Getting Real With Veronica Ibarra

Well, after all my initial research and the fun of implementing what worked for us, here’s the break down on how our summer break went with me as Mommy Activities Director.

• Movies: We went to the summer kids’ movie 8 of 9 weeks.  There is one more coming up.  Our movie theater had movie passports where they stamped them every time we went to earn the final movie free. I am seriously thinking of taking my 3 year old to see Madagascar 2 since my daughter’s school started earlier than I was expecting. He may not sit through it all, but it’s FREE! Can’t waste that now can I?
• Zoo: We went to the NC Zoo a total of 6 times. Every Saturday in June there was a special bear related educational program happening, plus we went two additional times at random. The kids loved it, and my daughter learned a lot about bears.  It was super hot this summer so that cut our plans for more, but since we have a membership we’ll be planning a few more trips this year for family fun weekends.
• Natural Science Center: With our grandparent funded membership (can’t thank them enough for this) we went a total of 5 times. With the zoological exhibits and the indoor science exhibits this was a perfect combination for us since the weather was often too hot to stay out for too long with my 3 year old. Our membership is good for the entire year, so more trips will be planned throughout the year.
• Children’s Museum: Again thanks to the grandparent funded summer membership we went a total of 6 times. With all but their garden being inside this was again ideal due to the scorching weather. Since the summer membership doesn’t end until the end of August I’ll be taking my son during the weekdays while his sister is in school giving him the opportunity to play with other kids his age since he’s not in day care.  Socialization is good for kids and I get to meet other moms.
• Special Events: There were only two special events we managed. 1) We went to the Summer Solstice Celebration at our local arboretum, which turned out to be more like a fairy fest. The kids loved it with people dressed as fairies, dancing, face painting, music, and a grand finale fire show!  2) My son’s birthday. Due to the heat I made it an indoor party, clearing the living room off just about everything to erect his presents, which consisted of a play tent, collapsible tunnel, toddler slide and a Tonka dump truck. I blew up 30 balloons, which the kids took to fill the tent. There were 6 kids between 2-8 so it worked out perfectly.

And if that didn’t seem like enough I also spent several hours with the kids having Art Time. We made party decorations, pictures, clay creations, made creatures out of these things called Bendaroos that my mother had sent (wax covered string). I never did get around to that Viking or Ancient Greek week I had planned, but I still have those plans written down for another time. Perhaps, I’ll just share them with you all to add to your rainy day plans. However, before anyone goes thinking how incredibly insane I am or giving me any accolades, I should mention that there were plenty of days when we did nothing but watch TV or play video games. All in all, it was a fun, fantastic and tiring summer that thankfully ended sooner than I expected–but that’s another interesting story for writing later.