Three Things : Weekdays + Creative Family Giveaway

Friday Family Fun night! We love it!

My 17 year-old son is reluctant to share much about his day, which is so frustrating for my husband and me! At dinner (YES! We do eat together almost every night, and NO fast food)we each share the high and low of our day. Since we began this tradition several months ago we hear more than in the past. It's not perfect, but an improvement!

I have a couple things...first is bedtime when my boys are all bathed and ready for bed, we then pray together as a family...love those times and to hear the prayers of a child's heart, another is when we get to play together whether it's crafting, playing games, singing silly made up songs together or light saber fights...I love when we can just let loose and enjoy each other.

we live on long island so one of our most favorite things to do in the summertime is go to the beach in the early morning hours together before it gets too crowded. When we get there we jump in & play in the water. Then we go home happy. It's like a mini vacation.

we live on long island so one of our most favorite things to do in the summertime is go to the beach in the early morning hours together before it gets too crowded. When we get there we jump in & play in the water. Then we go home happy. It's like a mini vacation.

My husband and I don't have kids, but we live less than a mile away from his parents, his sister, and our young nephew.
Our favorite thing is to make a dinner that's not just a good meal and a nice time to sit down and talk, but also a fun project. Whether it's tacos with our nephew helping to divide up the toppings in bowls, or a dessert, we find something fun to do and spend some time together that doesn't involve video games ; )
One of the last things we made was a sheet cake with white frosting. We divided the white frosting up into tiny bowls, and gave our nephew carte the bowls and a bunch of different colors of food coloring. He still talks about his polka dot cake.

We have so many things we love to do together. Inside, we love to get down on the floor and play a board game - monopoly, don't wake daddy, zooreka. We laugh and have fun and enjoy one anothers company.
Outside, we love going to the beach. Rain or shine, summer or winter, we love walking along the different beaches close to us, playing follow the leader, finding treasures and pointing out all the nature around us. Really good times.

my favorite family time is when we end up in one room talking, doesn't happen as often as I would like, kids are 10 & 17, still just love to hear them talk and tell about their days. When I had my kids I couldn't wait for them to talk to me, I still love the sound of their voices!

Today we did one of my favorite things to do together as a family. We worked! We did a small landscaping project in our front yard. Since we homeschool all of our 4 girls were here and able to help. We moved rocks, piled sticks, raked, watered, and put in a new block border. It wasn't all fun and fluff, but I love accomplishing something wonderful and know that we did it TOGETHER!

thanks for always inspiring me. seriously. our fav thing to do lately is the zoo. we live in upstate NY - so it's not much. but heck - for $59 a year - we could go every day! a couple hours and a child fast asleep in the back seat before we get out of the parking lot - every time. love that rear view image.

Without a doubt the one thing we do every week is Monday Family together night. We eat dinner together every night, so important to us. I love to cook and we all love to eat. So that part is easy. But Monday nights, after dinner we stay at the table and do something fun. Play a game, read a book, learn something new. As the kids get older (they are 9, 6, and 2) we may be able to go places and experience new things. The kids get so excited on Monday and I think it helps make the burden of beginning our week a little easier.

Gotta get that book! Right now we are enjoying taking walks together every evening! We can't wait until the community pool opens in a few weeks so we can go do that together every day!

Hi Ali, We live 10 mins from the zoo and have a yearly pass. Our favourite thing is to stroll round the zoo for an hour or so after school. We get some exercise and see and talk about the animals. Because we have a pass there's no rush to do the whole zoo and it doesn't cost anything. It's a great way to wind down together after a busy day.
Heidi

A new favorite of mine is when my husband gets home from work we all go to the neighborhood park that has a man-made pond/fountain. My almost 3 yr. old loves being around water...At least 5 times a week, we'll go out there and take the dog with us. We'll throw rocks in the pond, admire the ducks and then head over to the playground. On the way back home, we almost always run into neighbors...so we'll stop and chat for a bit...I love moments like these.

Hello Ali:)
Yipee, I'm last.
Last comment.
Last can be cool too.
:)
xNie.

"Family Movie Night" is still going strong after many many years (my boys are 12 & 15 now). The preparation is VERY important as we vote for a movie (always hotly contested and we had to bring in a rotation system LOL) prepare the snacks, get your place on the lounge (crazy creatures that we are we all sit in the same spot on FMN) and dim the lights.
I'd love FMN to go on forever :)

For us, there's nothing better than a floor picnic - brekky, lunch or dinner on the picnic rug on the loungeroom floor. A great break from routine and the kids love it!

Rainy days we love to cook together and play mnopoly
Sunny days we go geocaching
Sue

When the weather is nice we love to spend time with the kids and the dogs in the backyard--playing mixed in with working on outdoor projects. The night usually ends with us BBQ'ing and then a trip to the ice cream store.

Long walks on a Fall day collecting leaves. Walking barefoot in the grass. Watching the wonder of a sunset or sitting up to watch comets streak across the sky. Eating together and laughing and catching up for the day. Going to recitals, school plays, awards banquets........just living life together, taking time to smile and be together, to listen, to talk, to love.

Right now our favorite family thing to do is have Dad stop on his way home from work, pick up something yummy to eat (recently it was fresh chips, salsa and guacamole...hey, yes, it counts as dinner when it's 95 degrees out!) and we all sit on the back deck and hang out. I usually stop and get something yummy to drink (recently that meant fresh lemonade, yum!), and we all relax together with no dinner clean-up! I have been working an overnight shift once a week, and it's taken a huge toll on my sanity and on my schedule and time overall, so these little family times mean a lot!

Wish we could still run in the sprinklers - unfortunately water restrictions here in Melbourne put an end to that. We used to love that! We also love a day at the beach - boogie boarding, eating sandy sandwiches for lunch, digging very deep holes, reading our books eating fish and chips as the sun goes down, just chilling out together. Special times!

I need to bookmark this so purchase this book if I am not the lucky one!
As a family, we love to go for walks. I have a 1 1/2 year old and he is happiest outdoors (as is his father) so we take him out and let him choose the course - dh and I can catch up on the day at the same time!

Our favorite things has to be the zoo!! I've never seen a two year old get so excited about stinky apes and crepy reptiles. I love going just to take pictures. Which means of course I need to do a special zoo album, but it's fun!! Great book BTW. It would be awesome to have.

As my family grows older, marries and has babes of their own, we attempt to gather for SUNDAY dinner together. It's noisey, crowded and I love every moment together. Sometimes I hang back in the kitchen and just watch my beautiful son with his children... interacting with his crazy (3) sisters and their hubbies and babe. Often I end up catching the eye of my guy, from across the room, perched doing the very thing I am doing.
All too soon the house is quiet again... I love the times that are noisey, crowded and 'together'.
Love Amanda's blog... hope I'm blessed enough to receive her book! Thanks Ali!