Summer Fun Sun

Summer is here. Finally! Break out the flip flops, floppy hats, and sunglasses, and start planning some outdoor parties. Here are some ideas for games, food, safety, and keeping the season fun for all.

your chin or between your legs… break into teams and have fun.

H Fun Ideas

Hang an empty picture frame from a tree by a rope and take selfies inside the frame. You can get some silly hats and scarves as well as party-themed goods at the dollar store.

If you have a tent that isn’t too hard to set up, consider setting up a tent for the kids. Put coloring books, crayons, and some games inside so they have a cool place to play in. You can also string up a rope and hang some sheets from it for the same effect and place a sheet on the ground underneath it.

For adults:

It’s always nice to have a couple of decks of cards, dominoes, and maybe a Yahtzee game for adults.

H

Balloons

There are a number of games adults can play with balloons – table volleyball, passing it from one person to another holding the balloon under

H Helpful Hints

Have a sharpie marker available next to the large plastic drinking cups. Put a sign out asking guests to label their cups, water bottles, etc. This saves on trash and helps people know which drink is theirs.

Set up a bucket or station with bug spray, wet wipes, sunscreen, and some extra hats and bandanas for those who forgot.

If you have a double or triple cookie stand, use it for fruit or to hold hot dogs, buns, hamburgers, etc. It saves space.

You can make fruit skewers with grapes, strawberries, blueberries, watermelon balls, etc. Place them standing up in a pitcher to save space instead of having a large fruit bowl.

You can make simple appetizer skewers with mozzarella balls, cherry tomatoes, and a basil leaf.

Rather than having individual water bottles, set up a water station with a few gallon jugs of water, large plastic cups with markers, or hit your local dollar store containers or long baskets at the local dollar store. Tape the lids shut or make a cover out of card stock. Paint the outside colors and you have an outdoor Jenga set. You’ll need about 20.

H Hula Hoops, Beach Balls, and Glow Sticks

Hula hoops can be used on their own, as targets, and as basketball hoops for little ones taped to a step ladder or the back of a chair. Get some blow up beach balls and the kids will make up their own games. Glow sticks are fun for all at night.

H Yard Bowling

Save 10 large soda bottles, take the wrappers off, get a ball, and set up a bowling area between two broom handles. Place about a cup of sand in each. Glow sticks inside are great for night bowling.

H Reusable Water Balloons Reusable Water Balloons

If you know someone who can knit or crochet, ask them to make you little sacks with big thick yarn. You can also buy wash cloths at a local dollar store and rubber band the corners together. These can be placed in a bowl full of water and reused just like a water balloon, with out the waste of plastic and constant refilling. Just resoak and throw.

Everyone by Syndi Reibman

bunch of different colored reusable cups with lids. Set out a container with straws and an ice bucket.

H Food Safety Party Tips

If you have a kid’s pool or an inflatable pool raft, fill it with ice, place your refrigerated foods in bowls on top of the ice and you have a safe means of keeping your food cold for hours. You can also place large plastic trays full of ice beneath platters.

We all know how pesky flies, bees, and yellow jackets are around sweet drinks. Take cupcake liners, turn them upside down and put a straw into the middle. Place this on top of your drink with a rubber band and the bugs can’t get in!

Place a leaf bag or large plastic trash bag inside your large laundry tub, a new trash can, or even a wheel barrow. Fill with ice and place drinks within.

In addition to ensuring you cover your cooked food and salads, you can purchase mini mesh tents to place over food to keep the bugs away.

H Keeping Cool

If you have extra spray bottles, fill them with water and guests can mist themselves.

H Hand Wash Station

Have a bowl out with anti-bacterial spray, gel, wipes, and paper towels with a small trash bin next to it.

H Table Covers

Rather than fighting with plastic tablecloths that fly away, rip, and are thrown away, you can take a twin sheet and place it over a folding table or picnic table. Then just run it through the wash after the party.

H Crockpots

Place a few packages of hot dogs into water in a crockpot to save space on the grill. They can cook on high for an hour and be left on low heat throughout the day.

H Food Bars

Set up a hamburger station with covered bowls full of sliced onion, tomatoes, sliced pickles, different types of cheese slices, guacamole, lettuce, cole slaw, rolls, etc.

H Condiments

Grab one or two reusable cupcake tins. Fill the spaces with ketchup, mustard, relish, mayonnaise, pickle slices, etc. instead of having all those bottles.

H Beer or Wine Tasting

Ask the adults to bring small microbrew or ‘different’ brands of beer, wine, or spirits and have a tasting party. Make sure you choose only one though, so people don’t mix their alcohol intake and get sick.

