Flash Forward Friday -- Summer Magic

And now for a brief detour from our regularly scheduled activities.

A few weeks ago, I thought up a BRILLIANT plan.  After originally labeling my idea "The 5000 Pages of Summer Reading," Scott and the kids talked me off that crazy ledge and I have instead settled on "The 3000 Pages of Summer Reading."  In my efforts to keep them reading for part of the day all summer long {and to keep them OFF electronics 24/7}, I decided that a little fun and bribery were in order.  Because nothing is more fun than a contest, right??  Hahaha.  The kids have jumped on the bandwagon for now, and starting June 1 they will begin their journey.  If they have all completed the goal by August 1, we're going to Disney World!  With an added bonus of $100 in spending money for any kid that actually reads a full 5000 pages.

And just because contests really are fun, I came up with another great idea to kick off our summer vacation as well!  I told the kids we could have a T-Shirt design contest to come up with a set of family shirts that we can all wear while we're ON our family vacation.  {Everyone but Ethan was excited about the prospect of designing and then actually WEARING matching family shirts.}   I also told them we'd keep it SUPER impartial and post pictures on the blog for our readers to choose the winning design.  Hahahaha.  I think they ALL kind of liked that idea -- even Ethan.

We actually have planned out pretty much our entire summer at this point, and I find that whenever that happens, it feels as if it's almost over before it's even really started!  In addition to lots of reading, a trip to Disney, and designing T-Shirts, we also have dog-sitting on the docket, scout camp for Ethan, a trip to Cancun for me and Scott, and possibly a few Saturday outings to King's Island for the big kids. Not to mention lots of trips to the pool, obviously!  Haha.  Our summer is going to be JAM-PACKED.  And maybe even a little magical.  :)