Show Your Love :: July is National Park and Recreation Month!

Thank you to US Family Guide and the National Recreation and Park Association for sponsoring today's discussion.

Did you know this July is National Park and Recreation Month? Your local parks are encouraging everyone to come out this month and experience all the wonderful aspects of parks and recreation!

 Nationwide, recreation departments have organized events and activities to help families spend quality time together, enjoy nature and get active. This provides a great opportunity to not only make the most of the beautiful weather, but also to take a stand against the obesity epidemic and technology trends that consistently keep more kids indoors and living less active lifestyles.

As part of Park and Recreation Month, the National Recreation and Park Association is encouraging everyone to show the love for local parks and recreation and wants everyone to answer the question, "I Love my Parks and Recreation Because..." You can fill in the blank social media poster that can be filled in and shared, and enter in a fun month-long weekly photo contest that encourages everyone to show and share the LOVE for local parks! The NRPA website includes information on all of the above initiatives, free downloadable resources as well as a calendar of events scheduled nationwide.

In an effort to get out and do this summer, as a family we created a Summer Bucket List. It includes a lot of outdoor activities, new places, and fun events that are put on by our local Park and Recreation department. It's been fun to say the least, and it's been an absolute joy to spend such quality time with my husband and son. As a new homeschooling family (and just trying to get out more too), we're finding an abundance of educational opportunities in our back yard through local parks, museums and events and it doesn't end with summer! This week we'll actually be heading out to Santa Cruz for a few days, and I have a couple State Parks on our list to stop by. We're also hoping to visit the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento in the near future. We went last year and Buddy was absolutely enthralled! You know how much he loves his trains.

This summer we're getting out and creating more memories like these from years past at local parks. Are you? Some of your fondest memories are probably of a summertime adventure as a kid. So let's give those experiences and memories to our kids too.