“Live life fully while you’re here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You’re going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes: find the cause of your problem and eliminate it. Don’t try to be perfect; just be an excellent example of being human.” ~ Tony Robbins
Simple fun. Sometimes it’s the best kind of fun. The video above is from our recent rafting trip. We had a sand beach, a calm river, an inflatable raft, and a couple of buckets. We ended up with a homemade waterslide into the river. Kids were kids. Adults were kids. River guides were kids. What a fun way to cool off after being outside in the heat all day!
Sometimes life gets hectic and complicated. And sometimes, life ends up not being much fun when this happens. Then, maybe we plan fun things to do. Maybe a visit to a waterpark, or a night out at the bars, or a trip to the zoo, or ??. And that’s all good (and fun). But we can also make our own fun. We don’t always have to look outside of what we already have to bring the fun back into our lives.
One time a couple of years ago, we made an obstacle course in our backyard. Some ball, some rope, a couple of 2x4’s, some water. In the end, we had an afternoon of fun, and many memories that will last for a long time.
What kind of simple fun things can you do? Be creative. Try things (maybe they’ll be fun, maybe not). If it doesn’t work out, ditch it and move on to something else. Use the things you already have to create your own fun!
{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }
Lance,
There’s nothing better that putting a saddle on the dog and letting the children ride round on his back!
Only kidding. They actually ride him bareback – we can’t get a saddle small enough to fit him.
Still kidding
he he he
I love the water slide. It looks like great fun.
For my kids, water and mud seem to make for an afternoon of fun (for them) and an evening of cleaning (for me). Who cares. They have fun and I get to enjoy their delight at making mud pies.
Cheers.
Dave.
We went to Catalina Island a couple of months ago. All my children wanted to do was make big mountains out of rocks. It was painfully simple, but we had the best time.
Writer Dads last blog post..A Billion Pixels and None of Them Wasted
What a great water slide! When we were kids we had one of those yellow water slides but we didn’t have a hill near our house so my father would pick each one of us up and basically throw us onto to the slide so we would glide on the water to the end. It’s one of the best childhood memories I have.
Marelisas last blog post..How to Be Happy
Go to a movie? J/K….the family and I will go for trail walk, jump on the trampoline with a bunch of sprinklers. Take trips when we can….
Mark Salinass last blog post..Clear Food Choices
I bet it was a blast! We bought a pack of water balloons over the weekend for $1 and had a great time with the kids in the middle of 105 degree weather
I have also started “tea party Saturdays” with my older two. We cook something together in the morning and then share it over a real tea party in the afternoon when the twins nap. You really do have to find fun where you can…..life is just too serious sometimes 
Thanks for sharing your video!
Annettes last blog post..Hope for a Better World
I love this: Go out and screw up! You’re going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. All my life I’ve been petrified of making a mistake in public. Needless to say, this prevented me from doing a lot of interesting things. Then two years ago, when I was on my own for the first time in my life, I thought to heck with this noise! I am going for it!! My initial reaction is still to want to do it perfectly, but I force myself to jump right in, and I end up having a blast!
Just for pure fun? The Lion, the Ten Year Old, and I crank up the music, push the table and chairs back in the kitchen, and totally rock out!
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YOU GUYS ARE SUCH A FUN FAMILY!
I love the o-course idea.
(shocking I know….)
MizFits last blog post..Viewer Mail.
Hi Lance,
It looks like you all were having a great time. I agree, we need to have fun and not worry about messing up. How boring it would be if we were perfect. We wouldn’t have anything left to strive for.
Barbara Swaffords last blog post..Interview With Lorelle VanFossen – Part 8 – The Future of Blogging
I agree! Fun and laughter keep me going sometimes. And it’s very true that it doesn’t need to be anything elaborate or expensive.
Vereds last blog post..Cooking? That’s What Wives Are For! (Wordless Wednesday)
Tomorrow is promised to no one. Enjoy what you have while you have it
meleah rebeccahs last blog post..The Best Text Message. Ever.
We love to geocache! It is like a little treasure hunt. My daughter is still pretty little so she doesn’t understand it 100% but I know as she gets older she will love it even more.
Rachel Ds last blog post..Stroke of Luck
@Dave – Riding a dog — that sounds fun! And so does the mud – it’s pretty fun every once in a while to just get all dirty.
@Writer Dad – That’s what it’s all about, having fun and making memories. Catalina Island sounds like a wonderful place to do that!
@Marelisa – That sounds like lots of fun, and memorable to boot!
@Mark – The trampoline and sprinklers sounds like a great way to cool off on a hot day (and get some exercise in without really knowing it!).
@Annette – Life can be too serious sometimes, can’t it?? Sounds like you’ve found some great ways to make it fun! My youngest loves water balloons too. Doesn’t matter if it’s hot or cool to him.
@Urban Panther – Right on, as long as we’re going to screw up anyway – let’s make it fun! Rock on (literally, at your house!).
@MizFit – Thanks much! The obstacle course is good fun for everyone – and that’s what makes it such a blast.
@Barbara – That’s right, we don’t want to become stodgy and boring – bring on the fun!
@Vered – I like to follow the “Keep it Simple” philosophy (probably because that’s all I can handle…).
@Meleah – Carpe diem!
@Rachel – Hey, we geocache too! Actually we haven’t done it at all this summer. It is fun for the kids isn’t it. They like finding the “treasure”. I know for us, the kids always think the hikes are funner because they are out to find something.
Today, I cut holes in a cardboard box and my four year old had a BALL being Wall-E. We even went to our fav lunch spot and he modeled it for everyone in the store. Fantastic!
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It seems a load of fun!! How nice that it doesn’t need to cost a bomb!
My kids and I have fun in various ways. An example: just putting up a short play with blankets, magic wands and all is enough to create a lot of joy and laughter.
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Of Course! How could I forget?
FitMom is totally right. Cardboard boxes are brilliant for having fun.
@FitMom – That can be the funnest toy – a cardboard box!! What a cool way to use one (and show it off)!
@Evelyn – Plays are fun! And all you need is just whatever you can find around your place. Sounds like a blast!
@Dave – Hey I agree, how could I forget too!! They’re an awesome toy, and great for the imagination (like creating Wall-E).
This video demonstrates to me that the earth should be utilized for fun.
Whether it be a walk in the forest, or a slide into the river. Enjoy it.
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Hey, I wanna turn! What a clever way to make a water slide, Lance.
Running through sprinklers is what I did as a kid to cool off when we didn’t go to the beach. Another no-cost idea for fun in the sun.
One of my all time best party games was water balloon chariot races on garden carts.
It was a blast! Loved the Tony Robbins quote. Although some might disagree I haven’t been weird enough lately.
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@Bamboo Forest – Yes, let’s have fun while we’re here!
@Linda – Thanks, it was fun! Sprinklers – they are fun! I need to do that more often when the kids are out there doing it.
@Tom – We gotta be weird sometimes, huh! The game you played sounds like a blast. Water seems to be a good thing for having fun!!
HAPPY 5k DAY!
run some for me as well…
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In the summer I take a lot of long walks. There’s a park near my apartment and sometimes I stop to watch the baseball game. When we were kids we’d be happy building forts from bales of hay. It was great fun! In the winter we’d go tobogganing with our dogs on our laps. The dogs loved it too!
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@MizFit – I ran it, thanks – some for you as well! But not more than the 5k!! It was a killer. More to come in a day or two…
@Davina – Walks are great. My wife and I do them regularly. Sounds like you maybe grew up on a farm as a kid – I was around several too, plus we had a few animals. Hay forts were great fun – thanks for reminding me of something I haven’t done in a long time!