Five on Friday: summer edition!

Summer has come to the Upstate in every which way, except by calendar! Between a weather forecast of temperatures in the upper 90’s for the next week, the end of the school year and the kick-off of all of our favorite summer programs, it’s just a matter of waiting for the summer solstice to make it official. Want to join us in all the Upstate has to offer this time of year? Here are our family's top five summer programs…

1. The Greenville County Library System Summer Reading Club has gone digital! Not only can you sign up online, but you can log all your hours/books online. By setting up separate accounts for each child/adult in your family, you also increase your chances of winning some cool prizes including a one-year family membership to The Children’s Museum of the Upstate or Greenville County Rec Ice Skating/Waterpark passes. Participating children and teens will earn a voucher to a Greenville Drive baseball game, while toddlers (up to 35 months) can earn a board book. Parents, don’t miss out on the fun! By logging your summer reads you could be entered to win a Swamp Rabbit Trail cycling jersey, Swamp Rabbit hockey tickets, or an “Explore Greenville County” gift bag: a Swamp Rabbit Trail patch and bumper sticker, King of Pops coupons for two free popsicles, a Greenville County Driving Tour of Historic Sites book, and a library bag! For more information and to sign up, head over to the Greenville County Library System website.

Park Hopping at College Street Park

2. The LiveWell Greenville Park Hop kick-off was a couple weeks ago at Sunset Park in Mauldin, but the free scavenger hunt in parks across Greenville County will last all summer! Intended to help Upstate families discover new parks and increase physical activity for youth and adults, the hunt encourages children and families to discover featured parks throughout the summer while searching for answers to clues within each park. Participants can earn local prizes like water park passes, Greenville Drive vouchers and a Park Hop t-shirt just by visiting parks! Logging your answers is especially easy this year with the iOnGreenville app, so to learn how you and your family can start Park Hopping and to register for this fun scavenger hunt please visit the 2016 Park Hop website.  

3. Kids in Parks is an expanding network of family-friendly outdoor adventures called TRACK Trails, with several located within an easy drive of Greenville. With a choice of four TRACK adventures at Congaree National Park and five more at the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site (including the brand new Citizen Science trail that opened just last month), there are plenty of opportunities to earn prizes for tracking adventures while exploring our region’s vast natural resources. Check out the Kids in Parks website to sign-up, and see you on the TRACK trail!

Book time with grandmother!

4. As the kids are already logging all the books they are reading over summer vacation, they don’t mind reading a few extra books to earn some summer cash. We’re participating in the 2016 TD Bank summer reading program for kids in grades K-5, which involves reading 10 books, logging them on the summer reading form, taking the form to the nearest TD Bank and receiving $10 in a new or existing TD Simple Savings account! A program that encourages reading while helping children learn about saving money has my full support, so head over to the TD Bank website to learn more.

5. As they’re reading and re-reading every book in the house, we’ve already cashed in our credit with our local used bookstore and spent hours at the local library searching the shelves for new and intriguing reading material. However by simply filling out the Barnes and Noble summer reading journal and bringing it in to your local B&N store, you can choose a brand-new free book from a selection of books at the store. To download the Summer Reading Triathlon journal and get started, please visit the Barnes and Noble summer reading program website.

This summer is also all about chickens... but that's a story for another post!

Two of our favorite summer activities – reading and visiting parks!  If there was only a summer program to incorporate another favorite, watermelon eating…. Summer, here we come!!!