It’s inevitable this time of year. Both boys are out of school and all of the sudden people are asking us about our summer plans.

Actually, this is probably the first time that I have had a real answer. See, last week I printed out a summer calendar for our family which includes the following:

Vacation Bible School

Our church is doing Pandamania VBS this year, and I get to be my son’s teacher for the first time! I’ve been helping out with VBS for about 5 years, but I’ve always requested the older kids (3, 4, 5th grade). Grant is going into 3rd grade next year, so I asked to be his “shepherd” this year! I’m very excited about the kids in my group. Our church is known for its amazing VBS program, and we always have around 200 kids attending. I told you a bit about the decorations last year, and I’m sure they will be just as amazing this year!

My kids LOVE, love, love VBS. Grant brought home a list of all of the Vacation Bible School programs in our little town thanks to his Weekday School of the Bible teacher. Yes, we have Bible classes in our public school! Don’t ask me how that works, but I think it is awesome! Anyway, I’m planning on sending my kids to our church and the church where our MOPS/Awana program is held, and I might have them go to the evening VBS group in town. That would be at least 2 VBS’s and maybe up to 4, depending on how comfortable I feel with the other two programs. We’ll see. I get to be a bit of a chicken when it comes to dropping my children off at unfamiliar places.

Oh, AND my neighborhood typically has a 5-day club that is hosted by a wonderful woman who opens up her home for a VBS-type atmosphere. We’ve been going there for about 3 years now, and the boys really look forward to it. I like to sit on her patio furniture and read my book!

$1 Movies

Regal Cinema has $1 movies on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings across the country. The movies are older and can typically be watched on DVD or Netflix, however for a total of $3, my boys will get a movie theater experience without the movie theater price. And, no, we don’t buy popcorn or treats. The boys know better than to expect that! I put the movies on my calendar for Tuesday mornings and we have already decided on which one (there are 2 choices) we will be watching. It is seriously so much fun!

Library Events

My local small-town library is awesome. We go there at least once a week all year long to grab new books or movies. It has been so rewarding to see my kids feel so comfortable at the library and make a bee-line to their area . . . the science books!

Our library schedules events once a week (on Wednesdays this year) to make crafts at the civic center or watch magic shows, drama, comedy, etc at the city park. Our very favorite event the library puts on is when the Reptile Man comes to town. Mitch even joins us for lunch in the park so he won’t miss out! Last year, both of our boys were called up to hold snakes!

Ah! So cute!!

So, yeah, we are really looking forward to the Library Events!

Drive-in Movies!

Can you believe that our tiny little town has a drive-in? I heard that it is one of only two functioning drive-ins in Oregon, and the other one is in Newberg, where we used to live! Apparently we only live in towns with a drive-in movie theater!

We are planning to go tonight to see Kung Fu Panda 2 and Thor for $20 for the car (of 4 people). AND, we get to bring in our own food. It’s a cheap, memorable night!! In a couple of weeks, we will see Cars 2 and X-Men. The movies start at 9:20pm (dusk), so I’m sure the boys will crash off their sugar high just in time for the second movie to start. Perfect timing!

What else??

• Garage Sales - of course!
• Reading charts - we are paying Grant 25¢ for every chapter book he finishes. He’s been on a major reading streak lately! Wahoo!
• Bible in 90 Days (Starts July 11th!)
• Crawdad Fishing at the City Park (while I sit and read!!)
• Camping with the family - inevitably! We’ve been looking forward to this for SO long!!
• Water fights
• Vegetable garden
• Home decor projects - mostly spray painting!
• Summer Track program for the boys, plus soccer camp later in the summer
• Celebrate 3 birthdays (Cole, me and Grant!).
• Visits to the coast.
• Oregon Coast Aquarium (bought the Groupon!).
• Picking peaches and berries and canning them.
• Going out on Grandpa’s boat.
• Swimming at the Aquatic Center.

I’m sure I’m forgetting something, but those are our summer plans in a nutshell!! I’m so excited to see how the summer unfolds.

I used to go into the summer months with such dread. Kids are out of school and there is no more MOPS or Ladies Bible Study which means absolutely NO time for myself (and, yes, that is still true). However, now that Cole can do pretty much everything that Grant can do (and I don’t have to worry about him wandering off and falling down a cliff) we have much more fun together and I can relax a bit and enjoy the long summer days.

Now that I’ve told you my plans, do you have any more suggestions for me?

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