Community Corner
Summertime and the Livin’ is (not so) Easy (with the kids home)
Schools out, the kids are home, what is there to do?
Tasha Schlake Festel
I’m a big fan of Phineas and Ferb and have been completely inspired by them this summer. In tribute, I’d like to express our summer plans to the tune of their “The Best Day Ever” theme song.
There are seventy days of Wakefield’s summer vacation,
'Till school comes along just to end it,
So the annual problem for Moms in this nation,
Is finding a good way to spend it
Like maybe...
Building a robot, or fighting Darth Vader,
Or climbing up the Breakheart trails,
Boogie boarding in the Ou-outer Banks
Or locating tidal pool snails!
Going to summer school, creating sand castles,
Or visiting Boston by train.
Find out what's happening in Wakefieldfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Finding a biking trail, looking for some whales,
Or spending a weekend in Maine!
Doing some reading or seeing some movies
Find out what's happening in Wakefieldfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Or splashing in our Kmart pool.
Going to b-ball camp and eating some ‘pops,
Or staying inside to keep cool.
Hitting Storyland, visiting the zoo
Or swimming at the Y M C A
Doing landscaping, spending time with friends,
Or the Farmers’ Market Saturdays!
This will totally be the best summer ever,
And the forecast says that hanging with Mom makes it a million and six times better,
So make every minute count, jump up, jump in and seize the day,
And let's make sure that in every single possible way,
This summer will be filled with Great Days!
As you can see there’s a whole lot of stuff to do before school starts this fall.
So stick with Mom 'cause Addison and Reid are gonna do it all!
Hey kids, I know what we’re gonna do today…
If you’re interested in learning more about some of the stuff we have going on this summer, here are some links with details. Or comment here and I’ll fill you in!
Summer Links:
The rec programs this summer are fantastic! There is something for everyone – and affordable too.
The library provides incentive, and so do I! Since I am not above bribery, I am offering $.25 for each “square” the kids fill in on their tracking sheets.
Wakefield Summer School Enrichment Camp
My kids are loving this program. It’s flexible, fun and affordable! What a great way to keep the kids engaged and get them out meeting new kids and making new friends!
Every summer we head down to NC for a family-friendly and affordable beach week with friends and family. Sure, it’s a long drive, but that’s part of the fun and adventure!
I love this park, and not just because it’s where I got engaged! There’s a lot to do – playgrounds, open space, beaches and tidal pools galore. Perfect for all ages.
You can’t beat Breakheart for location and price! It’s right by the High School and totally free! A 5 minute walk gets you to a sandy beach that’s very kid-friendly, and a playground across the path. You can even get something from the ice cream truck when they conveniently stop by right after lunch.
This is 11 miles of no-traffic, paved, flat bike trail. Perfect for a nice summer day. Pack some water and a picnic lunch (in a backpack) and spend a few hours bonding, exercising and enjoying the outdoors.
This is a great beach with ample parking, only about 45 minutes from Wakefield. The best part is that parking is only $9/day or $35 for the season. Good waves, good sand, good times.
Lunch and a movie all at once!
Every Wednesday, there’s a free kids’ movie. Just bring in a book report (form available on the website) and you’re in!
It’s not just a furniture store! It’s a destination! With the “water show,” trapeze, Jelly Belly, Richardson’s ice cream and Fuddrucker’s, you can spend half a day cooling off and filling your bellies!
Coach Kim Penney puts on a fabulous basketball camp for girls. Drills, games and daily popsicles keep the girls moving and happy.
Take some Dramamine and get ready for some fun.
A trip to Boston is always more exciting (and cheaper!) when you take the T or Commuter Rail. Kids under 12 are free!
This is the best $50 I have spent this summer. You must get this pool for your yard.
We have never been to this and I am so excited to go! Rides and laughter for sure.
Walking the zoo is a lovely way to spend a few hours with the kids. I’ve heard that there’s a new “bouncy thing” at the Franklin Park Zoo. Woo hoo!
You can’t beat the price for a summer of outdoor swimming at the Peabody/Lynnfield YMCA. This is our second summer there and we love it. See you at the pool!
Every Saturday, walk on down to the lake for the Farmers’ Market! Fresh produce, fish, meat, cheese, flowers, soaps, ice cream and even wine! This is one of my favorite summer Saturday morning things to do.
Holly DeSouza
I’ll admit it in a public forum: playing outside for hours on end is not my strong suit. Watching a group of four year olds, happily playing together or not, tends to get old after an entire afternoon much less an entire summer. Call me what you will, but it can be a complete bore to me ~ it doesn’t really matter how cute the kids are. I need to have activities lined up, preferably with other parents of kids in the same age group, or else odds are I will have a tantrum before my kid will. Summer activities can hover in the “must get a second mortgage” spectrum and, as is the vast majority these days, I need to watch the budget for activities. To appease the mish mash of requirements my daughter and I have, here are some things we love to do with her friends and mine so we aren’t wasting the time away.
