Friday, June 22, 2012

My Summer Strategies to Beat the Weather

Here in southern Michigan, we have a mix of summer weather. Some days are scorching, and outdoor activities need to be kept to a minimum. Most days are hot, but quite pleasant. Sometimes we get cooler air, rain, storms, even tornadoes. We're never sure what the day will bring!


My summer strategy for wringing every drop of fun out of three short months relies heavily on the Doppler Radar. I write or do writerly duties each weekday morning, but weekday afternoons we get out and have fun.

On scorching days:

- Our neighborhood has a pool, and we spend as much time there as possible. (I'm going to miss it in a few weeks when we move!)
- We love driving up to Ann Arbor and walking around the mall or shopping downtown. Yes, we holler it up when we drive past the Big House--Go Blue!
- Movies are expensive, but we'll catch one at a matinee if it's unbearably warm out.
- We're blessed with art museums less than an hour away.

On hot-but-still-can-play-outside days:

- We live near Lake Erie, so we head to the beach!
- Again, neighborhood pool--hello!
- Now and then, we'll catch the Thursday flea market. It's fun for a few hours.
- We're members of a nearby zoo. We love watching the baby elephant, baby tiger cubs, and we enjoy just walking around and seeing the sights.
- We ride our bikes. Sometimes we'll head to a state park and bike the trails.

On cooler days:

- Our library offers free movie rentals. We'll stop in for books and movies.
- Hobby Lobby is a fun craft store. We like to pick up items for inexpensive projects, like summer scrapbooks.
- If it isn't raining, we may walk at a nearby park or by the river.
- If it is raining, we might do anything on our hot-hot list above!

No matter what, I keep plenty of ice cream and popsicles on hand. It's much cheaper to purchase ice cream at the grocery store than buy individual cones at an ice cream stand. We also make Kool-Aid, homemade cookies and brownies, and, during summers when we aren't moving, we grow vegetables in our garden.

Summer rejuvenates me, gets me ready for the delights of fall, and no matter what the weather, I'm determined to enjoy it!

How do you survive YOUR summer weather?

Have a lovely weekend!

30 comments:

  1. We just bought a kiddie pool for our littles. It wouldn't do much for older kids, but at 4 and 3, you'd think we just gave them the moon. They splash in it all day, I can sit in the shade with lemonade, and we're all happy. We have a museum within easy driving distance, too, for rainy or super-hot days, a playground and library also close, and we live right across from a walking/biking trail where we can go with the littles on their tricycles on days when it's not too hot for exercise. It was such a wet, dreary winter, we're just loving the chance to be outside as much as we can right now.

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    1. Love those kiddie pools! I have many fond memories of when my kids were a bit younger. :) Now the little pools just won't fit them. Too bad! And I'm with you on losing that wet weather!

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  2. Massachusetts winters seem to last so long so I don't complain about the hot and humid summer weather. Besides, heat waves don't last more than a couple of days before thunderstorms move in with cooler temps. My girlies are all grown up, but on hot hot days we had an above ground pool. The girlies could happily splash about and I could keep an eye on them from the comfort of the sunroom. If the heat in the sunroom gets overwhelming, I have a portable air conditioner/fan. Tall glasses of iced tea bring welcome relief, too.

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    1. Same here, CJ. We definitely have 4 defined seasons, and I make the most of all of them! Your sunroom sounds incredible! We had a screened in porch a few homes ago, and it was my favorite spot in the house. Have fun in there!

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  3. At the pool. But we've done the library this week and yesterday the kids played on a slip n slide on a hill in my friend's back yard. It was fun!

    Adults stayed inside. With air-conditioning! :)

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    1. Slip n slide and a hill! Too fun! I would enjoy that myself. :)

      Our air-conditioning decided to stop cooling right before it hit 90's a few weekends ago. I'm SO glad it's fixed!

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  4. Outside - either at the sprinkler park, at a park-park, or in our backyard with the sprinkler!

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    1. I miss the sprinkler park! We had one of those in one of our old towns. Too fun!

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  5. Here in the tropics of Mexico, it's summer all year long. It's why I moved here. I'm acclimating like the locals, because to me the 70's are chilly. Now, the rainy season? That's another topic.

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    1. I love the phrase "tropics of Mexico." Seriously, I relaxed thinking about it! So glad you're acclimated!

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  6. Oh boy. In Phoenix, you really can't do a lot, especially in July and August. Even swimming can be unpleasant unless you go in the morning or later in the evening. The water gets so hot it's like bath water! So the biggest thing is staying inside with the AC. When I nannied in college, we went to the library a lot. Each of the boys got their own computer to play games and stuff, and I read happily. That was really fun. :)

    But now, I just work...so no fun during the day for me, except on weekends! :P

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    1. It seems like your summers are similar to our winters. You really can't do much in extreme temps! On the flip side, we sled and hike and have fun during the months winter is less severe, and I'm sure you swim and bike in May/June, and Sept./October!

