Moms Council: Summer Plans Abound

Moms Talk is part of a North Andover Patch initiative to reach out to moms and families.

North Andover Patch invites you and your circle of friends to help build a community of support for mothers and their families right here in North Andover.

Each week in Moms Talk, our Moms Council of experts and smart moms take your questions, give advice and share solutions.

This week's question: Summer time fun for the kids. Do you send them to camp, or take them on a vacation, or both, or none of the above? And what are you looking forward to most this summer?

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Wendy Bulawa Agudelo: What truly distinguishes summer from any other time of the year is merely the number of hours the children are at home and in need of activity or supervision, right? We’ve only just started to have our children attend school—for a few hours a day, a few times a week, so generally, not much will change for us.

Because we have so many young children, we tend not to plan big vacations, but rather, weekend "escapes"  (or as we tell our little ones, "adventures") and leverage all the wonder that New England has to offer.

Within a few short hours drive, families can take advantage of water sports, mountains/hiking, the ocean/beaches, and all sorts of interesting fairs, feasts and festivals.  Whether it is a sand castle building competition (Hampton Beach), the Gloucester Waterfront Festival, a trip to Storyland, Adventure Suites, Marginal Way/Maine,  Martha’s Vineyard and the islands, or a once-a-month 70’s dance party held by Imajine That, there’s always something to do.

We’re not ready to send our kids off to camp, but really view the time together over the summer as family time. We have to work, of course, but with longer daylight hours, warmer weather, and even more things to do, the possibilities are endless.  Sprinkle in some good, old-fashioned creativity, and every day can be a surprise for your family (although, I can say this because all of my children are under the age of 5.

I gather that as children enter tween years, keeping them occupied and not bored out of their minds, is much more of a challenge. Alas, we’re looking forward to the summer, and will again spend some time at the beach, in the mountains, picnicking along the ocean side, and likely lots more time BBQing in our backyard and playing in our kiddie pool.  There’s so much to look forward to during the summer….especially… ICE CREAM! We’re planning a New England ‘challenge’ this year—visiting as many ice cream stands as we can—to truly uncover which one is the best (in our opinions). Will it be Mad Maggies?  Benson’s? Richardson’s? Or, a yet to be uncovered gem of a place?

After family board game night, a few drive-in movies, some water balloon fights, family volunteer work (Habitat for Humanity), and general outdoor lunacy, we’ll report back – right at summer’s end.

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Michele Gorham: Ah summer! I think our schedule goes something like beach, pool, beach, pool, beach pool (haha).  We're pretty laid back once summer kicks off and take full advantage of the long days and moderate lack of responsibility. 

We do, however, make a To-Do list about a week before school let's out.  It can include anything from a weekend trip to Maine, to having ice cream for dinner.  The list is kept in my bag, and when I hear the high pitched whine of, "I'm bored!" Out comes the list and we are off and running.

Traditional activities for us include; York's Wild Kingdom (followed by Burgers at Wild Bills), Yankee Home Coming in Newburyport and the pool at my mother's condo (complete with bathroom, kitchen and not awful to look at lifegaurds ;).  We also learned of the observatory at Merrimack College last year.  If you or your children love gazing at the stars you must check it out.  The observatory is located in Mendell Hall and opens at dusk every Wednesday night throughout the summer.  There is a professor that gives a mini-educational discussion too.  Oh, and did I mention is FREE!  Just be wary when your leaving, we've seen skunks kicking around the grass.

But the most coveted thing we do all summer is our week stay at the beach.  The week before school starts we rent a little cottage on (and I mean on) the beach.  The computers get left home, the email goes to auto respond and the phones don't get picked up unless its to give someone directions how to find us.  Its our annual great farewell to summer.

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OUR MOMS COUNCIL

Wendy Bulawa Agudelo -- Wendy is the mother to three young children (5 and under) — including a set of twin boys. In her spare time, she is an avid features writer covering a broad array of parenting topics from special needs to travel with infants. During the day, she earns her stripes as an entrepreneur, operating both a public relations consultancy as well as a targeted theme gift basket business, Period Packs, which celebrates a young girl's foray into womanhood.

Michele Gorham -- Michele is the wife of a Methuen firefighter and mother of two little girls. As the owner of Cookie Central, she is an avid supporter of Share Our Strength and a community leader for MerchantCircle. 

Darcy Rubino -- Darcy is a mom to three kids, ages 5, 7 and 15. She has lived in North Andover for 10 years with her husband, Mike. She is an active volunteer in the community and is co-chair of North Andover Parents Advisory Council for Children with Special Needs (NAPAC).

Diane Kiladis -- Diane is a local mom of two kids and runs the newspaper at Franklin Elementary School, the Franklin Flyer.