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You may have noticed in my fashion posts here that I had a major case of spring fever.  I was so excited about everything, the clothes, the weather, the barbecues, everything.  Now, I’m excited about something else related to this beautiful weather.  All the possibilities for really great dates!  So, I’m going to share a list of date ideas I think is well suited for the season.

  • A trip to the park.  This is one of our favorites, any time of year.  Whether you just go there for a walk, sit and enjoy the sunshine, bring a Frisbee or something, or pack a picnic, it’s always a great idea.  There are ducks at the park we like to go to.
  • A trip to the lake.  I love love love the lake.  There’s one where I live, and when I was young my family always went to Tennessee for vacation and stayed in a cabin by the lake.  Whether you just go there to sit by the water, to swim, to hike, to camp, or to stay in a cabin or cottage, it’s a peaceful place to be.  Time moves slowly.  It’s great to really be able to relax and have fun and just slow down and focus on each other.  This one’s especially wonderful if you’re a nature lover.
  • I fully recommend State Parks and nature preserves.  Sometimes they’re free to visit, for the most part any fees are still reasonable.  Some of them have lots of things to do for free or for very good prices.  If you like outdoor activities, this can be a great thing.  If you’re an adventure seeker, there are state parks that have things like white water rafting and other more thrilling activities.  Or slower paced activities like boating and canoeing.
  • A picnic.  If you’re the June Cleaver type, go ahead and prepare some favorite foods.  If you can’t boil water or you just aren’t feeling a lot of cooking right now…  If you want to do a spur of the moment thing, or maybe there’s just something you’re craving…  Pick up some of your favorite takeout, or make your favorite sandwiches.  Whether you have your picnic somewhere special and scenic, in your backyard, or on your stoop, it can still be lots of fun and part of the fun is in the planning.  Maybe plan your picnic together.  Maybe even make a trip to the grocery together.  David and I love to shop for food together.
  • Ice cream.  We did this last week when I was visiting.  He took me to a place called Mom & Pop’s Cone Corner.  They had all sorts of combinations.  Most of them absolutely ridiculous and wonderful.  The one I had was vanilla ice cream with marshmallow, chopped Heath bar, nuts, caramel, and whipped cream with colored sugar on top.  It was a terrible thing to eat but tasted fabulous.
  • A walk.  Hopefully it’s not too hot.  If the heat’s a problem, maybe try going for a walk in the morning, or after the sun sets.  Hey, maybe even when it’s setting.  :)  Isn’t that nice?  Also, it’s cooler after a rain, plus I personally love the smell after it rains.
  • Take in a movie.  Movie theaters used to be a popular way to cool off when people didn’t have air conditioning in their homes.  If you ask me, it’s still a good idea.  But if beating the heat isn’t the reason, some places have drive-in movies in the summer time.  David and I haven’t done this yet.  I think he’d like to.  Maybe this summer.
  • The water park!  We haven’t done this yet either, but I’d like to.  This can cost a lot or just a little depending on the water park you choose to go to.  Look around and find what’s right for you.  There are a lot of inexpensive options if you look hard enough.  They may not be as big, but I think they’d be plenty of fun.
  • Fairs, festivals, and carnivals.  Generally free to go to and the activities and foods won’t be prohibitively expensive.  Though to be honest a lot of festival foods are overpriced as compared to the cost of making them at home…  That’s not the point.  Plus who doesn’t want to ride a Ferris wheel or eat a funnel cake?  If you’re on a very tight budget just keep it simple and do/eat your favorite things.
  • Make s’mores together.  Doesn’t matter if you make them over a campfire, in the oven, in the microwave, they’re just so good and fun to eat.  They are simple and delicious and a real treat.  They make us think about summertime and the outdoors and roasting marshmallows, staying up late and just having fun.  I saw   on Pinterest where someone lined small terracotta pots with aluminum foil and put a piece of charcoal in each.  I think this was a great idea.  You don’t have to have a campfire to make s’mores.  My mom told me that my grandmother used to roast marshmallows under the broiler in her oven.  You just line a pan with aluminum foil and watch for them to get brown.  I thought this was a great idea because you could roast quite a few at the same time.  I’m sure there are all sorts of entertaining possibilities with this.  If you’re a bit more ambitious, you may want to make the s’mores bars recipe I posted on Princess In The Kitchen.
  • Road trip.  Maybe you don’t want to drive across the country.  That’s fine, I can’t say I feel motivated to do that either.  However, it’s lots of fun to just get in the car and go somewhere without any real intended destination or have someplace nearby you want to check out and just decide to go.  Try a new restaurant…  Check out a cupcake bakery or something that you’ve been curious about.  Go see a town you’ve heard about or driven through before and would like to check out.  There are a few things like this I’d like to do.  There’s a candy store with a museum not too far from where David lives that we plan to check out sometime. There’s a town we drove through on one of our long, random drives at night once that we’d like to explore in the light of day.  I’ve also been curious to check out an Amish restaurant.  I’m sure we’ll get around to these things sometime.  There’s just so much we want to do together.  I’m sure we’ll never get bored.  Again, this kind of thing can be as inexpensive or as expensive as you want.  Keeping things within a couple of hours of home makes these trips more accessible speaking both in terms of time and money.  Keep in mind that in some small towns things might be closed on Sunday, especially small businesses.
  • Play in the rain.  Leave your umbrella inside.  It’s a good way to cool down and can be tons of fun.  Mind you, not a storm, rain.  Also, careful of your shoe choice and where you choose to do this.  Ladies, don’t wear white.  Wipe your feet before you go indoors.  Best part?  It’s free.
  • Camping.  Not romantic to me–I am not a camping kind of girl at all–but some people love to camp and I can see how it would be really great for a couple if you like that, lots of fun, and a wonderful bonding experience.  Also affordable.  So if you like to camp, go for it.  =]
  • Play some music that really says summer.  We all have those songs we love to hear on the radio in the summer.  Play all of them with the volume nice and high.  Sing along together…dance if you want to.  This really is so much fun and can be a very flirty thing to do.  Or if you want to, maybe even go see a band together.  A lot of cities/towns have outdoor concerts in the summer that aren’t very expensive, some have free ones.  See if anything’s going on in your area.

I hope this gives you some ideas to keep things fun and fresh and make your summer one to remember on any budget.  I know David and I love to do some of these things and can’t wait to do some others.

Please feel free to leave a comment if you have a warm weather date idea to share or maybe share your favorite warm weather date if you like.

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