H

Beer Pong

If you have a crowd that likes to drink, there’s always beer pong. Set up a folding table with 15 large empty cups on each side of the table. Get some ping pong balls and place them in a bucket on each end.

Above all, have fun and be safe!

Captain Sandy Yawn

“Be the Calm or Be the Storm: Leadership Lessons from a Woman at the Helm”

Everyone experiences a moment in life when they need to lead. Sometimes it’s a team, sometimes it’s a company, a classroom, a patient ward, a family, or simply your own individual self. Based on the leadership lessons she’s gathered from her resourceful and resilient life, captain Sandy, a superyacht captain and star of Bravo’s “Below Deck Mediterranean,” shares the leadership skills and critical thinking inherent to being a captain that can empower anyone to navigate their way to a successful life.

Among some of the stories/lessons she’ll share:

• How she selects and sizes up her crew even before embarking on a charter, deciding who to invest in and how to bring out their best.

• Things happen at sea. No matter how much you plan and train, so much can go wrong so she’ll discuss the level of persistence and faith that’s required in solving an especially knotty problem.

• Authority and discipline are required to lead, but they must be leavened with compassion, understanding, and a desire to see your crew succeed.

• She describes the seamless flow that happens in great teamwork and how she loves seeing the way her deckhands pitch in when needed. For Captain Sandy, this represents leading with empathy, figuring out who your teammates are and what motivates them, then communicating in a way that motivates and makes them feel understood.

As a captain, Sandy is constantly upgrading her knowledge and skill set, which is as much a part of her job as steering a vessel. Sustaining excellence requires constant effort, whether you find yourself at the end of a journey, halfway through, or at the start of a new one. And the learning never stops. Woven throughout her stories are captain Sandy’s optimism and abiding faith that, given the right tools and opportunities, individuals are capable of so much more than they realize, especially when they can find someone to believe in them.

Dr. Doris J. Day

“Forget the Facelift: Turn Back the Clock with a Revolutionary Program for Ageless Skin”

In “Forget the Facelift,” Dr. Doris J. Day brings her full-service dermatology practice to you. Not only does she provide a skin-care regimen for beautiful, glowing skin and detailed descriptions of all the latest wrinkle erasers and rejuvenating skin treatments, she takes caring for your skin a step further. In this book, you’ll find recipes for making homemade facial cleansers, masks, and scrubs, as well as menus, recipes, and fitness tips to get you on the road to eating right and exercising for your skin’s health.

Rounding out Dr. Day’s program for ageless skin is a list of skin saboteurs that readers must avoid at all costs in order to keep their skin healthy, as well as tips for improving their overall appearance- including dress, hair, and makeup suggestions, which will make their skin look even better.

Dr. Robi Ludwig

“Your Best Age Is Now: Embrace an Ageless Mindset, Reenergize Your Dreams, and Live a Soul-Satisfying Life”

Although we’ve been conditioned to think “middle aged” is practically a four-letter word, the realities of women in midlife today are far different than what our mothers experienced. Women in their 40s, 50s, and even 60s, are living younger, vibrant lives. But influenced by our youth-obsessed culture, we fear that when we hit midlife, we stop being relevant and no longer have options—that it’s simply too late for us.

Contradicting long-ingrained beliefs, Robi Ludwig draws on myth-busting data from scientific research and on her experience as a therapist to show midlife is not the beginning of our decline—it is actually a time to pursue our dreams. “In Your Best Age Is Now,” she offers specific advice on how to change our perception of this next life phase and make the best of it by:

· Letting go of stress to create a more balanced life

· Identifying false thinking that is holding us back

· Taking charge of our love life and relationships

· Staying relevant in the workplace or starting new, exciting careers

· Becoming more spiritual and leading a life of gratitude; and more

“Your Best Age Is Now” provides the guidance you need to reject the status quo, become more “you” than ever before, and find the kind of happiness you never thought possible.

Deborah Norville

“Thank You Power: Making the Science of Gratitude Work for You”

“Thank you.” Can such small words hold life-changing power? Yes! Rooted in science, presented from a spiritual perspective, “Thank You Power” details the surprising life improvements that can stem from the practice of gratitude. In this eye-opening book, Deborah Norville brings together for the first time the behavioral and psychological research that prove what people of faith have long known: giving thanks brings life blessings.

Beginning with two small words, “thank you,” Deborah shows how anyone can be happier and more resilient, have better relationships, improved health, and less stress. After two years of scientific research, she brings it all together with powerful personal stories of thank you power in action and gives specific steps for readers to cultivate thank you power and put it to work in their own lives.