5 Summer Dates

I missed the boat on Spring dates this year but I figure that it's appropriate since we barely had a Spring season anyway. So directly from Winter to Summer it is.

1) Make Sushi
For my birthday last year Luke put together a sushi- making basket and we've gotten serious mileage out of it so far. It's a lot of fun to make the sticky rice, fill it with your choice of ingredients, and (try to) roll it correctly. Plus I've been happily surprised each time at how good it actually tastes.

2) IKEA Day Trip
I discovered IKEA for the first time a few years ago and am still amazed. If you're lucky enough to live close to an IKEA it's an easy way to spend an afternoon - or entire day - even if you aren't looking to buy.
Plus they always have delicious swedish meatballs.

3) Sing Along
If you asked Luke what I'm worst at it would be a toss up between understanding/ memorizing lyrics and using video game controllers. So naturally one of Luke's favorite things to do is to compete to see who can get more correct words per song. We take turns picking a classic/ favorite and count the number of words the other gets right while singing along. 

4) Progressive Dinner Date
Ever since Luke heard about Jim Gaffigan's "boom boom" dinner dates, where you eat two consecutive meals at two different restaurants, we've known we needed to try it too. You can stick with two full meals/ entrees to make it a true "boom boom" or you can do an appetizer at one place, entree at another, and dessert at a third to make it a progressive dinner. I don't think you can go wrong here.

5) Park Time
I can't think of much I like more than walking around, preferably barefoot and with my dog, on a summer night. We're lucky to live close to a number of nice parks and schools that have open fields and playgrounds and it's an easy and fun summer night activity. I like doing basketball lessons (add basketball to the list of things I'm worst at) and swinging.