(Photo credit: Grace Church)
Week #40 – Summer Fun Challenge: “Come play with me!”
Greetings Happyness Tribe — and Welcome Summer!
Sunday, June 21st is Father’s Day — but it’s also the Summer Solstice, which places the longest and most delicious days of the year, right at our sandy feet!
Rob always made time for play. As I mentioned last week, even as an adult, he would plan very carefully to get all his work/chores/errands done so that he could get out and play guilt-free. And…he would often try to coax me away (and maybe you, too) from cleaning, or bill paying, jobs, or other obligations with a phrase many of us heard as kids: “Come play with me!”
Last week I challenged you to brainstorm a list of FUN things to do this summer — not just for your kids, but for YOU! Some of you shared those lists with me…and I promised to collate them and share them with you. Here’s what we’ve got so far — PLEASE KEEP THEM COMING!
– “One Tank Trips”
– Surprise trip for spouse or loved one
– Kayaking
– Beach time
– BBQ’s
– Tourist for the day in nearby city
– Walking the boards
– Rock climbing
– Scuba diving
– Touring an estate
– Time with family
– Sitting on the porch
– Watching for rainbows
– Learning to surf
– Gardening
– Writing a book
– Working on a “summer” project
– Moving to a new town
– Planning a spa day (or half-day, or even lunch hour)
– Taking Fridays (or Mondays) off!
– Day at the ballpark (Minor League stadiums are great, too!)
– Outside concerts/music events
– Hot air balloon ride/festival
– Pool volleyball (a Church-family classic!)
What do you think? Do you have something to add? Are you planning something on this list for yourself? What are we missing? Send me your ideas and I’ll add them to the list!
Your assignment for this week: Come play with me!!! For the next 12 weeks — as we complete one full year of Happyness — I’ll be challenging you every Friday to a different way to have FUN this summer. I want to build the largest and most comprehensive list of summer fun ideas from REAL people like you and me! Please keep your ideas coming! And in the meantime…pick something! Get your chores done — and plan some fun this week!
Spread Happyness — don’t keep your summer fun all to yourself! Share your thoughts — and ideas — in the comments!
PS: And Happy Father’s Day!
6/19/15 by Grace Church
© Grace Church
Grace,
fun things to do, no need for my name, just having fun 🙂
1. Taking your granddaughter to Day’s for the first ice cream of the season, even if you don’t have one yourself.. pure JOY!!
2. Weeding your front yard garden, a perfect way to talk with neighbors and folks walking by, especially for “Yakers”(sp) like me…
3. lose yourself in wonderful music, either listening or singing
Love these, Ted! Thanks for reading along…I’ll be adding these to the list!
This challenge almost seems unfair because you know how much fun we have. BUT, there are always new things or revisiting old things to spark up some extra fun. So here goes:
Play in a grassy backyard with my dog – the grassy part brings back childhood memories while the dog part is all new!
Sing karaoke – my Rob has been wanting to do this for a while now, but I’m “no good” at it, don’t really like it, but maybe it’s because of the fear of being silly?
Explore my town, my county, my state…through food and drink – I’ve been to Nobu in South Beach but have never had a burger at Mason Street Pub or a cookie from Holland American Bakery , a beer at Krogh’s or a drink at Shakey Jakes
Visit a farm – there is something so special about the summer sun late in the afternoon on a farm
Make plans to see friends I don’t often get to see – not for a lack of wanting to, and before you know it months have gone by; time to pull from the work tools and schedule those darn gatherings
This isn’t inclusive, I’m sure, but it’s really getting the wheels turning.
Oh wait, one more….add a little more Grace to my life.
Love these additions, Gina B! Playing in the grass, visiting a farm, and hanging out with friends are all free…and I love the idea of tourism through food! As for karaoke — I agree, it is the ultimate risk of silliness. I am terrible at it — mostly because I try way too damn hard. Jim is GREAT at it — because he has an awful voice and just lets it FLY (with random interjections of the voices in his head!). Georgie’s in AP is the place to go. JUST DO IT!!!