I have to say I’ve been pondering more than ever what to do to help my monkey have a fun summer. The more fun she has means the more fun the better half and I will have.
Last year we were fortunate enough to go on an amazing vacation to Vancouver and back, stopping to visit friends here and there and taking her to all the fun kid stuff. It was our best family vacation by far and none of us was ready to come back.
This year it works out that we will spend most of the summer at home, and while I was a bit bummed about that at first, I realized it will only be as good as I make it out to be.
So first thing on my agenda: kibosh bedtime. Well, sort of.
It has been much easier to get her into bed at a reasonable time every night during the fall and winter months and a necessity as she has preschool and dance, swimming lessons and soccer, depending on the season.
She’s been a busy kid this year and I’m a little wary about how to entertain her without all the extra activities.
So bed time is later and I’m going to relax about it. The sun goes to bed later and she doesn’t have to get up for preschool in the morning so I will inevitably push it back to enjoy more trips to the park after supper and more digging in the garden.
My daughter loves to dig in the dirt, so this year I purchased our usual flowers and for the first time tomato plants, a pumpkin plant and a zucchini plant.
We are quite excited about planting these veggies in our yard — if it ever stops raining!
The monkey has loved digging in the dirt from Day 1 and gardening is a fairly easy activity to get kids involved in if you do it on a smaller scale. We are both especially excited about the pumpkins!
To help her keep in touch with her friends from preschool, we are going to host an outdoor dress-up tea party for the monkey and a few of her girlfriends.
We’ll have the girls over for a bit. They can play in the yard; we’ll do a craft to take home and a craft to eat.
You can get some great ideas if you Google "little girls tea party!" I admit I’m very excited to wear a boa — not so sure about the better half!
We plan to be regulars at the splash parks around Brandon this year and we hear Souris has a fantastically fun pool.
In Brandon, there is Music in the Parks on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Princess and Rideau parks, and Wednesdays by the Fountain at Princess Park, sponsored by The Downtown Hub and featuring live music and free activities for the kids — we’ll be hitting those. Can’t beat free!
We also plan to hit a few of the festivals and fairs in Westman, which you can find at www.travelmanitoba.com.
A vacation away from home is sure nice, but as Dorothy put it, there’s no place like home!
Kyla Henderson is a local freelance journalist, business owner and mommy. Her column runs every week in the Community News.
» kyla@lilbitbaby.ca
Republished from the Brandon Sun print edition June 28, 2012
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