Summer Time!

23 years ago

What kind of fun summer time stuff do you do as a family that promotes family togetherness? I am always looking for ideas of fun things to do with the kids.

Some of my favorites are:

1) The Renaissance Festival - I think most states have them, where people all dress up in medieval clothes and they have fun events like jousting and stuff. We go all out for this - got costumes and everything - so much fun!

2) those big water sprinklers at many of the parks now - know what I mean? our local metro park has them - the kids have a blast. The baby loves the water so I can't wait to get him in it. We like going out on the boat too, but the baby is still too little this year to join in that.

3) Greenfield Village - although it's called The Henry Ford now (what a dumb name). It's a historical park in Michigan started by Henry Ford with homes of people like Noah Webster, Thomas Edison (including his Menlo Park laboratory) and of course, Henry Ford. It has a museum too, with a lot of old cars and trains. We go trick or treating there too (couldn't last year because they had the village closed for renovations).

4) The Detroit Zoo, the Toledo Zoo, the Cleveland Zoo - especially the Cleveland Zoo - it's a really nice zoo. The Toledo Zoo is nice because it is smaller, doesn't tire the kids out.

5) and of course Chicago to see my brother in his play. Shedd's Aquarium is really cool as well. Haven't been to the Brookfield Zoo (?? Brookpark, something like that) maybe this year.

So much fun, too little summer (at least if you live in Michigan!)

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Comments (6)

Jennifer25
23 years ago
That's a good question. I'm currently trying to find FREE, fun family things to do this summer!!!!!! With a wedding underway, another semester upon me, and a new house we are all about the deals!!!
Lately, I've wanted to do the paint ball thing! I've read about some local places where you get all suited up (young kids too) gloves and all....and you're given a bag of paints and you run around throwing the paints at each other... I am opposed to the actual paint guns used in the past...and since it is kid friendly, the throwing of the paint is a much better idea. Some places have family teams...so for us, it would be D and I and the two kiddies against another fam of 4....or we could play against each other. I think it's a lot of fun!
Although nothing beats hanging out at the beach!
My best friend is popping out twins in August so we're headed to her house out in Fl. A family trip like that is always nice. I can't wait to take the kids to Disney! Anyway, I hope you find some fun things to do!!!!
User
23 years ago
Jennifre ... how about a water-balloon fight? Fill with colored water and stockpile them various places around the yard.
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BettyL
23 years ago
Lea,
sounds like you live in the same area as I do ... A cheap favorite place of ours is Spring Mill Pond at Kent Metro Park. It is way cleaner then some of the other beaches in the area and it is $6 per car load. My children are still pretty little, so we play on the shore line. There is no place to buy food, so I usually pack a lunch.
lea808
Original Author
23 years ago
Thanks, BettyL, I will have to try that one!

One of the things I do to save money on these little adventures is become a member. I am a member of The Henry Ford ($100 a year) and The Detroit Zoo ($70 a year). These memberships entitle you to year round admission for the entire family and they are tax-deductible, so if you visit 3-4 times a year, it's a pretty good bargain. Plus there are "members-only" events that are a lot of fun.

Also, I buy an annual pass to the metro parks, that's a good deal too - $20 a year and you get in free at all of them.
Pashan
23 years ago
I live in Columbus, Ohio and have found that "day adventures" abound in our area. There are some great MetroParks, with nature walks, gorgeous views, animals and learning opportunities everywhere.

We are also planning a couple of COTA Zoo trips too! If you ride the COTA (Metro Bus) to the zoo on a Tuesday-Thursday in June, July or August you can get into the Columbus Zoo free. My kids love to ride the bus and it's cheap! Instead of $10.00 a person to get in the zoo, it's just $1.25 to ride the bus! Pack a lunch and some bottled water, it's fun and cheap!!

There is also "The Wilds", an animal conservatory south of Columbus in Zanesville. It is a natural habitat conservatory for endangered animals. It's pretty cool, almost like a mini trip to Africa!

My kids still love to go down to the river and feed the ducks too. We usually get run off by the over aggressive geese, but it's fun anyhow.

We also have a great park with a water play area, shelter houses, a super playground for kids of all ages and even a pond.

I think we are even planning a weekend trip to Dearborn MI to visit some extended family and the Henry Ford... I used to go there as a child. I loved it!!

I hope we all have as much fun as we are planning on.
peggyo
23 years ago
My husband has just fallen in love with canoeing- around here (SE Mich) we canoe on the Huron river near Milford. It's great for school age kids.

Summer Time!

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Jennifer25

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