- Library passes: The Beebe Library has great passes to the zoos and museums, both local and close by in Boston. If it is extremely hot and air conditioning is not optional, a trip in town to the Children’s Museum can be a fun day for everyone. On a normal sunny summer day, the Stone Zoo is close and fairly small so you can see it all in a half day while leaving time for the petting zoo and playground at the end.
- Outdoor garden: My daughter has been gardening in preschool and, since we have a great yard that gets a ton of sun, we decided we would try it this year with her. She loves to take care of the vegetables, weed the flower beds (I’m not joking – she loves it!), “dead head” the flowers and generally monitor the status of each plant she touches. Her greatest accomplishment to date is the sunflower seed she planted that is currently a few inches taller than she is. Gardening has not only given our family something to do on a daily basis, but has also given us a sense of pride in small accomplishments we have been able to do together.
- Breakheart Reservation: It’s close, it’s free, and it is great exercise. You can park then either walk or ride your bike down the generally shady paved trail with a beach and a playground a short distance away. Need I say more?
- Jordan’s Furniture: When the summer heat is at its peak and the humidity index is off the charts, we love going to Jordan’s to get an ice cream and watch the water show. My daughter and I could, quite literally, sit there for hours and watch both the water show and the people coming in and out of the store.
- Bradley Palmer: It’s a bit of a drive compared to the others but, in the end, it is absolutely worth it. It’s inexpensive (only $5.00!) and the kids love it. Plus, it is so well maintained you forget you are actually outside in the woods.
If all else fails and you are still bored with the daily activities, check out www.bostoncentral.com. If you are not utilizing that resource yet, it is a no fail site that will tell you what is happening today for you and your kids, a general price range, and give you a snapshot into the week ahead’s activities.
Enjoy the summer! We’ll be complaining about all of the snow and shoveling before we know it.
Hot fun in the summertime
Regina Martine
I love the summer and the hot weather and the beach, but this is the first year since my kids were born that I really feel like I get to enjoy it. This is the first year I didn’t go into Summer Vacation filled with dread. Finally, my kids are old enough to actually do things together! Real things that I might also like to do! During the school year I always think it would be nice to have nowhere to go and no schedule to follow, but after a few days, everyone needs something to do. I highly recommend signing kids up for a few scheduled activities during the summer, either a few weeks of camp or a class or workshop here or there.
The Wakefield Recreation Department has many great and inexpensive programs for elementary school aged kids, and a few programs like gymnastics and tiny tot sports that take preschoolers. Even if though the programs are only a few hours a day for a week at a time, it is a great way to break up what can be a loooooooong summer for your kids and you.
I have been taking all my kids to the beach since they were babies, but the truth is, the beach is a very stressful place for a mama by herself with three kids who can’t really swim. My kids never liked swimming lessons, but to me, this is a non-negotiable safety issue. They must learn. The best decision I made was to get them into organized swimming lessons in the summer. It wasn’t the swimming they hated, it was the trek to the Y on a freezing cold winter morning and shivering in their wet swimsuits in the locker room. Two summers ago I signed them up for 2 swim classes a week for 4 weeks. The classes were in the late afternoon, so after a hot day of outdoor play, a swim at the Y sounded like a treat. By the end of the summer they were all strong swimmers. I actually read a book at Breakheart beach the other day, since now I need to be able to see and hear my kids, but I don’t always have to be close enough to grab them.
Now that my kids are all school-aged, they are also old enough to enjoy a lot of the historical and cultural opportunities that Boston has to offer. Take the train into the city and have a tourist day along the Freedom trail or explore a museum. The trip is far less daunting without strollers, diaper bags and a suitcase full of supplies, so if you have been avoiding going to into Boston with the kids for logistical reasons, I promise it gets easier as they get a little older. Check out this website for their Free Fun Fridays program, where you can get free admission to many attractions in and around Boston. The Beebe Library also has free passes to many museums, so that is worth checking out as well.
One more link : This is a great website that lists family activities in the Boston area.
Only 55 more days ‘til the first day of school!
Peggy Barresi
In addition to the usual day trips, beach visits, and museum treks, my kids have enjoyed participating in activities that run the course of the summer. My husband, for example, grows a vegetable garden every year. When my girls where younger (because now you couldn’t pay them to help), they enjoyed “working” with him from seed germination through weeding and pest control (they loved drowning slugs in beer) to finally, the harvest. This was an educational and fun spring into summer/fall activity with a great pay off. And, we all enjoyed cooking things we had grown in our own yard. Your garden doesn’t have to be huge. You can even plant herbs and veggies in pots. The point is to give the kids something to do every day.
