You pick!

It's the season for everything you pick and pick you can!
First, there have been strawberries - I must confess we haven't made it there yet, but we were diligently on our way this morning - and Maxwell Farm is open for the season, still open in fact, given the early summer we are having, and that's fun. There are also pick your own raspberries opportunities around Portland, such as off Maple Ave in Scarborough. They just opened today for the season. They have tons of raspberries, the weather has been very favorable for them, and the trick is to figure out when they are open. If you see the sign on Maple Ave, they certainly are, but they are not open every day. So, give it a try.
You can also choose to attend a free lunch program for children 18 and under at Canal School, 11:45-12:45. Every Thursday there is a wonderful theater comedy workshop, so stop by.
Don't forget to read - Borders is still giving out a free book to everyone who has read 10 books this summer. Come to think of it, I myself will have to try pretty hard to make it 10 books - this beach weather may be conducing to reading under an umbrella but not so much if you have to keep eyes on your kid. Some things come first, :).

Some things I do in the summer

I am looking forward to some free time to plunge into my hobby. I love painting, or drawing, or lots of other things, like tennis, easy hiking and such. So, this summer I intend to continue working on finessing my painting and drawing skills for sure, and below you will see a small sample of my most recent pieces.

More on summer lunch

Details are available at the Westbrook Parenting Network blog.
http://westbrookparentingnetwork.wordpress.com/
Come join us!
PS. My son is a terrible and extremely picky eater. All that nutritious spiel is totally lost on him. If there are people to hang out with for the lunch program, we'll bring our own stuff to just hang out, especially since the activities planned for the lunch time are so interesting. See you there!

A web of deals

If you are like me, you may be rummaging through Sunday papers looking for coupons on things you might buy. Sometimes you end up with a whole bunch of coupons on things you will never use or are very unlikely to buy. It's also difficult to find out where the deals are. Not any more! The power of the web has come here to help you stretch your dollars further.
Check out this wonderful blog - updates are very frequent - Common Sense with Money.

Summer's coming!

Have you been frantically looking for summer school vacation solutions for your child? Even if you are like me staying at home (almost) all summer, you will still be looking for something to do with your kiddos; and if you are a working all summer kind of parent, then you already have solutions in place, I am sure.
Well, if you are like me, you will soon be wanting for your child to do something more fun than bugging you for attention and waiting to be shipped from one activity to another, while you are waiting for him to wrap it up in the blazing sun, cold wind or some other kind of unpleasant, uncomfortable condition.
One idea is playgroups/play dates. There are a number of parents at both Sac and Pride's Corner who are planning to spend some time together every other week (original idea, open to modifications). Please contact me for more details.
Nice to keep in mind too that there will be two locations in Westbrook for anyone under age of 18 to get free lunch, with a bus pickup under consideration.
I would love to hear more about some free/affordable activities for kids this summer that you might be doing or are attending.