PLANNING FOR SUMMER FUN

Granddaughters arriving for Gramma Camp.

Teaching grandson to play golf.

Just as important as organizing the spaces of your home, is planning fun events in your life. This IS, afterall, a blog about "A Well Ordered LIFE" which includes ordering and planning the FUN!  I find that if I don't plan things, they won't "just happen". For example, at the end of one summer I found myself thinking, " We never went on an old fashioned picnic!" The grandkids were busy with Mission Trips, Vacation Bible School, camping out, swimming lessons etc. The guys golfed on their days off, vacations were taken, and EVERY YEAR I think about going on a simple  picnic, but one year didn't actually PLAN one! What's a summer without an old fashioned family picnic? Oh sure, we had LOTS of family gatherings where we grilled out and ate together. But a picnic where we'd go to a favorite spot... to eat outside... on a picnic table...we did not do. I simply forgot to put it on the "planning schedule". Have you ever had something YOU wanted to do but it didn't happen due to lack of planning?

Learning to make felted soap

I can be spontaneous, but mainly  I'm a BIG PLANNER. So every summer I come up with a "Summer Plan". I take out the calendar for June, July, and August and begin mapping out SUMMER FUN! That might include weddings to go to, my husband's golf get-away, vacations, reunions, etc. It's a bit different now that our kids are married and out of the house. But "Gramma and Grampa" still need to have some fun!

One of the things we started doing when our grandkids were old enough was to hold "Gramma Camp" for a week in the summer. Gramma plans the fun and Grampa is the "assistant" and just does what he is told.  ;)  The grandkids stay overnight for a week and we plan fun things to do every day! We have a theme for the week, take day trips, make crafts, learn new things, etc. The grandkids look forward to it every summer. During the week we take pictures of the fun and we put it together in a real hardcover book through Shutterfly. If you haven't made a book through Shutterfly, you should check it out! You can have books of memories to keep forever. Now that the grandkids are older and know how to use the computer better than I do, they put it together themselves. They even put in a dedication page including a photo of the dedication recipient. One year it was dedicated to their little baby brother who was too young to come to Gramma Camp. Another year it was their parents. Just putting together the book itself is an fun activity for them during the week. Gramma Camp helps us create memories that will last a lifetime.

We also try to plan "day trips" to see things that are close enough to drive to, enjoy, and get back before the day is over. I also include in our Summer Fun time, some days to just stay at home and read those books I wanted to get through. Summer "exercise" is another thing I plan because, trust me, if I don't plan it, I won't do it! I still include it under the "fun" category to fool myself into thinking it's fun.

Maybe there are fun things that YOU"D like to do in the summer months but need to plan. How about that sewing project you've wanted to complete. Or that camping trip you've always wanted to take. Or maybe just a bike ride each week. Whatever fun you want to have in the summer, make sure you plan intentionally as to when and how you will make it happen. Get out your bucket list and decide to be able to cross some things off this summer.

Have fun drawing up your SUMMER CALENDAR OF FUN and then get busy planning it! You'll never regret making a decision to do this planning but you JUST may regret not doing those things you've always wanted to do but  just let time get away with you and NOT doing them.

HAVE FUN! ; )