Tag Archives: Baseboard

Apr 5 2012

How About a Playcation?

Car Camping at Hunting Island State Park, Sout...

Car Camping at Hunting Island State Park, South Carolina, USA. Taken by User:Mwanner, June, 2005. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Spring is in the air.  I would love to be able to let the housekeepers take on the chores of wiping up baseboards, cleaning out closets and bringing out summer clothes, washing windows to get rid of the residue of winter’s sleeting rain, so I can pack up all my grandchildren and go to a lavish resort for the week where we play on the beach.  However, I am bound to the reality of my retired life: making the most of limited resources and the most of everyday.  Instead of a weeklong trip, I am planning several playcation adventures to make spring break fun and still be able to use nap time to my advantage, so the housekeepers will have to find someone else to work for…

Choose your own adventure. Start this playcation off by grabbing a Choose you own adventure book, and reading it a couple of days in advance.  Then, following the theme of the book, pack a picnic lunch and select a scenic highway.  Let each child pick an exit or a turn (“Get off here grandma!”) , and have a picnic wherever you happen to find yourself.

 
Camp in the backyard.  That tent that you have had in your garage since 1980?  Get it down!  Toss it up in the backyard.  Make a campfire and roast smores.  Play some great camping games: using a few small rocks and twigs you break off you trees you can start a game of “camp horseshoes”.  This can become an overnight if you want it to.

 
Enjoy an all-day movie marathon. For matinée prices, find a theater with two or more kid-friendly flicks playing back-to-back, then (after buying both tickets) hop from theater to theater. For movie loving kids, this will be a day they will never forget: “Remember when grandma took us to the movies ALL DAY? We had POPCORN for lunch!”

 
Explore your own town at a discount.Visit your local tourism office or visitors’ bureau (or check its website) to see if it has coupons for local attractions.  A great option is Bank of America Museums on Us or Target Arts & Culture.
 
Visit Old MacDonald. Is there a farm near your city? Many working farms welcome visitors, especially kids. At some, you can even spend the night. For a $20 annual membership to Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms, USA (wwoof.org), you can search more than a thousand participating farms that host visitors.
 
Take a hike. We live in an area that is beautiful for most of the year.  So when  the weather is temperate, we always can find amazing hikes.  Even if you don’t have the same mountains we have access to, many parks have fantastic trails, and most major cities have wonderful urban trails.  Check out the US Park Service for areas near you.

 

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