Remember how much fun it was to get pumpkins and make jack-o-lanterns with your kids when they were young? Well, it can still be an enjoyable family activity with your teenager if you do a little planning and have a little consideration for your teen’s sensibilities and schedule. Here’s how. Find a local pumpkin patch. Purchasing a pumpkin at your …
Barbecuing On The 4th
Don’t get so caught up with your special barbecuing techniques that you forget how much kids love to play with fire. Give them a role in starting the charcoals, responsibility for some of the cooking (though not what everyone is going to eat since they will worry it into little pieces) or, better yet, make a fire pit somewhere in …
Drive In Theaters
Believe it or not, drive in theaters still exist! And they are a perfect family destination for a nostalgic drive down movie theater lane. Drive ins have a lot to offer as a family outing compared to your traditional indoor movie theater multiplex. First and foremost, it is an adventure. You and the kids will have the opportunity to view …
Canoeing Down a Lazy River
Canoeing is a great way to spend quality time while engaging in an activity that doesn’t involve passively sitting in front of some sort of electronic device or standing over your kids while they do chores. But with all good parenting decisions, there are some secret objectives. Canoeing is one way to: Create a “time apart” with your kids Benefit …
Family Picnic in the Park
Picnics are an ideal way to spend some family time together during the high days of summer. Just look at this happy family in the picture above! The beauty of a picnic is it can be as elaborate or as simple as you wish to make it. There can be something for everyone since you and your kids can read, …
Summer Nights
Summer nights are a perfect time to hang out as a family. Fireflies are still out in Tennessee, putting on their mesmerizing light show. These little unassuming bugs are one of nature’s marvels. (How do they DO that?!) June is also the month of the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. This year it falls on June 21 …
Bay City Rolling
When the weather won’t cooperate, find something active to do indoors — like roller skating! You may not know it but skating rinks are still around. If you have a tween or early teen, it is still one place they can meet up with peers and try to find someone to make out with in a dark corner when the …
Ten Pins
Winter is the perfect season for BOWLING! It is indoors in a climate controlled environment. Anyone can do it. It is active, but not enough to break a sweat. It’s competitive without being vicious. You eat more calories from delicious, low nutrition bowling alley food than you consume by playing. You get to sit around and chat while other people …
Winter Wonderland
SNOW! Don’t miss the opportunity to play in the snow with your kids when Jack Frost blankets your yard or neighborhood. Snowmen (snowperson?), snowball fights, sledding; bundle up, get outside and rediscover your childlike innocence (along with the aches and pains that come with advancing age). For a more sedate activity, there is always taking a night time walk. Something …
Corn Maze
November is the perfect time to get out and go walking with the family. The crisp Autumn air is cold enough to make things brisk without it being miserable. If you want to do more than take a walk around the block or stroll through a local park, consider looking for a corn maze in your area. Most people, except …