Beating the Heat

It’s June 15th and we are a solid 13 days into summer. It is utterly wonderful to be able to wake up and have a relaxing morning with the kids, without anywhere to rush off to. We are baking cookies and holding lemonade stands, spending time at the parks and the beach and swimming at the pool as often as possible. The kids have already started to adopt their summer tans complete with blond hair and freckled faces, but my favorite part about summer is the lack of schedule.

If I am honest, though, that’s also the hardest part about having so much free time. Jack and Zoe’s friends are all busy in camps and summer school and Beau’s buddies all seem to be enjoying tropical vacations (lucky!), so we’ve been riding solo for the last couple of weeks. It becomes a bit challenging to entertain 9, 7, and 4 year olds with the same activities and Jack has already vocally objected to park visits. Evvie is really happy to be doing anything the big kids are doing, but once in a while I’d love to be able to take her to a toddler focused activity and bring the big kids along, too. With the excess of time and commodity of friends happening simultaneously, we’ve gotten a little creative with home activities. All of the kids happen to enjoy shopping (I KNOW), so Justin took them to his favorite store to find some activities to keep them busy the last few days and during the heat wave that’s impending. Ross Dress For Less saves us 20% to 60% off the same brands carried in department and specialty stores, and we can always find a few things for the kids, the house and the pets there for good prices.

I think that Evvie and Beau and especially Zoe had a hand in their finds this week, including a slip n’ slide, bubbles, a water octopus and a really cute little cat hut for Gus. For the last few days, the kids have been roaring with giggles out back, and Theo loves nothing more than to play with bubbles so everyone is happy and entertained-at least for a couple of hours. We don’t get out to shop too often, but Ross gets shipments 3-6 times a week so I know that every time we make it there, new things will have recently been put on the shelves. In other words, it never feels “picked over”, a feeling I really cannot stand when I’m shopping for anything. Justin was able to make it out of the store not only saving money but as the Hero Daddy because he found so many summer toys for the kids to play with on these lazy days.

We do have some scheduled activities coming up for the big kids, but for now I’m really happy just spending time with my kids without having to rush them to and from anywhere. I feel good knowing that I’ve also managed to make these long days feel fun and exciting-and we managed to treat them to a few things on a budget. Ross always seems to come through for these things.

You can find the latest Ross styles on the website at RossStores.com, as well as on Facebook and Instagram. Ross is encouraging fans to use #GottaGoToRoss #Contest on Instagram to show off their Ross treasures. Each week throughout the year a fan will be selected to win a Ross gift card!

DISCLOSURE: I am a Ross Bargain Hunter and received compensation for this post.