Summer of Fun 2018 – Day 1 – Wind Racers

Welcome to day one of Summer of Fun 2018! If you’ve been with me here on the ol’ blog awhile then you know every year I create a list of things to do with my boys and the hubs. If you’re new here at Just Bits and Pieces and you’re interested in reading how the Summer of Fun list started you can do that here. Wanting to spend quality time is where it all started and for lack of a better name, I simply called it Summer of Fun. It started out as something I wanted to try but quickly turned into a must for all of us. Sometime around April, everyone starts asking when we’re going to create the list and so it begins.

I’ve had several folks, over the years, ask me how in the world we decide what activity to do and when. I must tell you, the one thing I was worried about when this all started was how I was going to keep the picking fair. The last thing I wanted was for there to be a disagreement about which activity we were going to do. To keep it ALL fair, we have, over the years, picked the activities in several different ways: a spinner, picking out of a hat, and going straight down the list; this year, we’re numbering the list and picking twelve at a time and rolling die – whatever number we roll is the activity we do. We usually roll the night before and do the activity the next day (don’t let me fool you, this is so I have time to prepare, sometimes mentally as well as getting all the supplies together 😉 )

Priorities

Spending time with my guys has always been a priority and it’s hard to believe we’ve been doing Summer of Fun for 3 years. The boys have grown but the list marches on. There are differences, of course, but overall, it’s still the same memory-making it was in the beginning. When we started, the boys were less involved in the making of the list and more about just getting to the fun. As they’ve grown, the interest is still there for the fun, but now the fun includes their personal touches to the list. ♥ I love that! ♥

It’s so much fun to sit down with them and hear all their ideas and incorporate those ideas into our list. I’m starting to think it’s even more important now that they are older than it was when they are younger. It can be difficult to connect with our kids as they hit the teen and young adult stages. Do you find that to be true too or am I alone here?

My oldest son is not as involved as he has been in the past, but I suppose that happens when you get a job and a girlfriend (that takes some getting used to). I’m thankful he and his girlfriend participate when they can.

My youngest, who will be 16 this year, is still excited about all the stuff we plan. This year he was very active in the list-making process. His interests lean toward STEM activities, so there’s quite a few of those on the list this year. He loves science and math (didn’t get that from his mama).

While my goal is to share with you all our fun, I also pray there is a bit of inspiration here for you. I believe in telling my story which God can then use in whatever way he sees fit, so I hope he uses this to inspire you and to encourage you in whatever place you are.

So, without further delay, here is day one of Summer of Fun 2018

DAY 1

Wind Racers

This. was. a. BLAST!! You’re going to want to try this, trust me!

Here’s what we did:

grab that tub of 1000’s Legos hanging out in the bedroom (ever stepped on a Lego? OH MY GOSH!! Worse pain ever!!)
take the cardstock out of the closet that’s been collecting dust
cut a 1/4″ dowel into 7″ pieces
take the scissors out of the drawer
have markers on hand in case there’s some decorating needing to go on
buy some wooden wheels if your 1000’s of Legos don’t have wheels and a 1/8″ dowel rod cut into 4″ pieces (this will be the axels)
move the fan out of the bedroom and into the “racing” arena
NOW, build a car or boat with the Legos (make sure your creation has wheels, so it can move), create a sail, put it in front of the fan and see if it goes!

We ran individual cars to see which one went farthest and then we raced them against each other. We had some mishaps, meaning my car was top heavy and didn’t move but fell flat on its face and there was an accident in the end during the “publicity” photo shoot (oh the joys of having a mom who is a photographer. LOL) and the hubs car was destroyed. Thankfully, there were no casualties 🙂 !!