20 in 2020 Great Ideas for Summer Fun
By Anna Snyder
After the year we’ve had so far, we all need some summer fun. Ordinarily, we visit family during the summer and often are away for several weeks. While we’re in town, I tend to “phone it in” – we laze around, watch TV, read, head to the beach here and there, and do crafts willy-nilly. This year, with no travel on my horizon, I get to step it up and create excitement for my little family. Care to join in our fun? 1. Visit a Collier County aquatic attraction. The Golden Gate Aquatic Center, the Immokalee Sports Complex, and the Eagle Lakes Community Aquatic Park Facility all are reopen with various time and capacity limits in place. Low-cost and family-oriented, these pools boast attentive lifeguards and water features geared toward children of all ages. 2. Establish a weekly beach date with a group of families. Working within the Centers for Disease Control’s guidelines, create a fun tradition of going to the beach every Tuesday (or whatever day works best). Pick a different beach each week, and enjoy being outside. Go early to avoid the intense midday sun and the afternoon thunderstorms. Take pictures each week, and at the end of the summer, decide together which beach you enjoyed best. 3. Create a backyard water park. There are so many ideas online on how to create water features using giant plastic bags, a garden hose, sprinklers, and other items. Connecting inflatable pools and toddler slides can create hours of fun for a wide range of ages. 4. Purchase a Florida State Parks annual pass, and plan a variety of day trips around the state. Most of the Florida State Parks now are open in some capacity. There are dozens of state park beaches, historical sites, battlefields, mounds, and primitive islands that represent a variety of ecosystems, all within a few hours’ drive. 5. Work on your snorkel skills, and end the summer with a trip to Key Largo to try out your new talent. Purchase quality snorkel gear and practice at Wiggins Pass, Marco Island, or various beaches around Collier County. Plan an end-of-summer day trip to John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park, located on Key Largo. 6. Sign up for the Collier County Library summer reading program, Imagine Your Story. Participants from preschool through high school can sign up, report the number of books they 20
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NEAPOLITANfamily • July 2020
