May 26, 2016

Backyard Summer Fun!

This post is part of a compensated campaign with Mom It Forward Blogger Network and H2OGO! but all my opinions are my own.

Summa summa summa time, summa time.

That's the first thing that pops into my head on the first 80 degree day we have here in Ohio.  I love summer, I live for summer.  My kids are spoiled rotten with activities from about May-September and I make no apologies for that.  I want them outside all the time.  I want all the vitamin D.  I love the warm sun on my face.  I love the early mornings and the late nights.  Summer is my favorite.

Last summer we were flooded with things to do and while it was exhausting at times, I wouldn't change it for the world.  We made so many fun memories last year and I can only hope this summer can measure up.  We camped, we boated, we vacationed with friends, we hit up the beach, we ate too many s'mores but most of all we had fun.

One thing I want to do differently this summer is to have more backyard fun.  Going to the zoo and pool and splash pads {oh my!} are fun but so is playing right in our backyard.  The best part of backyard fun is it's far less stress.  Need to go to the potty?  Go right inside.  Need a snack? Let me grab one from the kitchen.  Ready for a nap?  Your room is right down the hall.  There's no packing a bag and snacks and change of clothes and enough water, we have everything right at our fingertips at home.  Plus, we have a pretty amazing yard.


Yesterday we had our first 80 degree, blue skies, sun shinning day so I told the kids we could finally set up the water slide they've been eye-balling since it arrived in the mail last week.  Day one of backyard fun commenced.  It was amazing.  They played on that thing from lunch until bedtime yesterday only to break for snacks, potty and nap {for James}.  They loved jumping on the "pillow".  Bear puppy was so confused, he thought the sprayers were a drinking fountain for him.

Last night, once we settled down for the night, Kendall said to me, "Mom, we have the best house.  We have the water slide, a sand table, a swing set, the bounce house, soccer balls, bubbles, chalk, jump ropes. We  have everything!".  And she's right, we do. We have it all right here in our backyard {here's a snap from our yard last night}.


Gorgeous right?  I mean we need a whole team of landscapers to come out and maintain it BUT it's so pretty in the summer.  It's shaded but gets sun in all the right spots {like right where I was standing/laying out yesterday}.  We have one acre but lucky for us it's all farmland behind/to the side of us so it seems like it's much bigger.

We live in the country, if you couldn't tell, so we spend a lot of time driving places.  Anything "fun" takes us at least 20-30 minutes to get to and while it's worth it some days other days it would be nice to just stick around here.  As Kendall mentions, we have more than enough to keep us busy here.  I am notorious for thinking the grass is greener when it comes to doing things outside of the home.  I always think everyone else has a better house, the kids have more fun here/there, and I have no real reason for thinking that way.  So this year I am determined to have an amazing summer right here in our very own backyard. Who knows, maybe I'll even get crazy and host a weekly family dinner under the string lights like The Bravermans.

Does this sound like a tradition you'd like to adopt too?  H2OGO! wants to help!  One lucky reader will be chosen to win the three person water slide that's pictured above.  To be entered to win leave me a comment telling me what YOUR favorite outdoor summer activity is. Good luck!

19 comments:

  1. Our favorite part of summer is bon fires and late night walks when it just starts to cool down just enough to be comfortable.Im the same i always think everywhere is more fun then our own home but im slowly learning that our house can be awesome too

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  2. Cookout with friends and family is my favorite!! Kids get to play with cousins/friends, get way dirty, stay up late, and eat junk! I get to socialize and have yummy drinks. It's a win/win all around!

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  3. Love your backyard! We spend most of our summer in our backyard; we set up an inflatable pool and a water table. Throw some beach toys in the pool and my two little ones are happy as can be!

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  4. We would LOVE that water slide! My favorite outdoor activity is definitely enjoying a meal and/or hanging out around a campfire! Excited for camping and bbq season! :)

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  5. So fun! my kids would totally dig that. I have two boys, and they love the water table and the sand box. But their favorite has to be the classic - bikes. They could ride those glider bikes (no pedals yet!) forever!

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  6. We also have a backyard full of fun. All the neighborhood kids come to our house to play. I love being able to sit and watch all these kids have fun playing. (We don't even have a pool, just one heck of a playset!)

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  7. We love boating. Boating to dinner, for ice cream, to watch fireworks, tubing, wake surfing and playing on the lily pad. Would be so wonderful to have a waterslide play with this summer!

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  8. We are moving and finally getting a backyard this summer!!! Our current favorite summer activity is just being outside with all of the neighbor's while all of our kiddos run around and play 😊

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  9. OMG I would LOVE to win that waterslide!! We have a ginormous backyard but can't afford a pool at this time and we need something with water back there! My favorite summer activity growing up was running through the sprinkler, or swimming in the blow up pool, or playing with water balloons!

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    1. Congratulations Lizzie! You won the giveaway for your very own water slide! Can you send me an email with your contact info so that I can get it sent out ASAP?

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  10. We love playing baseball, swimming, fishing, camping, taking ATV rides, walking in the woods, riding bikes, you name it. As long as we are outside we are having fun. Our newest addition to our yard is a swing set and spend hours one it.

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  11. Grilling, swimming, bon fires, and fishing. Just being outside w/ family and friend's is what I enjoy most♡

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  12. 4-wheeling at my parents farm!! Best family time ever :)

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  13. Grilling and bonfires!! We just moved to an acreage last year and feel the same exact way. I want to do more here at home this Summer. I was always so envious of our friends that have campers and boats and do fun things like that. But now honestly I dont even want any of that, I have everything we could need to make memories right here :)

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  14. We love to set up our slip and slide, sprinkler and bounce house, the bounce house gets wet and they slip around in it and its so much fun! We also like to make homemade snow cones with the icee maker John got a few years ago. It's not fancy, but it's sentimental at this point. We are TOTAL fans of the backyard summer fun!

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  15. my fave summer activity is taking my kids to the lake

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  16. we love to be outside my kids are all water babies ..this slide looks amazing and loads of fun...we love to plan family cookouts with water fun...

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  17. we love to be outside my kids are all water babies ..this slide looks amazing and loads of fun...we love to plan family cookouts with water fun...

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  18. My favorite is visiting our local amusement park. It's small and geared toward younger kids but it makes me so nostalgic! I've been going there my whole life.

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