacation.

And this summer we're trying something a bit different. While looking for a bit more structure to help me keep both E. and myself occupied, I've found myself coming up with theme weeks. Obviously I don't want to take the fun and sweet, lazy flow out of our summer, especially since E. will be starting Kindergarten at the end of August. It will be a busy time, for certain, so I don't want to overwhelm her with lots of "work."

I've tried to pick themes that we can all enjoy, be involved in, have some fun trips, but also be able to find things to do at home. I also wanted to be able to be flexible, plan around things we naturally do during the summer, and leave myself feeling like we weren't tied down to doing really specific things.

Each week has one sort of "field trip" planned. Some are as simple as visiting an art gallery in town (we have THREE) or going for a hike on the trails near our house. Others require more planning and a bit of money, like visiting a train museum in New Hampshire or seeing a play at a local theater (which I'll have to post about sometime - if you're ever in south western Maine, Deertrees Theatre is the place to be).

I'm also pinning up crafts and other activities like crazy (my summer themes pin board can be found here). I'm planning on doing one small activity or craft each day along with reading books that are related to that week's theme. Along with those, I wanted to work with E. on her letters and numbers. She has a lot of it down and I think that she's developmentally ready to tackle something a bit more intense and enjoy the challenge of it (versus feeling overwhelmed). I also really want to do a cooking or baking activity. E. loves to cook and I love trying new recipes, and I need to work on my patience with having other people (particularly small people) in the kitchen with me.

So, with all that said, here are our themes:

• Farms (this week E. will be going to camp at Broadturn Farm, so most of the activities will be through that; I'll supplement with books and a cooking/baking activity)
• Fantasy and Fairytales (we're planning on going to a puppet show of Pinocchio this week)
• Gardens (I'm hoping to get a lot of work done in my own garden)
• The Ocean (we go to the ocean a lot, so this week should be easy to work in)
• Arts and Crafts (E. is very excited about having an art show at the end of this week for our family)
• Healthy Me (I currently see a nutritionist and I will be taking E. to one of my appointments during this week - maybe we'll even do a special trip to the grocery store and farmers' market, too)
• Maps and Geography (this might be the week I'm most excited about - I love making and following maps!)
• Planes, Trains, and Automobiles (I'd love to visit an airport and watch the planes take off during this week)
• Kindergarten Readiness (this will be our last full week of summer; the main focus will be helping E. get ready for the big change, visiting the school, playing at the playground there, planning fun lunches and snacks for her to bring)

My biggest goal for each of these theme weeks is to keep them fun and fairly cheap and to relax. I'm very good in getting wrapped in how I think things should be, but frequently my original vision and how things turn out can be quite different and that's okay (I tell myself repeatedly).

 Above all, I'm really keen to see how everything turns out, and if all goes well, to think about what we'll be doing next summer!

The Wonders of the Library

Source: http://www.tchps.org/homes/dt_50.htm

I am a reader. Like, I lovelovelove reading and books and places that have books (like schools, bookstores, and, of course, libraries). I was a pretty lame kid and my favorite place to hang out (and the place my parents would ground me from as a teen instead of the mall) was the library. As an adult and parent now, I naturally gravitate towards libraries when searching for a place to drag my kids.



Benefits of the library (when you're a parent):

• It's free. Never turn down anything that's free, unless, like, it's a disease. 
• It's usually pretty quiet. Now, kids aren't always quiet, but I know with my daughter, she's far more inclined to be quiet if everyone else around her is  - the library usually has this effect on her. 
• Libraries usually cater to children in some way. Whether it's a reading program, a playgroup, or just a nice, clean space for kids to play, libraries are usually well equipped for hour long (or longer) visits that won't feel like a chore. 
• Free magazines, books, and wi-fi! I love this. Not that we don't have all those things at our house, but it's different, and in my case, if the baby is sleeping in the Moby and the girl is happily looking at books or playing, I have some time to rest my brain and enjoy some reading that's not infused with an elephant and pig. 
• In keeping with the free, libraries, at least in our area, frequently offer passes to children's and art museums and zoos. For our family, it's kind of a big, expensive trip to get to the museums in our state, so taking out the expense of the pass is a help. 
• You meet other potentially like minded parents and their kids. It's like the hot spot club or bar you might have trolled in your pre spouse and kids days, looking for a hot date (can you tell I never actually did any of that...I met my husband in high school). 

Another tip? If you live in a fairly rural area like we do, check out lots of libraries, not just the one in your town. I've found that you can easily get another library card if your fairly local, either for free or for a small fee. We have library cards at three libraries, including our town's, and all three offer different activities throughout the year. I'll probably expand our library card holdings over the summer to include my parents local library and possibly the library in one of the much larger towns in the area that offers a larger variety of activities.