If I could live outside, I would. I feel like I did live outside as a kid! But I love any and all outdoor activities, and I love that my boys have that same excitement that I do when it's time to go outside! Lucky for me I married an outdoorsman too :D That said, this is a typical outdoor evening in our house, I'm sure it's pretty typical of most families with little ones!
My oldest recently joined soccer, and while he might not enjoy participating in the game itself, he loves to practice at home with his family!! This makes for a great night outdoors in our household!
We live in town, but on the river, so our backyard is decent sized. We usually start off any outdoor activity with lots of excitement! So like I said, we've been playing soccer a lot. We use our fences as the goals and we just kick the ball back and forth while hoping dad doesn't use his super kick and lose the ball in the river! After a few minutes it turns into keep-a-way game from the 2 year old...which the 4 year old finds hilarious, the 2 year old-not so much! So we usually give him his own ball and the fun continues. Then my husbands inner coach (which he actually is a football coach, but for teenagers!) comes out and soccer begins to feel like a chore for everyone invloved, so we regroup with some bubbles. My boys LOVE bubbles, I'm sure most kids do as well!! After about 10 minutes, I trade off the bubble blowing to Mr. Stevens as I'm out of breath...20 minutes later the kids are soaking wet but laughing and having a good time!! Usually when my kids get wet or sticky, something in their head tells them to jump in the sandbox and turn into PigPen from Peanuts with a rainbow of dirt around them :D I'm all for kids getting dirty, but I've become a bit of a germaphobe since becoming a mom IE: I'm an insane person that washes my hands 4500 times a day :D So I sit back and cringe as they play and have fun. An hour or 2 has usually passed at this point and I see my boys doing the potty dance. Ahh, this is the perfect opportunity to go inside and take a bath but I need to move quick as my potty training 2 year old is only wearing underwear...ahhh too late. So off comes the sticky, stinky, dirty, grass stained clothes and down the laundry chute they go while my little men soak in the tub for some fun that will keep them clean too and I lay down for a quick nap on the bathroom floor! This is where I"m grateful to have taken the Clorox2 Play 2Day Pledge
http://clorox2play2day.com, ! It was well worth the dirty clothes to see the joy in my kids face (and I'll admit, my husband and I were having a good time too)!
Playing outdoors is a favorite past time of my family, I'm sure it's a favorite for many of you out there too!! There is so much to do, and it's a great way to keep my kids active while having fun at the same time! And of course there is the added bonus that I know I'm not alone in relishing-the passing out in 30 seconds flat at bedtime and getting a great nights sleep-oh the boys do that too! :D
“I wrote this blog post while participating in the SocialMoms and Clorox2® blogging program, for a gift card worth $40. For more information on how you can participate, click here.” (make sure you link tohttp://clorox2.socialmoms.com/about)
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