5 Simple Ways to Delight in Summer Days

It’s already the middle of July! These beautiful summer days are flying by. Evening is settling in more quickly these days.

The store shelves are pile high with school supplies. In just a few short weeks, school will start again.

But before it does, don’t miss these beautiful summer days. I caught myself this week spending too much time indoors instead of enjoying the warmth and beautiful breezes, smells, and sounds of summer.

So what can you do to maximize these days? Here’s a few suggestions:

1. Find a cool spot, throw out a blanket, and plop down. While away an hour or two looking at clouds. What do you see? Go ahead. Let your imagination run wild. Your kids will love participating in your imagination at work.
2. Spend some time in the water. Don’t have a pool nearby or it’s cost prohibitive? No worries. Turn on the sprinklers. Fill up a kiddie pool. Take turns holding your hose, with the nozzle on the spray setting at full volume, and point it straight up in the air. Run through the water. Yup, join your kids and forget about being a responsible adult for a few glorious moments. The laughter will rejuvenate your soul while the water cools your body. Plus, your kids will never forget it.

Take a morning to go to the park. Invite a few friends to join you. You’ll get some adult interaction while the kids play with their friends AND get their wiggles out. Quiet time will be welcome. Throw in a picnic lunch to really have a festive day.
Declare your oven off-limits. Use your grill as much as possible. Clean-up is easy. The house doesn’t get added heat. And, besides, food cooked outdoors just tastes better. You can grill potatoes, vegetables, corn, meats, and food in pockets. Here’s a few links with great ideas:
- - - 50 Things to Grill in Foil
    - 16 Vegetarian Foods to Grill http://ti.me/29TD0hh
    - 36 Things to Grill Other Than a Burger http://bzfd.it/29TDlQR
    - 42 Top-Rated Grill Recipes http://bit.ly/29LTZ7U
    - The 50 Best Grilling Recipes for Summerhttp://huff.to/2agvhxg
Play. Remember #2? Taking time to play not only refreshes your body, mind, and soul, it also teaches your kids that play is valuable. Michael Hyatt’s recent post on this has some great insights. Check it out.
- Start up a game of hide and seek with your kids.
- Without your kids catching you, fill up some water balloons and start a water balloon fight. After the first shot, you’ll have to share of course. 😉
- Grab a ball and play whatever ball-type game you like.
- Throw a Frisbee. If your kids are old enough, teach them how to play Frisbee golf.
- Jump rope.
- Go to the beach and build sand castles.
- Go for a walk in the cooler part of the day.