Go Out and Play

This summer I’ve had a few opportunities to do something that I’ve missed out on for a long time—play. For a variety of reasons I think I’d forgotten how. I highly recommend it. Here are some fun discoveries that I made when I went out to play this summer.

1) Bubbles and glow sticks are a great alternative to fire works – They banned fireworks in our area years ago but this year the fire danger meant that, for 4th of July, we couldn’t even find party poppers or those cool snappers that you throw on the ground. So we opted for glow sticks and bubbles. While dividing the stuff equally between my kids I suddenly found myself holding one glow stick back and asking my oldest, “Can I have one?” After a token eye-roll/smirk he said yes. With a blue glowing bracelet I grabbed a bottle of grape bubbles and proceeded to blow until my lungs gave out. I even sent a few through a hole in our fence to our neighbors’ barking dogs. It was the best 4th ever!

2) Joining in the fun at Jump Man Jump is better than hanging back and watching the kids play – For those of you who aren’t aware, Jump Man Jump is a party place full of jump houses, bouncy slides, and other air-pumped activities. When I heard my friend Jane shriek with delight as she flew down the biggest slide I simply couldn’t resist. Those slides are a blast!

3) Tennis for the Blind – I probably don’t need to clarify that I am not an athlete. I couldn’t even get the hang of beep ball when my low vision specialist tried to teach me the skill. Well, a few weeks ago we visited my parents and Dad, my sister Kristy and I took the kids to a tennis court to whack a ball around. I decided to take a few swings. I discovered that I have a wicked serve. More than that, when I really listen and concentrate I can actually hit the ball when it’s served to me. So to those of you who passed me up when it came time to choose sports teams in 5th grade: you missed out.

4) Squirt gun fight! – We’ve had temperatures in the upper ‘90s and well into the 100s all summer so when Nathan’s squirt gun broke it was a major tragedy. Christian assured me that he didn’t need one (at 16 he’s a bit too cool for squirt guns) but I had a feeling he might change his mind. I bought him one. Since he wasn’t home I kinda “borrowed” it while Nathan was breaking his in. When it’s 100+ outside a mom can’t be responsible for her actions. In case you didn’t know, squirt guns are awesome!

5) Wading pools aren’t for preschoolers only – That same day I took a dip in Nathan’s wading pool. Hey, I needed to reload my squirt gun and it was closer than the hose.

I hope these provide some ideas for the next time you get bored this summer.

Go play!
Jeanette