Ask the Readers: What Summer Activities Do You Love?

Editor's Note: Congratulations to Carmen, Lynda, and Janice for winning this week's contest!

Summer is almost here! It's the season of beach trips, barbecues, and outdoor concerts under the stars. And heat waves, sure, but we'll save that topic for another Ask the Readers. This week, it's all about the fun stuff!

What summer activities do you love? Do you prefer to be under the sun or out of the heat? Does your family have any summer traditions — road trips, pool parties, or outdoor dinners? What special activities have you planned for this summer?

Tell us about the summer activities you love and we'll enter you in a drawing to win a $20 Amazon Gift Card!

Win 1 of 3 $20 Amazon Gift Cards

We're doing three giveaways — here's how you can win!

Mandatory Entry:

  • Post your answer in the comments below. One commenter will win a $20 Amazon Gift Card!

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    Giveaway Rules:

    • Contest ends Monday, May 27th at 11:59 pm Pacific. Winners will be announced after May 27th on the original post. Winners will also be contacted via email.
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Good Luck!

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Cathy

I love going camping. This summer, we're going to go camping on the beach.

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Ben

Drinking while swimming.

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Mary Happymommy

I enjoy walking on the beach.

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Betty D.

I love and live for going to the beach! So far in NJ I've only had one good beach day, but here comes the season! I also love the free outdoor concerts.

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My favorite summer activity is eating outdoors. It started when I was a child. In the warm months, if we did our morning chores, my mother let us enjoy our lunch at the picnic table. Summer birthday parties were special because they were outdoors. My sisters birthday party at the local swimming pool with hot dogs on the grill.

Have you ever noticed how delicious a simple sandwich tastes when you're picnicking in the park? Why do children love to eat ice cream sitting on the stoop? Nearly every country fair has watermelon seed-spitting contests because we enjoy the tastes of nature in nature.

Today, eating my evening meal outdoors after a hard days work make it one of life's most enjoyable moments. Whether it's on my deck or at a local cafe, eating alfresco is what summer means to me.

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lostannfound

Working out in the yard, having dinner outside on the deck, Camping!

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KF

I like to go to the beach, scuba dive, bike, run, camp, anything outside!

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Kristine R.

I will be honest, I really can't stand warm weather. Our favorite summer activities are grilling out when the weather gets cool and going anywhere where we can be in the water!

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Christie

Kayaking, Kayaking, Hiking on our local trails, eating gelato, bike rides with my family, being able to be outside without layers of clothing on, Kayaking, the beach, eating outside, no snow, fresh flowers, and did I mention Kayaking? :)

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Elena

I like going to the beach

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Guest

Hiking, barbecuing, eating outdoors!

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C.j.

Summer activities I love are summer reading programs, biking, hiking, camping, festivals and amusement parks especially water parks. I also like using summer to try different ice cream parlors too! Love trying new summer flavors

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Patty

My son and I love swimming at a family member's pool, long days at the local park, porch picnics, and our local libraries and parks always have tons of free/minimal cost events.

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Sammie

We like to have use our firepit at night and roast marshmallows. We love to barbecue.
The kids play "Night Tag" with their flashlights. We set up the badminton net and start challenging each other to games. Lots and lots of watermelon and lemonade! We make ice cream sometimes on Sunday afternoons. There's a local dude ranch that has a lot of nice natural features that we all get together and take our kids to for swimming, tubing, horseback riding, putt putt golf, with all kinds of food provided. When it's too hot for outdoor activities, we get old classic "monster" movies and have popcorn and popsicles and laugh a lot. Summer is the best.....

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In the summer I love to golf, sit on my adirondack chair and read, draw on the sidewalk with chalk (with my kids) , go to our local zoo, hike in local and state parks, get ice cream at our fave scoop shop, and attend local food festivals and carnivals.

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J. Murphy

We spend a lot of our summer in the pool and at the beach, and we take a week off to go camping.

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Lee Klein

We like to head to the local lake for picnic and swimming activities. The cost is only $10 for the day and we can take our dogs for some exercise, too. For exercise, hitting the lap pool is more enjoyable than running in the Texas heat.

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jeannine s

we love being outside swimming, playing soccer, taking walks.

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Valarie Senatus

My new favorite summer activity is nurturing my newly created flower bed. It began last year as a 3x6feet plot in front of the porch with some success. Several perenials made it through the mild winter. This year, the flower bed has expanded to the entire length of the front of the house. Its exciting to have to seen the recently ordered bulbs from Holland flourish.

Other summer activities I can't wait to enjoy are hitting the local beach and cook-out hopping. I'm just really looking forward to being out in the sun and soaking up as much as possible before the dreded Labor Day.

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Scoutmaster

Our favorite summer activites are;
Tubing down a river. We go every week inviteing different folks to join us. I change out the food each week to keep it interesting. (fried chicken- to subs- to BBQ ribs)
We pick nights for the kids to stay up and find fireflys and look for falling stars while having icecream for dinner. (Yes you read right...icecream for dinner)
Our family LOVES to go to THE WORLD'S LONGEST YARD SALE the 1st week in August. We do everything up there, like go to drive-in movies, camp at back woods churches and eat out at local mom n pop places.
On Labor day weekend, we put together a scapebook of all the events,places and things we did over the summer. We go tubing 1 more time and yes...finish off the weekend with icecream for dinner.

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Guest

I love eating ice cream, swimming, and traveling during the summer!

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Stefanie

Swimming for sure! Free concerts, movies, and plays in the parks. Picnics, reading on the porch, wandering around parks and gardens!

