10 Ways to Take Advantage of Summer as a Family (or even solo)

10 Ways to Take Advantage of Summer as a Family (or even solo)

1. Buy your produce at the farmer’s market – leave the recycled air and flash-frozen produce behind, and support your local farmers. I actually save a ton by buying produce from the farmer’s market too. You get fresh air, may run into someone you know AND its a great opportunity to get your kids outside and to promote healthy eating. Its a win-win-win!
2. Wake Up Early- Days are longer and the extra sunshine can give you the boost you need to accomplish WAY more during the summer months. Take advantage of every glorious hour. The vitamin D from the sun is good for your mood, too. If your little ones wake up too, start their adventures sooner as well.
3. Make a trip to the park a daily occurrance- Pack your sunscreen, snack or full meal and head to the park… daily. If you live in Southern California or some other glorious climate, you may not even bother reading this post, but here in Michigan, our lovely days of sunshine are numbered. Being trapped indoors all winter can be rough. Get outside, get your formerly couped up kids out and bring your doggie too if you’ve got one. You don’t want your kids to remember their entire childhood as an indoor occurance. Get them to the slides, the swings, or kick a ball around.
4. Swap those heavy shoes for a comfy sandal- If you live in a place that gets snow or very cold/ wet weather, your poor feet have been trapped by weather too, let the fresh air grace your feet with its presence. Wear something responsible that supports your feet, but enjoy the reprieve from winter with your toes out.
5. Eat Raw Foods- There is so much awesome produce available in summer. With more foods being fresh, you can leave the cans and boxes in the cupboard and eat more raw foods. I ate raw exclusively for a few weeks, years ago, and I’d never felt more amazing before or since (remind me to go raw again). Take advantage of this opportunity!
6. Grow something! I grew plenty of stuff this year. Not everything turns out amazing, but if we’re lucky, we’ll score a few tomatoes and a ton of bonding time with our two-year-old who can “help” with plenty of activities. It gets you outdoors and teaches a fun life skill too.
7. go for a walk or run outside I love our treadmill, but there’s something that just feels better about running or walking outside. I take the boys for walks (they’re too young for running), and its just awesome! Leave the kids behind with your spouse one day, too, and hit the streets alone.
8. Open your windows- Fresh air is the best! That’s all… its the best!
9. Paint Something- winter is a humid, cold mess. Its the opposite of a good time to paint, but late spring/ early summer, before the summer humidity really kicks in, can be a great time to paint something outdoors without it getting too messed up. It also gives you yet another opportunity to get outside.
10. Clean Everything- Your windows are already opened, right? Clean your casa, and let fresh air wash out all of the dust and recycled air you’ve been holding on to for five months. It can make everything feel lighter and cleaner just to have the windows open, but this is actually when I clean with the stronger ingredients too, because I can let any strong odors out during/ after.