NYC here we come

Over the years I have traveled to almost every continent except Australia and have enjoyed meeting new people and new cultures. New York is a true melting pot. Every nationality and culture is found there. I can't wait for Daniel to see it with his own eyes. There is no place on earth truly as enchanting as New York City. My daughter Bianca even wrote a song about it. But families with a small budget don't have to spend money having summer fun. I was reading a blog today that has some nice and cool ideas. She wrote:

"It’s hard these days to come up with fun ideas of things you can do together with your family that are inexpensive, fun, and get everyone involved at every age in the family.  A few years ago I started to make a list of ideas for things to do with family by gathering ideas from others.  I came across many fun, inexpensive things you can do with your family to have a good time and I thought some of you would like seeing the list of ideas I have gathered in case you are trying to come up with fun activities to do with your own families this summer.  Here are a few fun ideas from the list for you:

FAMILY FUN ACTIVITY IDEAS

Create a family vacation collage board where it starts empty and each vacation you add photos and items from the trip to the board so it continues to grow over the years.

Plan a family themed party such as an 80’s party, or a 60’s party, or an 80′s party, or a murder mystery and then invite other family or friends to join your party.

Learn a dance together as a family such as a country line dance, or learn to swing dance etc.

Do a family cooking contest.  Each person bakes a dish or a dessert and then you each taste each other’s and have to cast a single vote for a dish other than your own.  Then tally the votes and see who wins.

Build a slippery slide in the backyard with garbage bags or plastic and a hose

Saturday morning pancakes

Build a family totem pole in your yard with items that represent each family member

Have a “Survivor” party.  Do homemade invitations with tropical island clipart.  Divide the guests into tribes the day before the party and give each tribe a different colored bandana, leis, or armbands.  Have the games include a scavenger hunt, a relay race, or worm eating contests, etc.  Try to copy the TV show ideas by using torches and candles to set the mood.  Serve tropical foods like Hawaiian haystacks and virgin pina coladas.   Give goodie bag giveaways with gummy worms and sea shells or bamboo.Making breakfast for dinner night

Slack line at the park

Do Secret Service for another family

Family game night

“unplugged” night for the family (all devices unplugged)

Taco Tuesdays

Family talent show night

Family karaoke night with wooden spoons and kitchen instruments

Picnic

Family rock band night

Treasure hunt

Donut run for breakfast

Read a book together as a family

Collect teddy bears or books for a children’s hospital and then deliver them

Scrapbook with family photos (everyone does one page that night for the family scrapbook)

Family video game night of family games

Family shopping night –contest to spend least money for the coolest item

International family night – theme of a country night with meal and activity that matches

Create a family cookbook with your favorite recipes

Make a family mailbox for writing love and appreciation notes to each other

Family American Idol night – pick judge or judges then compete

Movie and pizza night

Charades

Watch old family videos of your family growing up night

Volunteer together as a family to help with a charity, a hospital, a food bank, etc.

Make a family banner or crest that represents the family and what your family stands for

Dinner date night with a kid and either mom or dad alone

Do a cousin’s camp where all cousins come together at a park or yard to play games

Start a family monthly newsletter or blog that tells what is happening in your family

Do a backyard campout with ghost stories, smores, and look at stars

Make a Family Time Capsule.  Each family contributes something which represents themselves or their family to be placed in the capsule.  Choose a date when it will be opened and store it somewhere with instructions as to when it can be opened.

Family Sports Days:  Work up a sweat and have a ball playing favorite sports together. You can each take turns selecting the sport and thus keep things interesting by alternating between several, such as soccer, tennis, Frisbee, biking or bowling. Your sports day can either be a friendly and casual event, or it can be competitive with victors, medals—the whole works.

Plant a garden together as a family

Do a photo scavenger hunt as a family.  Every team gets a list of items to photograph and the first to complete it wins.  When everyone returns look at one another photos on the tv screen.  (photo items such as kids playing ball together, a squirrel, a grasshopper, an old person, a police car, a huge dog, a tiny dog, a person playing golf, etc)

Do an everybody cleans their bedroom night as a family where you blast music in the house and everyone cleans their rooms at the same time and then you tour each other’s clean rooms in the end.

Cook a dessert as a family and then deliver it to someone else together.

Spend a night looking at old family photo albums, laughing and remembering stories about the photos together as a family.

Make homemade ice cream together

Plan a family vacation months in advance.  Then map out the entire trip together.  Study the places you will visit and learn about the area you are going to and the activities it offers so by the time you go its more meaningful.  Plus you get to enjoy planning for months before the trip together.

Make Tie-dye shirts as a family or paint pen shirts together that are your family shirt

Create history:  Get to know your family better by creating an audio or visual family history. Interviewing immediate and extended family members provides insight into where you came from and how your family evolved.

Go do paintball, miniature golf, or laser tag together

Go camping:  You’ll have uninterrupted time to focus on one another.

Do a family ping pong tournament or pool table tournament or other tournament together for a trophy

Go on a bike or go roller blading

Make a huge tent in the house out of blankets

Have a water fight in the backyard

Make a city in the driveway with sidewalk chalk and play city

Do a jigsaw puzzle together as a family

Do a family service scavenger hunt where everyone has to do fun service projects and the first one to finish them all wins.

Obstacle Course – Make an obstacle course using things to crawl under, climb though and jump over. Use garden furniture, old tires boxes, and mud or puddle of water to jump over, if available.

Make up a Song – There are many reasons to make up a song. To make work easier, to bring a family closer together, to make an event specials. Do it at birthdays, how about one for each time you eat burgers or go out for ice-cream?

Create a huge family wall mural with photos, drawings, poems, special memories, memorabilia, etc. that represents your family.  Everyone signs the mural.

Well there it is – a whole list of fun activities that don’t cost a lot of money and can be a ton of fun for the entire family.  Put it to good use this summer and have a BLAST with your kids!

~Amy

 Our home leave is now over. One last day to do the last minute things here in Utah and now we are headed to New York to see Bianca and Joseph. Daniel will visit for the weekend and Monday and I am staying an extra week. Time sure flies when you are having so much fun! I love planning time out to play which = Vacationing. Hope your vacation is the best ever!!