Planning Summer Fun Activities

Summer has been in full swing for the past 6 weeks and we still have another 5 1/2 weeks to go so I am always looking for fun things to do with the kids in and around our town. It would be nice to live closer to super cool, fun things to do but we don't. Around here we have to get creative when we want to take the kids to do fun stuff. And even though my kids will be splitting time between my hubby's work and here at home with me I would love to have a few things that we can go do just so we are not cooped up in the house. No kid wants to be stuck at home with their mom all day.

Here are some great ideas for this summer...

Go to the Movies
Every summer Cinemark movie theaters has a summer movie clubhouse. It's 10 kids movies, all rated G or PG, for $1 a movie or all ten for $5. If you are willing to take your own snack rather than buy them there it is a super cheap thing to do. If not this last week I spent almost $20 on small popcorns and small cokes for just us three. So I highly recommend throwing some snacks in an oversized purse. But don't tell them I told you that :) If you are interested you can go to Cinemark's Summer Movie Clubhouse home page to find a participating theater near you. These are the movies showing at our theater:

Bowling

Last summer I discovered the website Kids Bowl Free. It allows you to register each of your children to bowl 2 FREE games every day this summer. You will have to pay for yourself if you would like to bowl with your children, but sometimes they will let you bowl with your kids for free if they are not busy. You will also have to pay for shoe rentals, but most days they are only $1 (except on the weekends).

Swimming

Even though I have a swimming pool in the backyard sometimes it is fun to head to the city pool for the afternoon and meet up with cousins or friends that we rarely get to see. For me and the boys to get in for the afternoon it is $9 and we bring our own water and snacks. And then on Tuesday and Thursday nights they have family nights and only charge $4.50 for a family of four. 

And no day of swimming is complete without stopping for a snow cone on the way home. 

Local Baseball Games

My boys love to watch baseball with their dad and I feel horrible that we have never taken them to a local baseball game. This summer we are going to change that. Although it is probably one of the most expensive things we can do as a family this summer (about $10 a person + the cost of dinner while we are there), but it is great family fun and they host a ton of theme nights or nights where they give away prizes. 

Picnic at the Park and Bike Riding

Who doesn't love a good picnic and bike ride? Most kids would love to pack a lunch head off to the park and ride around for a while. We are lucky that there is a park so close. It would be super easy to pack up a backpack full of lunch and then ride around the neighborhood after we got done eating. It's a day worth of a nap when you get home. 

Our Austin Trip 2014

While on hiatus these past couple of weeks Michael and I celebrated 9 wonderfully happy, crazy and sometimes downright stressful years of marriage!

So far it has been quite a ride. Even after everything we have been through, the good, the bad and the ugly I would not change one minute of it. I am incredibly blessed. God could not have given me a better man. He is a wonderful and I look forward to rest of our lives together. 

This year for our anniversary we decided to take a family trip to Austin. And since our anniversary is so close to the 4th of July we just made a weekend of it. 

While we were gone I should have taken more pics. But to be honest most of the time I just got caught up in the fun and ended up forgetting to take pics. Damn the fun! However, I did get some so I will share our Anniversary/July 4th weekend with y'all.

Thursday July 3rd: 

We didn't get in until late afternoon so we didn't so much. All we had time to do was check in to the hotel and eat dinner before it was time to crawl into bed and prepare for the 4th of July fun ahead. When we travel by ourselves we like to stop everywhere and take our time. Not being on a time schedule is the best way to travel! 

We were excited to see some afternoon thunderstorms roll in. Rain is always a good thing!

When we got to town we went out to eat with our cousin. I don't know how he does it, but he always picks the best places to eat. (And I just realized how blurry this photo is. Eeeek!)

What would any vacation be if you didn't take at least one picture of your food :)
Z Tejas Grill has an amazing crispy salmon!

Friday July 4th

We got up early to eat breakfast and then drive the hour and half to the Guadalupe River for a day of floating fun! After getting everything in order and hauling our massive tubes down to the river we were off for 5 hours of fun in the hot Texas sun. We ended up making several new friends and at the end of the night we took the boys to their very first concert to see the Eli Young Band. It was probably the best 4th of July I have ever had.

We fell in LOVE with Torchy's a while back in Dallas. Now we have to eat there all the time. We were lucky to find one just a few blocks from our hotel so we ate there EVERY SINGLE morning for breakfast.

RIVER BOUND!

And were off... 

Perfect way to end a wonderful day!

Saturday July 5th
This just so happened to be a recovery day for all of us. We were so exhausted from all the fun and sun we got the day before that we drove around Austin looking at all kinds of fun things. We got to take the boys to the Texas State Capitol! Neither Michael or I had ever been so it was something we could all experience for the first time together.

Texas State Capitol

I love these guys!!!

Here we all are inside the capitol.
The boys had a blast!

We couldn't help but laugh at this sign at Whole Foods. 

To be honest we came here every day. Our bedtime snack was fresh fruit. Yum! I would love to have one of these here in town, but until then I will just dream of the day I get to go back. *sigh*

We even made it to The Container Store. Have you ever been there? If not I suggest you go. It was probably the coolest store I have ever been in. I loved it!