How To Have A Great Family Weekend!

So the weekend looked like this : My brother was coming to town for a bike event with both of his kids is tow (ages 12 & 14). What do we do? How do we make sure the four boys won't destroy our home?

This is how a little planning made for a great weekend!

Friday Night -
They arrive and we already have the sleeping arrangements figured out. That's step one. One of my kids are going to have to give up their bed for the weekend, so we turn the upstairs into a large campground. We head out for our favorite wing joint for dinner and everybody is happy!

Saturday-
Luckily, our bike ride is set for an early start. The house is still very much asleep when we depart, this means Grandma will only have to worry about breakfast as we will be home shorty after that. After a couple of hours of destroying ourselves on our bikes we return home in time to start working on lunch. Once the kids are fed we are off to a local swimming place that takes us back in time. (It's a lake that acts like a pool) The kids thoroughly enjoy the the lake and are also thoroughly wore out when we leave. Grandma has volunteered for dinner duty this evening and we time it perfectly and arrive home with just enough time to get cleaned up before dinner. After dinner the house is relatively quiet after a day of fun.

Sunday
Another bike event this morning, a short ride while the house is relatively quiet and still. Once that is over the task of packing the car back up, searching the house for left items encompasses our time before we are off to lunch before they leave.

A little planning can make for an enjoyable weekend with four boys in the house.

What are some tricks that you use to make family weekends go well?

Time To Get Back On Track!

Ok, so it's been about 18 months since I posted anything on this. That 18 months has been a roller coaster of events and experiences. In that time I have taken my kids camping to San Antonio, Waco and Oklahoma; we have gone to Galveston three times and gone out to San Angelo to see my brother twice. I have also coached both of their baseball teams twice and survived the holiday season. This all looks good...but what kind of dad have I been?

The reason I stopped posting in February of 2011 wasn't because I forgot; it wasn't because I gave up on the idea. A horrible economy based tragedy happen that affected my coworkers and ex wife. I lost my positive outlook. For quite some time I was able to regain that outlook, but not with the same vigor as before. The last 6 months or so have been a struggle. Many changes have taken place and I have not done my best to work through it.

This is now the time to get back on track. The new school year is quickly approaching, being a high school band director means that it has already started as we started our various camps last week. I look out on the oncoming school year with the same eyes that I look forward to the next stage of parenting...excitement, positive attitude and a clean slate.

It's never too late to improve and make it a great day for everyone around you. Patience and quality time are going to be my credos from now on. These are the two things I have let slip by me.

Join me in this refocusing of energy. Have fun, relax and give others what you want!