TOAST THE SUMMER

I'm so excited because now that summer is here, I get to share with you all about my mom's summer "units" (or themed- activities). Believe me, you are not going to want to miss out on these! So tell your kids to turn off the T.V. and kiss their summer boredom good-bye because the next three months are going to be filled with the magic of summer  like you've never seen before!  

  

"TOAST THE SUMMER"

To kick off our summer season, the first item of business is always to Toast the Summer! On the first day out of school, for breakfast we sit outside on our back patio and indulge in delicious yogurt and fresh seasonal fruit parfaits or chilly fruit smoothies. With raised glasses we toast the summer sun and welcome the season of adventure that lies ahead!

  

Then... we immediately head to the car to take off on an annual tour of our hometown!

 "CITY TOUR"

 My mom started doing this with us years and years ago as a way to explore the unique characteristics and hidden gems of our city that we tend drive by all our lives but never stop to really see.  {If any of you live in Salt Lake City I would love to share with you the awesome stops on my mom's original City Tour! Just ask! There's an artesian drinking well, giant whirly gigs, a rock wall mural, a visit to Penny Parade Drive, and more! } 

But since my husband and I now live out of state, in my mom's fashion I created our own City Tour of the town where we now live. And you can too!

  Ahead of time, make a list of quirky, unique, artistic or otherwise interesting landmarks and features around your city. These may be things you've noticed while out driving or you can always use the internet to glean inspiration. Then, mark each stop on a map to plan the best driving route for your tour. You might even consider typing up a list of your stops (kind of like a scavenger hunt) and give one to each of your kids to mark off each stop as you drive around!

Here's what we did for our City Tour 2013!

STOP 1: FIRE FIGHT RELIEF STATUE

A beautiful relief sculpture adorns the entrance of a local fire station. This is one of those things we drive by all the time, but have never stopped to really look at. It was fun to get out of the car and take a closer look.

STOP 2: A VISIT TO LINGER LANE

On my mom's city tour was a beautiful mansion that touted above its front door the engraved message: Linger Longer.  My mom always loved this welcoming sentiment inviting friends and guests to feel at home within their walls.  When we'd stop to look at this house, my mom would encourage us to likewise have an inviting and welcoming personality to all we meet. 

While out driving one day, I noticed that the city where we now live has an actual street called Linger Lane. In honor of my mom's original tour, I just had to make it a stop on ours this year!

STOP 3:  LA PURISIMA BAKERY

Our city boasts a strong hispanic population and as a result we have many tasty panaderias (Spanish for "bakeries.") To pay homage to this element of our city and because the taste of Mexican pastries makes me nostalgic for childhood days spent living in Mexico, our next stop was one of the best panaderies in our town: La Purisima Bakery.  

I would have had to fight tooth and nail to get that cookie out of his hands- he carried it with him the entire rest of our Tour- sneaking a tiny nibble only here and there. 

                                                       

 STOP 4: CERRETA'S CANDY CO.

Our city is home to the family-owned Cerreta's Candy Co., started by a local chocolatier many years ago. We stopped in for our free chocolate sample and to buy a bag of their Prickly Pear Cactus Chews- made in honor of the desert in which we live! 

STOP 5: TERRITORIAL SHERIFF STATUE

 Once part of the wild west, our city has been home to many a Sheriff. This statue was erected in the Historic District to commemorate one in particular, Sheriff Sam Stout, a "man of strength and courage."

STOP 6:  CITY VISITOR CENTER

We decided to stop in to our local Visitor's Center, mostly because we've never been there and thought it might provide some fun information about where we live. They let my son go back into one of the city official's offices to see a giant Lego Man that was sent to our city for an upcoming Lego Kids Fest.  There are only 4 in the world! The city official also gifted us a beautiful "coffee-table" book about the history of our city. How awesome! This proved to be a fun and worthwhile stop!

   

 STOP 7: MOSAIC HISTORY WALK

Spanning a block of the downtown Historic District is a sidewalk filled with beautiful mosaics representing the history and culture of our city.

Here are a few of my favorites:

 They even had dental pliers to represent the Dental School where my husband attends.

 My absolute favorite though was the barrel cactus with a beautiful butterfly lighting on top of it.

                                           

STOP 8:  "OLD FRIENDS" STATUE

I love this statue and I love its name. So cute! 

STOP 9:  ELSIE McCARTHY SENSORY GARDEN

This garden was commissioned by a blind woman who wanted to create a park that visually disabled people, as well as everyone else, might enjoy by using senses other than eyesight. Plants and trees were selected for their aromatic or tactile features, the sound of water trickles through several large water features, and a brail map at the entrance of the garden allows the blind to orient themselves with the layout. We stopped by and tried to see how many senses, other than sight, we could use to enjoy the little garden.

                                                 

STOP 10:  MARCOMB'S SERVICE STATION

Though no longer in use, this gas station built in the 1930's still stands. It has been turned into a fun little historic monument and, like many of the other stops, was something I'd seen while out driving but I hadn't ever stopped to get a closer look. I'm glad we did. It was really cool!

STOP 11:  LUNCH AT A LOCAL SECRET HOT SPOT

Chino Bandido, is proof that one should never judge a book by its cover. This hole in the wall touts some of our city's best local food and has even been featured on the Food Network.  Its a mind boggling blend of asian and latin food that is quickly becoming our favorite place to take people when they visit us. The people just ahead of us in line were from Chicago and this was their very first stop while in town on vacation! 

In case you're wondering what to order? I like the red jade chicken quesadilla with Jamaican jerk rice and spicy Cuban black beans. 

So remember, you don't need to go on vacation to have an awesome time exploring a city- why not discover your OWN hometown?! 

 GET SET FOR SUMMER

When we get home from our City Tour, the rest of the afternoon is spent getting ready for more summer fun!  Here's what we do:

 1) Buy a new summer water bottle to keep us hydrated all summer long! We write our names on them and decorate them with fun summer stickers (vinyl works best!)

These darling personalized kid-water bottles are available here at Etsy ! 

2)Make individual Summer Reading Lists (A list of books for children to read alone and/or books to be read to by mom. Then we check them off all-summer long as we complete each one!)

Photocourtesy: cityofsafford.us

3) Get our "Summer Treasure Boxes" ready! ( A new pencil box, egg carton, or other container to keep "treasures"  in that we collect all summer wherever we go (special rocks, sea shells, pinecones, etc.)  

Photo courtesy 2.fiskars.com

Some of our favorite books for the first day of Summer: 

Finally, after a long day of fun, we put on our pajamas, snuggle in, and watch the classic movie "Summer Magic!" (Yep, this is where my mom got the name for her weeks of summer fun!)

Happy (unofficial) first day of Summer!! 

Stay tuned . . . more Summer Magic is coming!