Summer Vacation with Kids

Kids look forward to summer all year long. They look forward to no homework, no report cards, and no teachers to tell them what to do. During the summer kids can sleep late, go to the beach, play with friends and even spend time with their family. But as a parent I know this can also be a pretty stressful time if the kids get bored. So lets try to keep them busy.

A family vacation is always a great bet. But obviously that can't take up the whole time. Most parents are busy with work and can't take the whole summer off too. Even if you did you might just get exhausted from trying to keep your kids busy. My wife and I usually take our two boys to 1 or 2 places each summer for a few days. We live in MA and most summers we go to York Beach, Maine, Storyland, Cape Cod or Weirs Beach in NH.

A day trip can be a great way to spend a beautiful summers day. Day trips can save money since you won't need to stay in a hotel. During the summer we go on lots of day trips. Often times my wife and I need to switch off on who gets to bring them because we both work full time.

Every year we get a family pass to the Roger Williams Zoo in Rhode Island. The pass is pretty much the same price as going to the zoo twice so it quickly pays for itself. The pass can actually get us in free to lot's of other places in our area too. We can go to the Boston Museum of Science, the Stone Zoo, the Franklin Park Zoo and some other places. The Roger Williams Zoo is by far one of the greatest zoo's in the area. It has a carausel, a playground, Swan Boats and it is beautifully landscaped. Some other ideas are water parks like Water Country. We actually haven't taken the boys here yet but now that they are a little older and swim well we probably will. The boys love going to Amusement parks like Canobie Lake Park and Six Flags which are pretty close by. Anyplace with water is a hit for summer. There is an animal farm called Davis Farmland in Sterling, MA it has all kinds of animal you can feed and pet. But it also has a huge water play area with all kinds of fountains and hoses and sprayers. They also have a huge corn maze in the Fall. We often go to homemade ice cream places. They are open a lot more in the summer. I honestly hate having to end up with store bought or Friendly's ice cream. It just doesn't come close to the taste of homemade.

Our town has a great summer program through the recreation department.. We can send the kids to a local park with lunch. At the park they have a bunch of teenagers that organize and play games and make crafts with the kids. My boys had a blast last year.

We recently moved, but used to have a pool so that would keep us cool. This year we bought a little blow up pool for the kids at least. The pool is shaped like a pirate ship and looks like a lot of fun.

Go to a local lake for swimming and fishing. Last year we went to a camp for Cub Scouts and it had huge lake with lots of fish. It was the first time I ever took the kids fishing and they had a blast. Well to be honest, they were a little bored. But after about twenty minutes my oldest son Liam caught his first fish. He was so excited and seemed to like it better after that. Although we didn't catch anything else.

On a nice windy day my kids love flying a kite. Flying a kite didn't always go well. With regular kites I would get them in the air for the kids but as soon as I handed them off they would come crashing down. This year I got a box kite for them and it seems to stay up a lot better. It could be that it is made from a fabric instead of cheap plastic. But I think the actual shape is a big part of it too.

The library is a great cheap place to bring the kids. Pretty much all libraries carry movies and cds along with books. Our local library actually has backpacks with different themes that my boys love to take out. The backpacks contain books, puppets, stuffed animals, movies or cds. The library has computer games and days when they show movies.

Joining Netflix or Block Buster online is a great way to rent lots of movies. If it is your first time with either you can get a trial for a few weeks. Often times you can find online promo codes to get it for a whole month. Gamefly is a similar service but for videogames.

My family and I love to go strawberry and apple picking. Their is even a place nearby that has peach picking. The peach picking is my absolute favorite. The peaches are so much better than the ones my local grocery store has trucked in from who knows where.

Fruit and vegetable taste so much better when they have ripened on the tree or bush. It is also so much fun to pick them yourself.

1. slip and slide
2. water guns
3. water balloons
4. pool toys: Dive Balls , Toypedo , Floats

5. frisbee
6. sand box
7. bubbles
8. bug vacuum
9. a cool sprinkler
10. bike
11. six flags water thing
12. moon bounce
13. volleyball
14. badminton
15. croquet
16. chalk
17. kite
18. airhogs
19. remote control car
20. scooter
21. trike scooter
22. basketball net
23. monster games stuff like tetherball
24. kiddie pool