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  7. We've been hiding out in the one room that has A/C. Yep, the room I write in. :D

    Can't wait to berry pick next week, too!
    ~ Wendy

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    1. One room with AC??? Oh, my goodness, you need to come over here. Right now. I know it's like a 10 hour drive, but I have a whole house with AC and you need it!! BTW: What kind of berries?

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  8. "Summer rejuvenates me, gets me ready for the delights of fall..." Love it and so true!

    We live in central Minnesota, which is exactly like you've described southern Michigan. The weather changes quickly and it can be a scorcher one day and cool the next (usually with a large thunderstorm in between!).

    We are known as the Land of 10,000 Lakes and we take advantage of those lakes all the time. My in-law's live on a lake full time and my brothers have a cabin, not to mention many of our friends, so we often find ourselves at someone's house. We live on the Mississippi and though it's not great for water skiing, it's excellent for fishing, kayaking and canoeing.

    I hope your unpacking and remodeling is going well!

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    1. Ooo, I love Minnesota! I lived in New Ulm (about an hour south of the Twin Cities) for a year. What a beautiful place to live!

      Summer sounds like loads of fun at your house! I'm in packing up the old house mode right now. Not my fave thing to do, but in another month, it will be a distant memory!

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  9. I'm a summer lazy girl, so if no kids and grandkids are visiting, it's the quiet pleasures I seek: watering my flowers, porch swings, wind chimes, breezes, and books. And enjoying the bounty of Mid-Ohio's warm weather outdoor, farmer's markets.

    My cousin has a lovely pool, just minutes away, so I do enjoy that upon occasion! My sister and her daughter usually give me a jingle, when heading over. :<)

    Your summer activities sound wonderful, Jill. It was fun to read about them. Thanks for sharing.
    Best of luck with your upcoming move!! (My prayers will be added to the many.)

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    1. Thanks, Patti! I love how you described your summer. I aim for restful, but with the kids at that busy age, I think it will be a few years before I'm at that point! Have a wonderful summer!

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  10. We live near Lake Michigan. It's the beach or boating. My BFF and her hubby bought a 32 foot cabin cruiser this year. It's been wonderful!

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    1. Okay, I LOVE Lake Michigan! We vacation there every year! We had to cancel our Holland, MI camping trip for this year, though, due to my son's baseball team and the move. I'm really bummed about it!

      Have fun on the boat!

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  11. I want to be a kid at your house, Jill! :) The area you live sounds pretty and nice. I try to get my writing stuff done in the mornings, too, so I can spend time with the kids for the rest of the day. We have a lake beach and a few water parks close by - we've been doing those a lot because it's been hot. If it's a really hot day, sometimes we go to the mall, too, because I don't have air conditioning.

    I hope you're getting settled into the new house okay!

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    1. You should come over and be a kid here! :) Ha! Ha! We don't have any water parks nearby, or I would definitely take advantage. They're perfect for those hot days!

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  12. You have so many great places to go to where you can walk. I would love to go to a flea market every Thursday. That would be awesome.
    What I do is, try to stay indoors as much as possible. I try to take the grandkids out late in the afternoon, after the worst of the sun. I do my flower watering then, too. I guess my favorite is a sunny, high 70 degree day. But you are right, all of the days have their own charm and I intend to enjoy them as much as possible.

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    1. We have a flea market every Thursday in the summer about five miles from us. It's fun to poke around! And I am blessed to have plenty of gorgeous parks nearby. Love it!!

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  13. See? People say there's nothing to do around here, but there's really so much!

    I love to sit on my little deck and enjoy the sun and warm before the day gets to hot. We have a pool nearby where the kid can swim as well. And for the really hot days, streaming movies and t.v. shows helps keep the cabin fever at bay.

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    1. I couldn't agree more! Life is what we make it--and there are plenty of fun activities around if we find them! We stay indoors on the scorchers too. It's too hard to be outside in 100% humidity!

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  14. A/C! :)

    But I wish my answer was swimming and boating. :) Between the day job and the writing thing, I feel like my summer is slipping away. But it's all good...I love fall like crazy, so if I miss out on summer a bit, that's okay. My favorite season is just around the corner.

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  15. That picture makes me want to go swimming!

    I drink iced tea, turn the fan on, and stay inside when it gets wicked hot. :)

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  16. I'm not an outdoor girl, but if it's not a scorcher, I like to take my camera out to photograph gardens.

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  17. I don't like temperature extremes, so I stay in the A/C as much as possible. :)

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