75 Days of Summer Holidays

It feels strange to think that the Summer holidays are here and we are just over 2 weeks into them and this year the weather is all over the place, we have lovely hot days, then cold days and we've had lots of rain this year. Last year it was scorching by now, and I was raving how much like Sydney it was, so we are hoping it will still get better, not that we will let it get in our way though.

Now unlike the UK & Australia, the summer holidays here are long long long - this Summer they are 75 days long that's 10 weeks and 5 days, which is shorter than last summer but still long enough for any parent and child.

So I have myself prepared and I have a lot of activities planned for the girls, luckily I live in a kid friendly city, near a beach and lots of parks, I am sure we will fill our time and if the weather continues to get better, hopefully we'll be blessed with lots of sun filled days for all our plans & outdoor activities

Our Summer Plans 

Beach - we'll definitely be hitting the beach every week, the girls love the beach and water so I can see many an afternoon here.

Relaxing on the Beach

Parks/Playgrounds - like Sydney we are very blessed to have many great parks (playgrounds) here, I love nothing more than the girls being outside playing and exploring, whilst I enjoy a coffee, a bit of knitting and chatting to the mums. We can spend hours at the park, it's always fun and I'm looking forward to finding new ones to have fun at.

Museums/Zoo - we are blessed with a free Zoo - Lincoln Park Zoo which is fun to visit, and lots of museums, including the Children's Museum, of which, most do resident free days we will be taking advantage of these for a free day out.

Horse & Carriage Ride - Ruby has wanted to do this in downtown Chicago for over a year so this year I will definitely take them on one.

Open Top Bus Ride - as we have plenty of visitors coming over the summer this I thought is a must and a great way to find out more about our beautiful city.

Craft Days - I love doing craft with the girls, especially now as they are older, I have some great ideas and will be perusing Pinterest for more

Summer Camp - oh yes the famous summer camps -  Both girls started their two week summer camps this week. They are only 3 hours a day so it's a little break for me and them, Ruby chose the Lego-Mania camp - she is Lego mad, and although Tilly would love to have done Lego too, the Lego camp for her age group wasn't the same time as Ruby's so she is doing an adventure camp, and so far they are really enjoying it and me too.

Summer Journal - I thought we'd do a summer journal this year - somewhere the girls can document their adventures, by writing, drawing, sticking, collecting etc, it'll keep them busy.

Road Trip - yes we have a family Road Trip planned 3000 miles of exploring more of America, this time we are going West, into the wild wild west of America

Visitors - We have a busy Summer of vistiors, Nanna, Pop and my friend Vicki have just been over for a 2 week stay. And my friend Simon arrives later in July, this will keep us busy and we are excited.

Nanna & Pop taking a rest

Urban Treasure Hunt - I am really looking to planning this one, I have some good ideas and can't wait to do our first one and I am planning on doing one for the car to keep them busy whilst we are on our Road trip.

Bowling - a friend forwarded me these details - Kids Bowl For Free we've signed up and we definitely plan to take advantage of it.

Waterparks - we are blessed with a few waterparks in the area so we will be checking out these this Summer

Playdates - oh yes we will be arranging a fair few of these

Picnics, BBQ'S, Ice-Creams and dinner on the beach - a must

Chicago Botanical Gardens - the girls love it here, they love looking at all the flowers and doing the Garden Treasure Hunt - which involves finding all the items on the sheet, it's great fun. Plus if we get the bus up it's free to get in.

Swimming - the girls absolutely love swimming so we are continuing with our weekly swim lessons throughout the summer.

Pyjamas Days at Home - no summer holiday isn't complete without a few Pyjama days, staying in, in our Jim jams I'll probably save them for the rainy days.

Cinema - our local cinema is doing movies for $1 thorough out Summer, they are not the latest releases, but it is a great cheap way to keep 2 girls entertained.

Also check out my Summer Holiday Ideas Pinterest Board - I've been collecting a few ideas in here for trips out and about Chicago we plan to go on.

All in all I think this will keep us very busy indeed, the girls will be grateful to go back to school for a rest and as for me, I'm just hoping I can get some sewing and knitting done occasionally.

Have a great Summer everyone