Sunflower Field Pictures + Other Family Date Ideas

Some of our most favorite family dates are experiencing new things together.

None of us had ever been in a field full of sunflowers before so that's what we did for our most

recent family date. The boys enjoyed running through the path to the middle of the field and hiding from us midst the tall flowers. We got there right at sunset and it felt pretty magical.

Then we let them stay up late and go for ice cream. It was a great way to say goodbye to summer.

Some other ideas for family dates:

The Zoo

(it's so fun seeing animals we don't see on the regular)

Fort Movie Night

(everyone watches in the fort and gets their own popcorn bowl)

Make Your Own Pizza Night

(I recommend this easy Naan Bread Pizza recipe)

Bike Rides

(head to a trail or somewhere new)

Scavenger Hunts

(now that fall is around the corner you can use this one)

Game Night

(with prizes for the winners)

Build Something Together

(get creative with cardboard boxes + duct tape & let kids decorate)

Bookstore Date

(parents get coffee and get an endless supply of books to look at)

Dance Party

(with dance-off's of course)

Experience something new together

(Get creative! And bring your camera!)

Fall Scavenger Hunt + Free Printable

A favorite fall activity to do with my boys is go on a fall scavenger hunt.

I make up a list of things we have to find and we grab a basket and set out on our 'treasure hunt' as we call it. I usually just scribble something down but this year I got a little more official so that I could share it with you guys too!

Griff dubbed himself official basket holder and took the job quite seriously.

We set out around our neighborhood to see what treasure we could find.

 

I make the list simple enough for them to do on their own with my direction and full of stuff that's pretty easy to find, like all the different colors of leaves.

And acorns/nuts

I like to put some learning stuff in there too, like find something that is straight, round, smooth, or rough, etc.

And the bonus is to find something special to them. This one was Grady's.

We went all over checking off our list.

We came back pretty excited about our finds.

We only didn't find one thing on our list and that was a pinecone.


But look at all our beautiful treasure!


Feel like doing one for yourself? Here's a link to a free printable to take on your treasure hunt!

Tag us on Instagram (@shelbygoodman) if you use it! The boys would be so excited to see!

a lesson in gardening

Last year we built window boxes for the front of our house. I was so happy with how well they held up over the winter and couldn't wait to fill them up again this spring.

Only this time, I'm applying a few lessons I learned from last year: 

Flowers die if you don't water them.

Last year I just went to the garden store and picked out flowers I thought would look nice for the window boxes. But, I am not diligent about watering my flowers, I now know this about myself. Why else do you think I fill my house with drought-resistant succulents?

So, here's another little tidbit I learned: 

Despite their name, impatients impatiens are a rather forgiving flower. 

They were the one flower that survived in my dry window boxes last year.

So this year, they'll be stealing the show and saving the day.

So, I definitely don't have a green thumb, but I'm learning.

 What's your favorite flower to plant?