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fredericksburg parent LETTER TO READERS & family PRODUCTION PUBLISHER Leigh Anne Van Doren Tabitha & Jamie Nelle's mom DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS & MARKETING Heidi DiEugenio, Duke & Dane's mom DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING Leanne Dalton Justin, Steven & Rebeka's mom ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVES Kathy Vaughan; Becca & Sarah's mom Michele Amaya; Hayley, Alayna, Levi & Nathaly's mom OFFICE MANAGER Nancy Massanat Emily & Kyle's Mom EDITOR Elizabeth Jones Jordan, Quincy, & Hayden's mom GRAPHIC DESIGNER Cheryl Carter Alex, Kate & Jackie's mom WEBMASTER Karen Charney Joshua & Spencer's mom CALENDAR EDITOR Leigha Pecher Jake & Luke's mom DIRECTOR OF CIRCULATION Krista Starosta Nick, Andrew, Kaylin & Kensington's mom PROGRAM MANAGER, SCIENCE SATURDAYS Victoria McCollum Ian & Malcolm's mom COMMUNITY BLOG MANAGER Mary Becelia Katherine Laura & Robert Joseph's mom FACEBOOK COMMUNITY MANAGERS Elizabeth Jones: Jordan, Quincy & Hayden's mom Pamela Quinones: Corinn, Michael, Isabella & Dalton ADVERTISING 540/374-1495 lcdalton@fredericksburgparent.net adsales@fredericksburgparent.net PHONE E-MAIL E-MAIL E-MAIL E-MAIL CALENDAR & RESOURCE REQUESTS calendar@fredericksburgparent.net resources@fredericksburgparent.net EDITORIAL 540/374-1495 • FAX 540/374-1672 E-MAIL editor@fredericksburgparent.net publisher@fredericksburgparent.net SNAIL MAIL P.O. Box 7884, Fred'bg, VA 22404 www.fredericksburgparent.net PHONE The publishers reserve the right to reject any advertisement, editorial or listing that does not meet the publication's standards. No part of this magazine may be reproduced with out permission. Listing and advertising rates are available upon request. Every effort has been made to assure the accuracy of the information contained herein, however, the publisher cannot guarantee such accuracy. Listings and advertisements are subject to typographical errors, ommissions and/or change without notice. © Copyright 2013 Nurture, Inc. All rights reserved. Entrepreneur of the Year PROUD FOUNDING MEMBER 8 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • July 2013 Summer Fun BY MELISSA PALMERTREE I t is hard to believe that summer is here again. Time flies so fast that every summer I want to make the most of it! As summer approaches, I fight the urge to sign the kids up for every activity and do every project I can find on Pinterest. Last summer, I recall spending two hours creating an outdoor waterbed out of a plastic drop cloth which the kids quickly converted into a mud hole. Lesson learned! This summer I am putting a stop to my endless list of elaborate things to do for the kids and am just going to let them have some good old-fashioned fun. We will make mud pies (after all, if we don't this year, my oldest probably won't want to next year), have water gun fights, hit the playground, play at the park, catch fireflies, play ghost in the graveyard, go on a road trip, go camping and the list goes on! This year my summer bucket list is just to let my kids be kids, keep it simple and not lose my mind. I have to be honest; the not-losing-my-mind part will probably be the biggest challenge of it all. I think my kids will do fine without my list of things to do! What I do know is this: my summer memories of doing "nothing" are filled with fantastic memories of playing outside and catching frogs — not really anything I would find on the Internet. My childhood summer memories involve a time that at least for a moment, I really think I'd like to go back to, and my kids deserve that, too. For some great ideas on things to do this summer, make sure you check out the Mommy Trader Movement tip on page 25! Melissa Palmertree is wife to Greg and work-at-home mom to Caleb, 7, Jacob 5 and Abigail, 3.