How Often Do You Go Out to Do Fun Things as a Family?

plan ahead, get him onboard, & then it becomes much easier.

communication is key, as is preplanning & pre-packing. :)

Once you get used to this, then spontaneity will begin.....

I try to do stuff with my children every weekend. I work outside the home. My husband is a stay at home dad, and a bit of a wet blanket. If I waited until he decided he was ready, we'd never do anything, or go anywhere. So, I pack the boys up in the car and away we go. Him indoors can come if he wants to, but his attitude is not going to stop us having a life!

MOST weekends, when the kids were small, we'd go and do something. Sometimes it was as simple as an hour long trip to Costco, sometimes a day at the beach.
But we spent plenty of time around the house too.
I get why your hard working husband likes to be home (mine does too.) But quality family time can be had in many ways.
Can the kids "help" daddy in the garage, or wash cars or work in the yard? My kids LOVED being around daddy on the weekends, even when he was just doing "boring" stuff.
They also played video games together (which was a nice break for me!)
Then you can all sit down in the evening with a cold drink, maybe BBQ outside. Turn on the sprinklers, catch fireflies.
Good times can easily be had at home too :-)

It's hard to create a busy day plan on the weekend, when the week is so busy!

My suggestion is just to plan in advance. Pick something you want to do - like, a day trip to hike the trails at Lake Sally. Look at your September calendar and choose a weekend day to do that. Tell hubby, make sure he's on board. Then, go for it!

When you plan, plan meals too - dinner that night at the fun burger place that's halfway between your house and the lake, etc.

Same thing in October - plan a day trip to go pumpkin picking....

Don't beat yourself up about having to plan that way. It's not always practical (or relaxing) to do a day trip at the last minute.

ETA: If these plans really take off, maybe you'll want to do it more often. But start with one a month, go slow.

All the time. The more you go out the easier it becomes.

There are a ton of free things going on all of the time.

When our daughter was young, I kept a blanket, a cooler and snacks in the car. Sun hats, sunscreen, a first aide kit, books, games, books on CD..

This way if a free festival, free movie in the park, free concert.. whatever, we knew how to grab snacks, fruit, and bottles of cold water and hop in the car and go.

If the weather was bad, the crowds too much, or we were stuck in traffic, we did not care, we were entertaining each other while doing word games, trivia, or listening to a book.

Use your calendar to list all of the activities that sounds like they could be fun. This way you can consider going and plan it out. Our daughter was easy to work with.. My husband is the mountain I have to move. Some times my daughter and I went on our own or I would meet up with friends or family..

I did not let me husband be an obstacle instead he was given the opportunity to participate or not, but I did not hang around just because HE did not want to go, but we did.

My boys and I go out for fun family outings very often. In the summertime we probably go out and do stuff at least five times a week, during school we usually do a family outing each Saturday and Sunday. My husband works full time, likes to hang out at home to relax and do projects around the house. He is also not a fan of crowds, long walks, line-ups or museums. I make all of the plans ahead of time for the boys and I, then I invite my husband to join us, but he usually only joins us once every two weeks or so. Once in a while he will take the boys on an outing on his own, usually to a movie or fishing. If your husband doesn't enjoy the family outings as much as you do then make plans to meet up with other moms or some of your own friends. Pick things that you enjoy so you will be enthusiastic about them. Do some things your husband enjoys so he will want to come along.

My husband also has a very stressful job. He works long hours and he has different sleep patterns than the rest of us and unless he is on the day shift he doesn't get to see the kids as much as he would like. So when he does have days off we try to spend one relaxing around the house and one out together as a family.
Friday my kiddos had a dentist appt and my husband happened to have the day off so we used it as an excuse to take the kids out to dinner and a movie since we were already out.
My son just started the fall soccer season so when his practices are later at night (not starting until 7) we eat dinner at home. Go to practice. Then take the kids for ice cream and to the park.
You just need to plan! Don't leave it up to your husband. Say tomorrow we are doing "this" and he will more than likely follow along.

Plan ahead. Most often, if the mom doesn't plan it--it doesn't happen.
Lots of people have stressful jobs--he can still manage a walk at the park or some mini golf. Start with 2 hours. Anyone can fit that in.
If he won't go--YOU take the kids and go.

We probably go on one outing all together once a week. I plan most of the events and pack for them too. I love to go and experience things with the kids, so I plan outings and ask if DH wants to join us. He goes about 50% of the time. So, at least 1 weekend day or afternoon after school I'm doing something with the kids solo. I love that time alone with them, because I can really focus on them. The whole family together is important too though. So, maybe you could aim for one trip a month and plan ahead of time. It might help him feel motivated and see that it will not take away too much of his resting time (we all need that on the weekends!). I also do fairly frugal outings and that inspires my DH too. We hike together, go on bike trips to the park, have picnics by the lake, etc. Most of our trips are free and active.

