‘Summer Activities’ Articles at Sweetnicks

We had planned a trip to Hershey Park this past weekend. A long-awaited trip. The last two times we went, we actually didn’t even make it into the park – rained out. This time, I got smart and obsessively checked the weather forecast, and when it reached a 60% chance of rain on Friday morning, we canceled our reservations and went to Plan B. Medieval Times.

I’ve actually never been, and it’s one of those places that I felt should be on my bucket list. Do. And cross off. Move on. It made our Summer Bucket List, which was originally going to appear tonight, but the best laid plans and all that. It will be here tomorrow. Full of Medieval joustings, fighting knights, princesses who need their honor protected and food, Medieval Times is two hours of fun. Never having been before, I wasn’t sure of the layout and how Madeline would do sitting still and keeping entertained for two hours, but there was only one way to find out. Just suck it up and go.

Medieval Times can get a little pricey, for sure. A few things I learned. Buy your tickets online to get the biggest discount. They have a host of discount codes available at any given time, and if you play around a bit, and get creative, you can really drive the price down. There were nine of us going, and after working with the codes a bit, I figured out the biggest discount was if I bought the adults tickets together on one reservation, and the kids on another. I ended up saving 50% off the total that way. I know. Go me!

They request you get there an hour before the show starts. Now I know why. They’d like you to browse all their gift shop areas, drink up at the bar and buy overpriced lights for the kids to wave during the festivities. No thank you. We practiced saying no quite a few times. Worked like a charm.

Once inside, it’s set up like a stadium, with a long counter-type table in front of you, and candles throughout. Candles + Madeline = one nervous Mama. But she couldn’t reach them. Children two years old and under are free as long as they sit on a lap and share an adult’s food. And if you’re crafty like me, you can finagle a seat for your child anyway. Just sayin’.

Much like the circus, the vendors come around with light sabres and all sorts of things that will end up on the floor of my car or under the kids’ beds just hours later, money just thrown away. More practice in saying no. Everyone got paper crowns displaying our “team colors” (free), and that was enough for then. A wench came by selling these little flags for everyone to wave, to cheer their respective knight on, and at a buck a pop, that was money well spent. Each of the kids got one, and days later, Madeline is still waving that darn flag around. Her hat, a little torn and tattered now, still firmly planted on her little noggin.

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In an effort to beat summer boredom, I put together a now-bulging folder filled with craft ideas, activities and even a little bit of work to keep Nick entertained for the next few months. I promised him it would be a mix of both fun and educational things, this way we’re working all sides of his little noggin. And for me, I kept an eye on doing things that are inexpensive but that hold his interest. When it comes to entertaining kids, you don’t need to break the bank to do it. This notebook is case in point.

Some fifteen years ago, I befriended a woman who happened to mention at the time that she had kept journals from when she was 12 to present day (and the time, we were in our mid-20s), and still had them. I was in awe, and I have to admit, just a little jealous. She had a giant lidded basket in her living room filled with all the different journals, some with very neat, adult handwriting and serious topics, and many with words that dotted i’s with hearts and that were filled with fanciful lettering. Oh how I wished I had thought of that and could go back. My childhood memories are spotty at best (though do come back in full force every now and then to surprise me), and I would have loved to have a record of everything. So this summer, I thought it would be a perfect time to get Nick started.

After a trip to Michael’s, I had a few colorful notebooks for the whopping price of a dollar each. I rummaged in our craft and scrapbook boxes and came up with the stickers for the front and ribbons to tie around the spine. We started this journal on the first day of his summer vacation, and he writes in it every morning, recounting the day before. While it will serve as a wonderful memento for him to look back on and reminiscence, there are also sneaky lessons in there too. He is flexing his spelling muscles and penmanship skills without it having to feel like work.

He has totally gotten into it and goes off to write every morning, completely on his own. What a great thing for him to look back on years from now, and the present day rewards are already showing themselves. During the school year, I was always after him to slow down with his writing because he’s always in a hurry to finish his homework and his handwriting was sloppy at best. But now? Now his handwriting is neat as a pin, and fitting on much smaller lines than the homework papers allowed. Love it! Love it, love it, love it.

Summer Activity: Visiting Medieval Times

Beating Summer Boredom: Journaling