While on the nature theme, the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary, which is part of the Mass Audubon Society, is a wonderful place to witness how nature changes throughout the season. Just a short drive away, the Sanctuary offers nature trails, canoeing, and all sorts of programs throughout the summer, from “Family Dusk Paddles” for river mamma spotting to “Animal Tracking.” The fees are very reasonable.
The summer reading program at the Beebe Library is always outstanding. This year’s theme is “One World, Many Stories.” The kids register and track how many hours they read each week. The more hours, the better the prizes. It’s amazing how a little sticker can motivate kids. This year there is the added element of helping others around the world through Heifer International. Another reading-related program is “Bookworm Wednesdays” at the Woburn Showcase Cinemas. For the price of a book report (filling out a very short form), kids and adults see a movie for free every Wednesday at 10 am. There are also prizes, usually books.
One summer, after reading about this idea in Family Fun Magazine, my daughter and two of her friends founded the “Girls’ Postcard Club of Wakefield.” Their aim was to collect postcards from all 50 states, DC and Puerto Rico during the course of one summer. They targeted traveling friends and family, people who knew people in other states, and local institutions (museums, governor’s office.) The girls succeeded in their quest and at the end of the summer I made binders for each of them with copies of all the postcards.
Every summer my family tries to spot license plates from all 50 states. Summer is a great time to do this, as we got so many tourists in the area. Cape Cod is especially fruitful. Our rule is that all four family members must be present, unless it’s one of the really hard ones to get, like Alaska or Hawaii. We usually keep a list in the glove compartment, although last year we went high-tech and kept it on my husband’s iPhone. Last summer we made it to 49, but Wyoming eluded us. This summer we’re starting all over again.
My daughter, Nina, took a photography class at school this past year. This summer we are on a mission to find and photograph the alphabet in nature. You know – that tree that looks like a “W” or a stone that resembles a “Q.” Wish us luck!
Laurie Hunt
I admit, this week I cheated and read the other Moms articles before I wrote mine. I wanted to be sure to offer some different suggestions so I think I will talk about some great indoor summer activities first.
Have a pajama day with your kids, have a lazy day hanging out in your pj’s with a good movie, some board games, and break some of the usual house rules. Maybe have an ice cream sundae for lunch. Hey, it’s summer.
The Beebe Library in Wakefield – I know it was already mentioned but it is worthy of another shout out. Our library has the most amazing children’s programs it’s a great place to bring your children during the summer. You can check out the schedule here.
Kidcasso in Wakefield offers great summer classes.
Kids Bowl Free: sign up and get a coupon for two free strings of bowling each day for each of your children. Our favorite place to use the coupon is Leo’s Metrobowl in Peabody; it is not a bad ride and is a great way to kill several hours on a rainy day or a hot day. There is no gimmick, just rent the shoes (or bring your own), turn in the coupon and bowl away.
The Boston Museum of Science – I highly recommend a membership. Admission for five people costs $110 – for just $10 more you can get a basic membership, which includes extra’s such as passes to the Omni Theater, Planetarium and extra exhibit hall passes for guests. (My personal favorite is the Premier 5 for $155 as you will get even more passes, and 2 hours of free parking with each visit.) Additionally with any membership you get reciprocal admission to many places that are a reasonable car ride away for a day trip including the Roger Williams Zoo in Rhode Island, Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford, the Eco Tarium in Worcester, the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire, McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center of New Hampshire, and many more.
When it comes to the beach my personal favorite is Wingaersheek in Gloucester, however, I find it painful to pay $20 to park my car. (I really dislike paying to park!) We often go up at dinner time – there is no charge to park after 5pm, and bring a picnic dinner and it is still plenty warm enough to swim and we don’t have to worry about sunburns either. This also works great for working parents who may not be able to take a weekday off to go to the beach.
Lawrence W. Lloyd Memorial Swimming Pool, 49 Tremont Street in Melrose, open June 25-August 21 from 11am – 7pm. Admission is free, please note you may not bring chairs to the pool and you must picnic on the grounds outside of the pool area. A great local place to cool off.
Check out Martins Pond in North Reading, there is even a Dairy Queen right down the street. There is a great playground with a wooden spaceship, train, fun slide and more. It is a fun place for the kids to fish with nets or poles and they can wade in to find little fish and freshwater mussels and snails. There are lots of dragonflies too.
Have fun in the backyard doing simple things. Some of our best summer memories involve things like sidewalk chaulk, shaving cream, diet coke and mentos… you get the idea.
