My family has been everything that I ever could have asked for. No matter what happens in my life, I have these caring, beautiful people to come home to. With the hustle and bustle of every day life, even the most important things can fall by the wayside. I wanted to make sure that neither my husband nor I let my family fall behind in our priorities so we started to set aside special time for us.

Every Friday evening, we have what we call “Family Fun Night”. Some days, not everybody eats at once. The kids will eat something we’re not in the mood for so we eat later, there’s work to do so one of us can’t make it to the table, we’re doing dishes, whatever’s going on. On Fridays, we make sure that we sit down and eat dinner at the table together. We’ll discuss the day’s events, goals, what we’ll be doing for the weekend, or whatever those little hearts desire.

After dinner, we come together in the living room and do a family activity. Last week, we watched the family-friendly Disney movie Big Hero 6 and we all loved it. There is a scene where Baymax is doing a fist-bump with Hero and he makes a funny noise. We were all laughing and doing it to each other.

As a special treat, we make popcorn and put it in a big bowl to share. Even sharing the popcorn from one bowl seems to increase the closeness because we’re having to share, take turns, and sit close together!

Game nights are another big one. We choose a game that at least most of the kids can grasp and sit on the floor playing together. One of the children’s grandparents bought us this game called Gobblet Gobblers, which is a spin on Tic-Tac-Toe where you can “eat” other people’s pawns and steal the space. I was surprised at how fun it was for all of us and I loved that the kids understood the concept very well!

Growing up, I love Chutes and Ladders. Considering that my children are obsessed with Frozen, we picked up a similar game called Surprise Slides. It wasn’t very expensive and it’s VERY easy! My husband is so competitive, he seemed almost disappointed when our second daughter slid right past him to the finish line! Haha!

When the weather calls for it, we have a fire at the fire pit in our backyard and make s’mores while listening to music. Sometimes also camping in a tent in the backyard! My husband did a lot of father/daughter camp-outs last year while I stayed in with the baby since he’s still a little young to be removed from his usual settings to sleep well.

 

We are lucky enough to have a drive-in local to us so that’s another seasonal option for us! They play two movies for a much lower price than the theatres, but we usually only make it through one movie. The last thing we saw was the TMNT movie and they sell food, even dinner options like hot dogs and burgers. We bring two cars, my minivan to carry all of the kids and my husband’s SUV because it’s very spacious. With the car turned facing away from the movie and their sleeping bags in the back of his SUV, it’s perfect for comfortable viewing!

 

The weekends are more often than not also family time. When people ask about our weekend schedule, we aren’t even exaggerating when we say we are booked solid, especially in Spring and Summer! We go to:

• Festivals
• The beach
• Amusement parks
• Wildlife reserves and zoos
• Museums
• Concerts in the park
• Ice cream parlors
• State parks
• Whale/dolphin watching
• Aquariums
• Renaissance Faires
• Picnics
• Roller skating
• Gymnastics centers
• Anything cool we see advertised!

It’s been so beneficial to our family to set aside these times to bond over a meal or activity. We both hope that it’s something our children will remember forever. It doesn’t have to be something expensive or even something that you open your wallet for at all, it’s just important to spend time together! Hopefully my sharing our experiences will help give ideas to some of the families out there!

What about you, what activities do you do with your family? Also, can anyone suggest some great family-friendly games and movies for us?