Is it just me or are you loving the lighter evenings?  It’s nice to see the sun out again, after all the miserable weather we’ve had recently.  Plus the kids are enjoying playing out in the garden after dinner and I am looking forward to going for evening adventures again.

Evening Adventures

On the sunnier evenings last year we had some mini adventures.  Going out on our bikes to nearby forests or ponds and having picnic dinners.  The boys loved the early evening adventures and especially loved having daddy along for the ride too.  Of course we do things at the weekend as a family, but sometimes it’s nice to do things together during the week too.

It’s not too far for us to get to some nice local areas by bike, so hopefully we’ll get a chance to do that again soon.  Here are a few ideas for your own evening adventures:

• Visit a local pond and feed the ducks or go pond dipping
• Cycle to a nearby village and take a picnic tea
• If it’s not too far to the coast, head off to the beach for a play
• Walk/cycle to a local woodland and climb the trees

Later Bedtime

When you are out later in the evening then it’s likely that the children are going to go to bed later.  Which is actually a good idea when it’s light later.  It’s definitely a lot harder to convince children to get into bed and go to sleep when the light is shining through their windows!

Like every other parent I know we have installed blinds, like these here that I found online at Itzala, to reduce the amount of light coming into the bedrooms.  It certainly helps, but we still need to have long discussions about why bedtime doesn’t mean when it’s dark and that you CAN go to bed when it’s light.

Go With The Flow

Routines are definitely useful at times.  But if it’s the choice between a battle of getting a small person to bed or letting them play outside a bit longer, I know which choice I will take!

And then when the kids are in bed, we will be outside enjoying peace and quiet in the sunshine ourselves.

How do you cope with the earlier evenings?

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