It’s that time of the year again; the time when only one word can adequately capture the essence of the stirring in the southwest Florida air - hot.

If you are anything like me, the repetitive work, school, baseball practice, ballet class, dinner, sleep, do it all again routine can become dull and monotonous after a while and the heat just exacerbates the feeling of unrest. You would do just about anything for a weekend on the boat, driving down to the keys, or taking the kids to Disney World. But, alas, the school year isn’t quite over yet and extra-curricular activities are still occupying boxes all over our calendars. Summer is right around the corner and we can see it in the distance, taunting us with its promise of getaways and freer schedules but it just isn’t here yet. I suggest we all take just a little opportunity to infuse some “play time” into our lives wherever we can find some spare time.

I’ve come up with a few easy (and inexpensive) ways to treat yourself and your family to some fun and not too time consuming activities that may help to break up some of the monotony and use the stifling heat to our advantage.

Go Treasure Hunting

There is a fantastic app you can download at geocaching.com to “join the world’s largest treasure hunt”. The gist: the app will give you a GPS location where you will find a “box” hidden somewhere in your local vicinity. After you arrive at the general location you turn off your phone and begin your search. The treasure box could be up in a tree, under a park bench, or hidden pretty much anywhere out of sight. Once you find the box you’ll discover inside a note pad and a few little “treasures”. You’re encouraged to take something as a keepsake and leave something for future hunters. Log in your name, the date and time, and leave with a sense of accomplishment and adventure.

This little excursion can take you to places (not too far) that you might not have ever experienced without leaving a little room for “play” in your life.

Play in the Water

While the summer holidays may not be knocking on our doors quite yet the summer heat certainly has.

Head on down to your local Walmart, CVS, or Dollar store and find some sprinkler attachments (if you don’t already have them) and spend an afternoon or two jumping through the water, letting your inner child run rampant for a while.

To rev up the spontaneity a bit, the next time (and hopefully the next time will be soon) we have a sudden sunny downpour, stop what you are doing and go out to run in the rain! You’ll feel like you’re twelve again and if you have teenagers they’ll probably look at you like you’re crazy! You have to keep them on their toes right?

Make a Summer Play List

Remember the awesome reggae band that was playing while you sipped on pina-colodas at the tiki bar on the beach last summer? Or blaring your favorite song with the windows down or barbecuing by the river? How about the oh so familiar “It’s a small world” tune we heard over and over while the boats of the ride were backed up in their queue as we sat in the same spot for over 30 minutes longer than we were supposed to while watching the very cute (and sometimes creepy) animated dolls from all over the world dance their little gears out?

Music has the power to transport us back to times and places in our memory and can evoke the same feelings of joy and breezy bliss of our past summer holidays so make a playlist and rock out while you’re doing the dishes or picking up the kids from their many extracurricular activities.

Remember that fun is a mindset; so make up your mind to have some fun and you’ll surely find ways to beat the heat and inspire a prelude to your summer vacation until your summer vacation where, of course, a whole new set of adventure awaits!