[WarMaiden]

Every year my nuclear family has a summer reading challenge. The first year it was everyone else against me...they won...but barely This year it's Team Grownup against Team Kid; our two sons are voracious readers and our daughter is coming along, so it should be a tough challenge. We will, of course, let the kids win ultimately, but only after making sure they've had to work hard to win their prize. (Which will probably be something like a science museum membership for the family.)

This year we're adding a summer exercise challenge! Again, it will be Team Grownup against Team Kid. All kinds of movement count--basically if you're not sitting or lying down while doing it, then it counts as movement. I hope to encourage my kids to do both formal exercise (they do strength training, rock climbing, gymnastics, and ice skating between the three of them), and to do a lot more Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis. This should serve to help keep my husband moving during the summer, too, as he generally slacks off without the daily demand of walking the kids to and from school.

And today, fortuitously, my middle son won a raffle at school that they were holding during "Walk and Roll Day." Now, my kids walk to/from school nearly every day; they are some of the few kids there to do so. But everyone is encouraged to walk or ride to school on this day annually. The raffle was for stuff like bike helmets and a bike from a local shop...my son won a bike! This is awesome, as he doesn't have a bike (we haven't been able to afford one) and doesn't yet know how to ride one, though everyone else in the family can. I am so excited to get him on it, get him riding, and finally be able to take the whole family on bike rides this summer! We have some absolutely beautiful creekside paths running for miles through the city and it will be a joy to go together.

And then there are swimming lessons and the climbing camp that my mom is sending my oldest son to...it's going to be a great, fun summer for my kids.

Other things to love about summer...I'm not freakin' COLD all the time right now And there's been some lovely fruit available for cheap; I'm eating a mango every day.

What are you looking forward to this summer?

[saef]

If my plantar fasciitis will cooperate, I want to go run early on Saturday mornings at a big nature preserve that's not all that far from me. Even on the hottest days, it was gorgeous & cool & good-smelling on the paths that ran under the canopy of mature trees.

Also, I love going to the big outdoor antique shows, wandering between rows & rows of old stuff. Now I've got the stamina to walk for several hours straight, even when carrying something in a canvas tote.

And today I just started remembering ... blueberries ... cherries ... tomatoes ... & eating stuff like mango & black bean salad & gazpacho ... and steamed clams, too.

[PeanutsMom704]

Great thread!!!

I'm planning a trip with my son to a tourist area in our state. We'll probably stay for 3 days so it won't be a direct comparison with last year when we went to Disneyland for a week. But I'm still really looking forward to the idea of being able to do so much more with him and enjoy myself so much more than I did during our trip last year now that I'm 40+ lbs lighter (and hopefully will be even lighter by the time we take this trip).

It was while on last year's trip, I began to think about starting this process and even though it took me a few more months until I was ready, this will definitely one of those "a year from now, you'll be glad you started today" moments for me.

[Eliana]

How cool!! My husband and son just came back from running week two of C25K, so they're not in the mood to hear about an exercise challenge. But I'll bring it up again later. I think that is absolutely awesome!! I love the reading challenge too.

We have two very different little boys. One IS a fantastic reader and would prefer to do that all day. The other is extremely athletic and won't pick up a book without a scene. We started a challenge for the two of them. Our natural reader has to complete the C25K program with his dad. Our natural athlete has to read 20 minutes every single night during the same time frame. If they both collect all their stickers the family will go to Great Wolf Lodge (amusement park hotel with indoor water park).

I wanted to just take them out for ice cream but that's sending the wrong message. *sigh* This one's going to be expensive!

[WarMaiden]

Originally Posted by Eliana

We have two very different little boys. One IS a fantastic reader and would prefer to do that all day. The other is extremely athletic and won't pick up a book without a scene.

That's about how our kids are too. Our girl is a natural athlete who literally never stops moving, middle boy is a brainiac reading machine, oldest boy is both athletic and into reading but has to be reminded to do both. I figured double challenges would mean everyone gets to feel successful. I'm also going to give them prizes along the way, each week that they beat their own personal weekly best. Making the whole thing kids versus grownups gives them a fun sense of accomplishment in beating us And, the challenges are good for us too--we should, after all, be good examples and motivators for our kids.

The only problem with summer is that I want to BE OUT THERE rather than in my cubicle...at work...waaaaaah.

On Memorial Day weekend, though, our kids will be gone with their grandparents! My husband and I are going to go rollerskating, biking, go to a movie...lots of fun stuff, just him and I together. I hope it's nice that weekend, I want to take full advantage of the opportunity to be out and about doing fun things.