10 Hints to having a Fantastic 4th of July Week Celebration

Celebrating the 4th of July with family is FANTASTIC! We have made some wonderful memories over the years with our immediate family and with extended family. This year we have the Spoelhof family (our oldest daughter Rachel, her husband and 3 daughters) with us for the week. The girls are 7, 6 and 4 ½ so we have been busy, busy, busy! So, this blog post will not only share some of the fun things we have done, but helpful tips on how to stay organized and  be able to truly enjoy building deeper relationships with your adult kids and grandkids.
Plan ahead…..
1. Make a bucket list of things to do. ( I made ours on a piece of cardstock so the kids and parents could see all the options of things to do.)
2. Let all family members visiting have a say in the plans for the week-(it is a vacation week for EVERYONE)
3. Grocery shop and make menus for the week. (Make sure you check with the moms to buy the kinds of snacks and treats everyone likes.)
4. Cook dinners ahead or prep parts of the meals you have planned.
5. Engage the visiting families in cooking the meals. (One summer we had dinner cooking contests between the couples visiting-This was a HUGE success-everyone had fun and the food was fabulous.)
6. Have all the supplies on hand you need for crafting or art projects. We did Tie Dye, beading, Painting and lots of coloring)
7. Plan some kind of exercise for each day-hiking, swimming, biking, walking, soccer, trips to the local gym (get gym guest passes ahead of time).
8. Allow the parents of your grandkids to have a date night.
9. If you plan a day trip, take a picnic and stop for a treat like ice cream or frozen yogurt on the way home rather than trying to find a restaurant in the middle of your adventure.
10. Hold all plans loosely-spontaneity keeps everyone relaxed and allows all family visitors to feel loved and respected.

Here are some of the activities we have done this week so far……

Tie dying with the family…let those creative juices flow!

 

Painting bird houses…so much fun!!!

Tons of swimming!!!

Hiking and finding all sorts of wildlife and animals-coyote, lizard, centipede and COWS!

 

Creative play-look at that train track-thanks Dad and Poppa. Extended family joining in for a Saturday BBQ.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADI!!!!!!! TODAY IS YOUR FIRST BIRTHDAY.

Making birthday cards for cousin Madi-Party coming up at the end of the week.

 

Walking to the Farmer’s Market.

 

All kinds of cooking projects-baking cupcakes, BBQs and making homemade ice cream (our electric machine broke so we had to hand crank it and it turned out so tasty!)

Creating and eating delicious food. This is Plumcot Chutney made with Spoelhof’s crop of plumcots.So much fun being together.

Tomorrow we will hike across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Happy Summer!

What are some f your favorite things to do when family comes to visit?