Boredom Busting Summer Activities for families with TWO young kids

The lazy and fun days of summer are already coming to an untimely and unwelcome close here in our household. Rearing it's ugly head is the BORED and IRRITABLE monster's, better known as my kids. As they get older, the arguments and competition get bigger and more unruly, and I am at a complete and utter loss as to how to handle it. Both kids have a weekly commitment (one does dance and one does karate), but it apparently is just not enough for them to keep them occupied and focused enough for the whole week. So I am gathering ideas on what to do to keep them busy and their minds exercised, while we await the start of the Fall 2012 school year in just over 3 weeks. I have scoured the internet for "Boredom-Busting-Brain-Benders" and here is what I found.

1. Find a new playground/park.
2. Go to the beach. (dinnertime is my favorite time to visit the beach. there are less people there, it's not as hot, and bathing suits aren't necessarily required)
3. Visit Storytime at your local library. (call ahead or check their website first, some libraries change their kids activity scheduling in the summer)
4. Go digging for fossils. (find a patch of dirt and have the kids dig for rocks)
5. Bake. (my kids love cooking up something in the kitchen. And if they help cook it, they are more likely to eat it!)
6. Date Night with Mommy/Daddy. (one-on-one time can do wonders for a kids attitude)
7. Clean out the basement. (the kids will find hidden "treasures" and you will get a de-cluttered basement. Be sure to toss/donate everything you don't need. The more you get rid of, the better you'll feel!)
8. Screen time. (I know some mom's aren't a big fan of the TV/Video Games, but if ONE child is occupied with a movie/tv show/video game, you can give the other child special attention to work on a craft or project JUST FOR THEM!)
9. Summer Movie Specials. (Two of our local theaters participate in summer movie deals. Where weekdays (or SOME weekdays) they play a FREE or $1/ticket kids movie at 10am. They also have kids meals for only a few dollars. With the oppressive heat of the Chicagoland area this summer, these have been lifesavers for us!)
10. Ship 'em off to Grandma's. (My 5yo loves special time with his grandparents. It's kind of like Date Night with Mom/Dad, but he usually spends the night and gets all their love and attention for a longer amount of time. My 3yo isn't quite ready for an overnight without Mommy, but when the time comes, she will be spending some nights with her grandparents too.)

How do you beat the summer boredom? Please share!

And the Thunder Rolls...

In northwest indiana yesterday, the morning began with a completely black sky. The clouds had quickly rolled in from the west, and after a phone call from thehubby that sounded like "Honey, did you look outside? How cool is that?". No, I hadn't looked outside. The blinds were still closed, the boy was playing/watching TV, and I was working on the computer (the just so happens to make it so I am facing the kitchen, with my back to all the windows in the room). No, I have to admit, I am NOT a fan of storms. Ever since my 5th grade teacher showed us a movie called "Sounded Like a Freight Train", I have been deathly afraid of storms, particularly ones with wind involved. This is exactly why under our stairs in the basement, I have an emergency area set up, complete with pillows, blankets, water, food, diapers, extra clothes for Jonah, candles, flashlights, cat food, all three cat carriers, and my Black & Decker Storm Station that I got as a birthday gift a few years ago (and yes, I had asked for it for my birthday!). So, I kept my eye on the storm and it rained pretty hard, and got pretty nasty, but was over fairly quickly so all was well. The day went on, with a little more rain, but nothing major, I really thought we were out of the woods.

Then last night came. And frankly, I can't remember what I was doing, but it was about 9:30pm and the tornado sirens in our town went off. I of course, FREAK, make the hubby turn on the weather channel and see that a funnel cloud had been spotted in the area. The wierd thing was, theair was calm, not a trace of wind, and a bit of lightning could be seen in the distance. I called my dad since he lives about 10 minutes west of us, and always gets the weather that we do, only a few minutes earlier. He told me it was pretty nasty, windy, thunder, lightning, lots of rain, but no tornado. And shortly after I got off the phone with him, it hit us too.

