My Top 10 Favorite Things To Do Every Summer: All Moms Need To Write This List

I think a lot of moms tend to get so caught up in making the summer fun for their children that we sometimes forget it is OKAY to make the summer fun for ourselves, too.

I want to encourage you to make your own bucket list of things YOU want to do this summer just for you.

 

To get you started in your brainstorming, here are my top 10 favorite things to do every summer to recharge my personal batteries.

My Top 10 Favorite Things To Do Every Summer

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1. Jump Into A Body Of Water Fully Clothed

There is just something about jumping into a lake, a pond, a river, or even a backyard swimming pool fully clothed that satisfies the inner rebel in me. Since I buy most of my clothing secondhand I don’t freak out that they might not appreciate the dip.

 2. Eat S’mores Around A Campfire

I love experimenting with this classic campfire dessert. I might swap out the chocolate for a peanut butter cup, Rolos, or smother a graham cracker in smooth peanut butter before placing it on top. Here is another great variation my daughter introduced me to.

Buy all you need to make smores in one box at a great price! 

 3. Read an Entire Book in a Day While Snuggled up in my Swing Chair

This is a favorite summer event that I had to let go of while the children were small. But now that they are older, you will find me at least once during the summer out on the porch swing reading for hours while the troops survive off sandwiches they made themselves for lunch and a bribe of a take-out dinner if they will just let mom finish the last page.

A few of my favorite summer reads include:

• Lizzy and Jane

• Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

• Twenties Girl

I love my Kindle for summer reading since it is to slip into my beach bag or purse. Here are ways I keep the costs of my Kindle purchase low and often free.

 4. Eat Ice Cream At Locally Owned Ice Cream Parlors

For some reason, an ice cream served at a Mom&Pop ice cream parlor tastes better than one served in a chain restaurant.

Summer Thrifty Tip: Check Living Social for deals on local ice cream joints.

5. Go For A Bike Ride With No Planned Destination Or Time Limit

Once a summer, on my husband’s day off, I whisper in his ear at sunrise, “The roads are calling to me. Is it okay if I answer?” He kindly answers, “Yes,” and off I go with a bottle of water, a cell phone, a bit of cash, my ID, my bank card, and a bike lock.

Sometimes, the ride lasts for hours, with stops at coffee houses and ice cream stands. Sometimes, I end up at a friend’s home and discover her in bed, so I jump all over the bed until she gets up and makes me breakfast (yes, that is a true story, but she is one of my closest friends, so I can get away with that behavior).

 6. Go On Bike Rides With A Child And A Destination

I love bike riding with my children. Sometimes, we hit the trails, all four of us. My favorite bike rides with them, though, are the one-on-one bike rides. It’s just me and one child. I pick a destination first—the ice cream parlor, Subway for lunch, or sometimes just a simple loop trail. I slow down to their speed, and we chat along the way.

Summer Thrifty Tip: Use gift cards earned through things you already do online for free to pay for treats with the kids. 

 7. Drink My Weight In Sweet Tea While Chatting Away The Afternoon With A Friend

I may be an introvert, but friendship means the world to me. I need friends who are willing to go deep enough with me to discuss not just the good but the bad, not just the beautiful but the ugly, and I love talking about all of it while sipping sweet tea or soda together on my front porch on a summer’s day.

8. Be Spontaneous

My family has been known to go to bed thinking they had nothing on the agenda tomorrow to wake up to me packing the family SUV with a cooler filled with lunch and cold drinks (this is the cooler we use to keep food and drinks super cool all day), swimsuits, towels, beach chairs, and books. I like to seize the day in summer, so if I wake up and the day says it is time to hit the beach, we do.

Related: A list of items I keep in the back of my vehicle all summer long so we can take advantage of summer fun whenever it arises. 

9. Spend A Day At The Shores Of The Great Lakes

I was raised by the ocean. I need to see a body of water large enough not to see the opposite shore at least once a year. The great lakes are a few hours from where we live so sometimes we plan on going a specific day and sometimes I wake up and go for it.

Summer Sanity tip: These towels are great for getting sand off the kid’s skin without it sticking to the towel. They also dry super fast, never getting musty. 

10. Spend The Afternoon Poolside

I do not enjoy lying out in the sun, but I do love sitting by the pool in the shade of a large beach umbrella, watching my children play in the pool with their friends as I chat with my friends (who happen to be the moms of my children’s friends; very handy).

Summer Sanity tip: When the kids were little, I would lather up myself and all the kids at home with a high SPF sunscreen lotion, then place a big bottle of spray sunscreen in the beach bag for reapplication. Spray sunscreen is so much easier to apply on the go than lotion.  (this is my preferred brand)

What do you like to do each summer?

3 More Summer Time Fun Posts:

• 10 Summer Dates That Cost Zero
• All You Need To Plan A Summer Of Fun On A Tight Budget
• 25 Free Or Low-Cost Ways To Keep The Kids Busy This Summer