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J. Pario

Geocaching! It's exercise and mini treasure hunt all in one.

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I love going on roadtrips with my friends!

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KelR1

My favorite summer activities are long walks with my dogs, baseball games, drive-in movies, and one good road trip at the end of the season.

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Phaedra

Swimming in the evening. Reading in the grass. Sitting on the deck & enjoying dinner al fresco.

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Molly

I love walking by the lake and spending time in the garden.

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monique

Enjoying the long, breezy days with friends and all of the great summer fruits and vegetables in season.

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Shannon

I love that it gives me the chance to travel

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Amanda Sakovitz

I love swimming and walking the lake

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Happy Love

Swimming, gardening, and watching the fireworks on the Fourth of July.

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Thomas Murphy

I love going in my pool

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Diane

Walking on the beach, swimming, biking & eating outdoors are among my favorite summer activities~

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susan

Swimming! Drinking Margaritas!

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DeeDee

Eating outside and tending to the garden and enjoying the fresh produce out of it.

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Kay

I love making the switch from drinking hot coffee to drinking iced coffee.

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DJD

My daughter and I are headed to the mountains of NC to pan for gold! It should be great! Also we are doing our usual trek to Folly Beach and visiting our favorite hot dog place, Cosmic Dog!

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Jen

I live in AZ, so my favorite summer activity is sprinting from my air conditioned car to my air conditioned home/workplace! :)

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Liisa

Smoothies and a cool house after I've been out in the heat (can't do ice cream, unfortunately -- that would be better!), bare feet on the kitchen tiles and sundresses all summer, the pool a few times, yummy food from the garden, and a trip to the ocean with hubby if I can afford it! :)

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Therese

I love barbecues, picnics, hiking, camping...just the chance to do all the outdoor activities that are hard to do in the colder months.

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Lynda

i love biking in that time right around sunset.

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We love having barbecue party over the backyard during summer while the kids are playing in the pool or just running around.

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Tiffany S.

Definitely camping! Mushroom hunting, geocaching, hiking, picnics, bike rides, canoeing, fires at the park...basically any free/cheap activity outdoors.

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Miranda

Summer is my all-time favorite season, as I'm sure it is for many people! For the past eight years or so I've had a "Summer List", which has every single activity I would LOVE to do in the summer- so that when I'm bored or trying to think of an activity for the weekend I can simply look at the list, see what I haven't done yet and get to it! Summer Bucket Lists have become more popular in the last few years, and some activites that are always included on mine are:
-Weekend trips to nearby towns to explore, eat and hang out with friends.
-Strawberry picking
-Camping (of course!)
-Hiking, biking, swimming and picnicking.
-Learn to cook foods I love to eat in restaurants but don't know how to make at home (Pad Thai, Chicken Tikki Masala and Fish Chowder are just a few).

Summer is the ultimate time in my mind to learn new skills, try out fun activities and really push the boundaries of everyday life!

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Jennifer

Love the longer Summer Days! More time to enjoy the water park.~ I love the smell of chlorine. Summer + gardening = Happiness

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Raina

I unfortunately take summer school, but I love the warmth. I like being able to wear cute dresses, feel totally comfortable outside, and swimming is great. Everything outdoors is so much better in summer.

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Natasha

I love going to the library. It's often cooler than being outside during the hottest parts of summer and I find new books after finishing my last one.

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Susan P.

I love to go to the mountains and go hiking in the summer. It gets so hot here and it's a nice change to see some elevation and cool off.

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Guest

Picnicking and hiking with my wife and my dogs.

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Bethany

Parks, swimming, picnics, BBQs

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Holly S

We have an annual trip to Holiday World theme park with friends where we stay at their campgrounds. We enjoy the theme park during the day and then hang out at the campground at night with our friends and smores!!

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Trish

Spending time in the park, enjoying the beauty of nature, a variety of people and lots of kids and dogs.

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Monica

We hibernate inside or try to travel to cooler climates because the heat in AZ is usually too unbearable for us. If it rains we are outside playing in it though!

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Debra K

I enjoy camping and BBQs and playing with my daughter in water.

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Pool parties and visits to the beach are my go-to summer activities!

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Mark Ross

I like to go swimming especially in one of the best beaches here in the Philippines. I really enjoy the white sand and the view that I can see when I'm on the beach.

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Amanda

My favorite summer activity is sitting on the porch reading a book at dusk. It's a combination of my favorite time of day and my favorite time of year. It's bliss.

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Tabathia B

We love going to movies in the park, summer music series, to the beach, on picnics and this summer will be our first time going camping and fishing

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MELISSA HANSSON

I love picnics, state and county fairs, bbq'ing with my friends and going to the movies when it's just too darn hot.

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I love being outside, but I can do without tons and tons of direct sunlight (I'm a clouds and rain sort of girl). :) But around here, we like to go to a local amusement park, called Knoebels. It's free admission, free parking, and you can usually get a deal on an all-day handstamp. I just took my son there the other day, and he had a blast. My favorite part, was when he was on something that I had ridden 25 years ago! :)

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Jennifer Marie

I love riding bikes in the summer

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Alissa A

I love spending time at the lakes walking or lounging around.

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Rebecca B. A. R.

I love getting together with family outside and have picnics.

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Carmen

When it gets close to 90 I prefer to stay in the a/c. But we always have at least one camping trip each summer.

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Janice Cooper

I enjoy walking at the park and barbecuing

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Laura Jacobson

Oh we love to swim!