The storms were off and on all night. The boy ended up in bed with me, and the hubby went downstairs because he couldn't sleep, to watch some TV. The lightning ended up getting so bad I decided I didn't want to be sleeping with my little guy on the top floor of our house, so I took him downstairs around 12:30 and made up a bed on the living room floor. This posed a problem, because he rolls a lot in his sleep, and ended up in pretty wired places, but I tried to contain him with pillows and my own body. Then, when you think it just might have calmed down enough to get some much needed sleep, at 2:21 am, my cell phone rings...well, vibrates. It was an 888 number, and I was like, "what the heck?!?!" I let it go to voicemail, and then checked the message. It was the alarm company from the DQ (our family business that my mom and her significant other/boyfriend own, in our hometown...which is about 30 minutes away). It is really strange for them to call me, because my phone number is literally the 5th number on the list, which means they call 4 other numbers before they get to me. So, I am freaking out because I can't get a hold of my mom or the boss and their home phone was out because it went straight to voicemail. I called, and called, and called, and called....no answer. I then called the alarm company where they told me it was the cooler alarm that went off, but it reset itself, meaning the power must have gone out for a few seconds, causing the alarm to trip. I hoped and prayed that that was truw, because I wasn't about to drive in that weather, 30 minutes away, in the middle of the night, for something like that.

Then, this morning, I finally get a hold of my mom, who said that the town was in shambles. Trees down, power out, massive flooding (in the street AND in her basement...again, but that's a whole other story). She is supposed to watch Jonah today while I work, but probably won't be able to due to the massive mess she's now going to have to take care of. So, hopefully, in a bit, when I call my dad and step-mom, they will say they are able to watch jonah today (they are both on vacation this week, but being so last minute, they may have plans). So, today I will either work OR stay home, not too sure yet.

And tonight was the town's Night Out Against Crime, where I was going to get pictures of the boy on a fire truck, to help decorate his new fire truck bedroom, ;-(. Hopefully, they will reschedule, to a much nicer day than what today looks like it is going to be like.

And currently, the sky is still fairly dark, fast moving clouds, some thunder and some rain. And seriously, you gotta tell me Mother Nature ain't tired yet? Geez!

HAZMAT Team.....coming in.

So my house is a disaster area. With feeling as crappy and tired as I have lately, my main concern has been keeping the little guy clean, fed, and dressed. I can sometimes go days without bathing, wearing the same work clothes a few days in a row, and staying in my pj's all day. The laundry has been neglected, the dishes are always piling up, and if I could see more than 6 inches of the floor in our bedroom, I'd be amazed.

Well, I am starting to fight the nastiness lately, trying my darnedest to not let it get me down. So between the nausea and headaches and sometimes, actual vomiting, I am cleaning up. Atleast, the thought has crossed my mind, and I have the complete intent to hit it hard today. Not to mention that my amaing husband stayed up late last night, long after the boy and I were asleep, to do some major cleanup of the downstairs (kitchen, dining room, living room area). And not just a little cleaning which would sometimes involve moving stuff around to "look" cleaner. He actually did a great job, making my life a little easier and lifting a bit of stress too. And if I haven't mentioned it, he has been an amazing help these last couple of weeks with me not feeling well and still having to take care of a 16 month old ball of energy. He comes home from a long day at work, and I go to bed and he takes care of feeding and cleaning and putting the little guy to bed. I am forever grateful. It makes me think of the mama's out there with hubby's that work a lot or those that have no hubbies at all (single mama's, military mama's, widowed mama's, etc.) and I can't even imagine how they would get through times like these without a significant other by there side for help and support. Or what about those that don't have family around or that have families that aren't as supportive as mine? I am so lucky to have such great extended family members, ones that are there whenever i need them. That is the reason we will never move from where we are. I don't ever want to be without family, I don't know how some of you do it! Todd and I have dreams of moving to Maine or even Indianapolis, but I think it will be long after the kids grow up before we will do something like that.

On a different note, we got the boy a toddler bed and redecorated his room this weekend. It's not nearly done, but I have some pretty cool ideas for some art pieces and paintings. I will post some pictures soon so you all can see what we've done.