Summer Days, week 1

Summer is in full swing here at the Thatcher homestead. We had a busy, fun first week.
We went to the park and played with friends, went to see Race to Witch Mountain at the dollar theatre, went to the botanic gardens, the aquarium and planted a vegetable garden (I know, we got a little bit of a late start!) Here are some pictures of the week.In the children's garden.Riding a gi-Ant!
I wish I had taken more pictures at the gardens, it was beautiful!Just chillin' in the stroller.Workin' in our garden...Grace is supervising!The finished product. We planted 2 tomato plants (a beefsteak and an early girl), a red bell pepper plant, a butternut squash plant and then seeds for carrots, zucchini and yellow squash...now let's see if they actually grow and bear fruit! This is my first attempt ever, so we'll see how it goes!Cooling off after all the hard work!

Those of you that know me, know that I am not a scheduled person...I kind of fly by the seat of my pants. Well, I have found that as my children are getting older, that doesn't really work. I am tired of them getting into the pantry all day, asking me if they can go to a friends house or when we are going to go someplace fun, all day, etc, etc...I also needed to find a way for us not to waste our summer in front of the TV, so I put together a summer schedule. Here's our basic daily schedule:The sheet on the left is our daily schedule and on the right is their check-off sheet (click it to enlarge). My kids love to tell time, so I put the clocks in for a little novelty. The check-off sheet is for the things that they need to accomplish to be able to do our fun activities.
Our weekly schedule is:
Mon-At home day
Tues-Park day
Wed-Movie day (they have free kid movies at our theatre every wed., if you have a Regal/Cinemark movie theatre around you check it out to see if they offer the same)
Thurs-Field trip day (we will go swimming, to the zoo, children's museum, etc. I have passes to the zoo and museum)
Fri-At home day
Now my kids know what to expect and hopefully it will cut down on the constant inquiries!
Today was the first day that we put this into effect. We are half way through the day and it has gone really well. We have only had a few squabbles, but all in all the first half of the first day has been a success! I'll let you know later if it continues to be.
I feel pretty well prepared for a fun, productive summer...how 'bout you?