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Health & Fitness

Cloudy Day Fun with Kids

Moms Unite! Just because we don't need to slather the kids with sunscreen doesn't mean we can't do summery things here in the Pacific Northwest when the Marine Layer won't burn off. Spending over half the day with cool, cloudy temps makes us more resourceful, trying to find fun things for our children to do, right?
Let's put our heads together now. Networking and Sharing is the bomb! See? I even capitalized them to show you I love sharing. What do you do on these cool days with kids who are waiting for hot weather so they can go to the beach? Here are my ideas. 
Movies: This is the obvious. I saw Despicable Me 2 last night and laughed hard. I didn't see the first one but you don't need it to love this movie.
Parks: Walk your dog, go fishing, enjoy the playground, play frisbee or kick a soccer ball. These activities can be better without the hot sun. A concert in the park on Thursday night can be fun in warm clothes with hot chocolate. (Pine Lake) Or the movies at Marymoor on Wednesday can be more enjoyable bundled in a sleeping bag.
Art: take a class, lesson, camp or go to Michael's in Issaquah to get some crafty things like making models, jewelry, building bird houses, painting them. 
Berry Picking: Carnation still has blueberries to pick. Don't forget to stop at Safeway to get jars and pectin on the way home. Making yummy jam takes about 1 hour, that's all.
Go to Mod Pizza for lunch, try geo caching, hike in Soaring Eagle Park behind the Plateau Club, check out the Cougar Mtn Zoo, bike ride on the countless trails, play croquet in your backyard, paint a mural on a protected kitchen floor, bury treasure in the backyard then set up a scavenger hunt, build a fort from boxes and old sheets, tour Boehm's Candies  www.boehmscandies.com/, have a backyard campfire and roast hot dogs on a stick...
There are countless things to do on the days we don't have hot sunshine. Even building a sandcastle at a beach works if the water is too cold for swimming. Trail riding at http://www.equineescapes.com/  in Issaquah might be more enjoyable with some cloud cover. Of course if there's thunder and lightening like last night, one must go inside the house and avoid wide open spaces. My neighbors had window washers on their roof who ducked when the lightening flashed. Luckily they lived through their stupidity.
Staying away from screens (TV, xbox, computer, ipads) is entirely possible this summer, right Mom? What do you like to do on days when running through the lawn sprinkler doesn't appeal? Let's share some ideas.

Kim Hornsby is Amazon Best Selling Author of Suspense/Paranormal THE DREAM JUMPER'S PROMISE and Romantic Suspense NECESSARY DETOUR.
Visit her web site to learn more about Kim's books and novellas at www.kimhornsbyauthor.net

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