You have to communicate more, the night before. Tell him, we are going ... at 2p on Saturday.

You might want to start by telling him how important it is to you. And then have him pick an activity that he might enjoy. Even if you get him out in the morning first thing to a park with everyone, he can enjoy reconnecting. Fresh air is good that way.

I speak from experience because I've been longing for some family time myself.

Good luck.

Plan your family outings in advance. Put it on the calendar and make it happen. If you make an 'event' out of it, you'll all be in the mindset to get out of the house.

On Saturday, we all went to a friend's huge anniversary party at a park with a swimming lake. Lots of adults and kids, and all day event. It was wonderful. We've had this party on the calendar for months.

Then Sunday and today, we're spending our time at home, chilling out for the most part. I have a couple last-minute things to do for my kids' first day of school tomorrow. I like outings, but I enjoy just being home to relax even more. Just because we're at home doesn't mean we can't do things together. I'm tooling around the internet right now, obviously, but my husband and sons are playing a card game.

We have plans - on the calendar! - for next Saturday afternoon. We are going to an annual local carnival. So far, the next family outing after that isn't until mid-October - a nighttime hike - but it is also planned in advance and will absolutely happen.

We plan ahead. We plan family dinners out, top golf outings and things like that.

Just look at what's going in in your area, pick and choose your outing then plan on it!

We are kind of crazy - we are doing things every weekend. Last weekend, for example we went on a hike lead by someone at our local environmental center. They were teaching wildfower names. It was a gorgeous hike and a bit hard for the kids. The next day we met friends at around noon and spent the afternoon rock climbing. This weekend we went camping 2 nights and went with our friends up in the mountains to this natural hot springs you hike to. We love to bike, ski, hike, do races, and do road trips. On the downside we NEVER do house projects. It drives me crazy. Our garage is a mess. I have a million things I'd love to do around here but we just never get to it.

Hi, Mama:

Stop looking at FB.
If your children are young, stay home and enjoy them.
If your husband likes to relax in his shop, go in there and be with
him. Enjoy him while you are both young.
It will be different when the children get older and when they leave home.
What will you do with your husband then, divorce him?

Enjoy being together. The way the world is today, we might be at war any minute.

Enjoy what you have at home.
Good luck.
D.

Our fun outing is usually a trip to the grocery store or Babies R Us to pick up what we need for the week. My husband is a stay at home dad and I work full-time outside the home. I have a long commute during the week so I usually just want to spend my weekend relaxing. I think about all the exciting things I want to do over the weekend when I'm at work, but once Saturday comes, all I want to do is to stay home and veg. Occasionally, we'll go to the farmer's market if I'm up for it. Sometimes, we spend some time with friends, but just for a few hours.

Just a few days ago, we took our daughter to the aquarium for the first time. She loved it! She was so excited to see things she's never seen before. Although it was tiring, seeing my daughter get so excited energized me. I think I want to take her at least once a month.

We do a lot as a family but it doesn't have to be planned events. Sometimes we just get up and say what do we want to do today...It may just be a long bike ride (little one in the Burley) to a park or to get ice cream or mini golf or just a new park they have never been to. But we usually all go unless there one of us has something else going on. We do have down time for naps and then just hang out in the evenings. I feel lazy if I don't do something...even if its just yardwork and playing outside but I have to do something or I would go crazy.

Weekends husband is tired. We rarely leave. And with 5 littles it's too hard.

Week? I have 5 activities alone for them on one day!!! OMG! Between them, I do. And it all involves me dropping off various kids since we can't do one thing together (even a store). Just too hard. Once they are 2 (or 3 for some things) drop-off programs start.

They beg to go somewhere all weekend long though. They never want to relax.

We try for once a month, more than that and everyone is too tired to go.

Never really.
Unless it's a vacation.
My husb is tired from working hard so I do things w/the kids, take them
fun places during the week etc.
Every once in awhile, I'll convince my husb to go for a drive or to a small
nearby town to walk around.
Every once in awhile we'll go to the park together or ride bikes.
Not every family does stuff together.
You can always ask your hubby if he'd like to go as a family as do "x"
together. Make sure it's when he's rested.
Google your town's activity calendar. Try going to a fair together or have a
destination to go on a hike/walk for an hour. Bring snacks & pack a lunch.

Well it depends.We go out very often.Like 2 twice a week.

We do something every weekend...either one of the Disney parks or aquariums or the beach...