Weeks of Picnics 🧺

Coincidentally, we had a whopping 5 picnics to attend in just two weeks! I decided to give myself to a “picnic basket challenge” and see if I could prepare different and delightful spreads to enjoy at each of the different locations with different groups. It will be good practice because if we decide to join one of the co-ops I’m thinking of joining, I’ll be needing to pack us lunches several times per month.

#1: Meet up with New Friends – My daughter met a new friend at Junior Ranger Summer Day Camp. I approached the girl’s mom and asked for her phone number so the girls could get together again. The H family has two girls ages 10 and 12 and a boy age 9. The kiddos all had fun playing together. The highlights were playing catch with Velcro ball and a game of kickball, 3 on 3, boys against girls. I’m adding a Velcro ball set to our family wish list. It was a great way for all ages (9-14) to engage in playing something together.

Velcro Ball Set

As an added bonus, the other mom and I got along well, she was easy to talk to and we had several things in common. We had each brought a multi-age activity: they brought Velcro ball and we brought a kickball and bases. The kiddos had fun with both games. We had also read some of the same books and have a similar approach to homeschooling.

🧺 Picnic Basket

• I had my kiddos pack their own sandwiches – I think they were just simple PB & J
• Ice water in thermoses

#2. Co-op Meet and Greet – I wanted to get an idea of the culture of this co-op since I’m trying to decide between two different Christian co-ops for the upcoming school year. Everyone was So nice – they were very welcoming and there were even some teen boys for my oldest son to connect with.

🧺 Picnic Basket

• I’m off to a rather boring start to my picnic challenge – the food on this day was exactly the same as the previous picnic, but this time I remembered the snack bag.
• The co-op provided water bottles, juice boxes, and single serve baggies of chips

#3: Returning to Paradise Picnic – a fun get together planned with long-time friends. We were delighted to be able to meet up with them en route as they were traveling home. These are blogging friends, but we were friends before we started blogging. I was definitely more motivated to pack a better picnic basket this time. It was great to catch up with good friends! One of the highlights were these really fun mighty kites, they were so tiny and flew so well!

Mighty Kites 🪁

🧺 Picnic Basket

• tofurky, pesto & provolone on white rolls
• PB&J on whole wheat
• cowboy caviar & corn chips
• juice boxes
• stawberries, bananas, watermelon & fruit dip (marshmallow cream + cream cheese)
• Banana chocolate chip muffins

#4: Co-op Get Acquainted Picnic – these types of social events/parties are really not my forte. I find it taxing to meet new people, make small talk, speak in group settings, etc. I can do it, but I feel worn out afterwards. The extra motivation for this event was to pick up our yearbook from the few co-op events we attended last school year. Plus, the location was near an arboretum which I’d meant to visit earlier while we were doing a mini Henry Rousseau unit study (post on that coming soon). Additionally, they were promising free cake and popsicles!

🧺 Picnic Basket

• mini bagels and cream cheese
• apples slices
• strawberry iced tea in a thermos
• cake & popsicles provided by the co-op

#5: Large Homeschool Picnic Extravaganza

Well friends, that was a lot of picnics! In fact, after 4 picnics, I ended up cancelling going to picnic #5. They were advertising food trucks and face painting and vendors, but I just couldn’t do another event in 2 weeks.

Packing picnic baskets takes time and planning. They don’t pack themselves after all. It’s nice to know that the kiddos can snag themselves a sandwich and water bottles in a pinch!

After calling my mom to discuss the co-op options, I came to a decision on which one to join. My mom is good at asking lots of questions which can help me organize all the information think about it differently. Explaining the pros and cons of each group to an outside person helped me see more clearly which option is likely to work best for our family. This was a very difficult decision, because both groups have a lot of great things about them. I decided to go with the option that costs less money, has less time commitment, and puts my youngest son in a classroom setting less often. Our youngest son does not thrive in a traditional classroom setting. I’m hoping it works out well for everyone.

🧺 We hope you’re able to squeeze in a picnic or two before summer ends! (Though, in my recent experience, 4 picnics in 2 weeks is too many.)

🧺 What’s your favorite picnic food?

🧺 Where’s your favorite picnic location?