Look at our beautiful Step Families!

The winners of our beautiful step family photos and summer tips are:

• The Hetchler Family from Ohio
• Colleen Riggle from Georgia
  
• Lisa Teal-Web (aka Buckeye Bonus Mom) from Ohio
  

Congratulations!

Summer Activity Tips from one Step Family to Your Step Family:

*With four teenagers, it's hard to get everyone together, especially when we only see two of them a couple of weekends a month. So we always make that Saturday "Family Cookout Time."  Everyone helps plan, prepare and make the meal.  Then we swim before they all run off to be with friends.

*Spend the day with family having a water gun fight, slip n slide.. grilling out and making ice cream sundaes.

*Don't forget to spend time with your spouse, the kids can play for a little while.

*Any kind of craft or art project.

*Encourage stepkids to call their biological mom or biological dad while on vacation. Their connection is very important. Have them send postcards or pick up little gifts for younger siblings that are not with them.

*Rent a movie and have a family moving night.

*Try not to over schedule when planning a holiday with the kids.  Leave time for goofing around at a playground, running through a sprinkler, going for a walk or a swim, or playing a pick up game of baseball or soccer.  I have found that doing these things really makes the kids happy, and they don't require a lot of money or planning, just your time, which is what they want most of all.

*Anything that's free!  We scan the local newspaper for free family concerts, movies, and fairs.

*Camping is a great way for a blended family to spend time together. You work together, depend on one another, laugh and create memories and shared experiences. (And we have a rule: no electronics.)

*Stay hydrated! Summer is a hot time in many states and drinking plenty of fluids is important!

*Don't forget bedtime- cranky kids are not happy kids.

* A family that plays together stays together!

*You are going to forget something, the kids are going to fight and bicker, it might be raining, you may be feeling the world is against you, but take a minute to enjoy these little moments and treasure them for all they are worth, even in the times that all seems not to be going well – realize at least you have you family together right there, to love, and that’s all that matters in the end.

*We set aside an hour, each day, for summer reading. I read to the little ones, and the older ones read to themselves.

*Since we have so many little ones, I was nervous to get a swimming pool in the backyard, so I gathered a bunch of large tupperware containers, plastic storage boxes (like the ones you put under the bed) and gave the kids the hose. They spent hours filling 'em, dumping 'em, floating different toys in them, or using them for personal outdoor bathtubs!

*When on a road trip, we rent audio books, and listen to them as we drive.  It makes great conversation when we stop to eat, and keeps the kids quiet while we are driving!

Note:  Some of the activity tips were similiar and were combined as one tip.

Thank you for your wonderful summer activity tips and beautiful step family photos!

Look at this page- don't we have some wonderful step families represented here?  Celebrate your step family!