If I have said once, I have said a thousand times that my life is busy. My kids are busy. My husband is busy. We are all busy. From having children in three different schools to having a husband who is a school administrator at yet another school, our family calendar is overflowing with school events. And then there are the sports practices. Two kids play one sport each, but boh play for their high school Varsity teams and on a travel team. My youngest is on four recreational sports teams one each season. He’s also our Cub Scout and cello player. Just recalling all that we do so that I could write this paragraph made me exhausted. The school year is a whirlwind of activity…I’d actually say it is closer to a maelstrom or a tornado.
Summer is by comparison a breeze…a breath of fresh air…a much-needed reprieve from the mayhem and chaos of the school year. Once the swimming and volleyball seasons ends. And we have the last Chorus and Orchestra concert. And Cub Scouts is over for the year. I can gaze on the family calendar and actually see WHITE SPACE. Lovely square boxes completely devoid of ANY WRITING. Aaahhh. White boxes on the calendar means I don’t have to drive to five places all in one day. It means that we have time for fun activities.
I get quite giddy looking at those white spaces on the calendar. What should we do? Where should we go? Since we do have summer swim team practice, swim meets, Cub Scout day camp, and a few other commitments this summer, I still need to plan a playdate for the kids…or even an Epic Playdate. You can read all about dooce’s Hyundai Santa Fe Epic Playdate with her family to Moab, Utah here.
Where should we go? What should we do? The Musings from Me Family’s Epic Playdate would be an AMAZING day of fun. An Epic Playdate with an activity for all of us. An Epic family Playdate!
We are Terps fans…no question. My husband has two degrees from the University of Maryland. My teen wants to go to there too. While season tickets to the Terps are phenomenally expensive, occasionally my husband will find affordable tickets and take the kids. I am not a rapid basketball fan like Dad Knows Better but love hearing how energized the students get when seeing their beloved Terps play. My kids enjoy the games too!
If you mention “bowling shoes” in our family, you will be sure to hear that my husband purchased a pair of bowling shoes in the 80s for $5 that are still going strong. Though they are quite honestly the ugliest shoes I have ever seen…suede, two tone, brown…the shoes are still going over 30 years later. Our Epic Playdate would have to include a couple of games of bowling.
After catching a basketball game and bowling, we would need food. In the words of Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Twister “We crave sustenance!” And the only possible restaurant that all in our family can agree on is Mexican. So Mexican food it is!
A little exercise would be called for after we had digested our Mexican feast, so off to the bounce houses we go! Is there anything more fun than bouncing and jumping in a bounce house? I think not. My son loves obstacle courses…the more obstacles the better. My teens love the slides because doesn’t love to be a kid again?
And of course after exercising we would need to stop for a treat. On a normal day we would stop for ice cream or at one of the local snow cone places, but for an Epic Playdate we would need a chocolate fountain. We might have to crash a dinner buffet…O.K….we wouldn’t crash one…we would go shopping at the mall for new clothes, which would make my teens VERY happy. Once we were suitable decked out in finery befitting a buffet, it would be off to the fancy schmancy hotel for us. Mmmmm…I can almost taste the chocolate. Is it me or do you have fantasies about holding your mouth under the chocolate fountain? No? Only me?
You might wonder if we could squeeze all of these activities in to our Epic Playdate. But have no fear, the Musings from Me family is up to the task of having the most Epic Playdate ever!
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
