Summer nights might possibly be one of my favorite things in the entire world. Right up there with chocolate and chick flicks. I love the temperatures, the sounds of nature, the clear night sky, the later daylight hours, and the occasional thunderstorm. We spend most of our summer nights at home lately. With toddlers, it’s hard to get out and enjoy those summer nights, unless we have a babysitter. It could be really easy to climb into bed and watch Netflix after the kids are in bed. And I’ll admit that’s happened at our house a few too many times recently.
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In an ideal world, we’d enjoy late-night strolls, and movies in the park, and stay out late watching the sunset and people around us. It only took a week of letting our kiddos stay up later than normal for me to realize that I do not want that to be our everyday norm. But I’m determined to get out there and enjoy those summer nights with my husband, even if it feels like we’re stuck at home and don’t have as much freedom. If you’re in the same stage of life as us, or if you’re more of homebodies who don’t like to go out as much, these ideas are for you!
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Classic summer night activity. We have a great view of the setting sun from our deck. Find yourselves a spot where you can watch the sunset together. Set up your lawn chairs or a comfortable blanket. After the kids are in bed, grab a treat or your favorite drink and enjoy your time together. Relax and watch the sunset in all its glory. Talk about your day and your dreams and how you are doing on your goals. Don’t go inside until the sun has completely set and the stars start coming out.
You can never go wrong with a dessert date! If you’re not up to making anything yourselves. One of you could run out and grab gelato or ice cream or one of your other favorite desserts to go and bring it home for the two of you to enjoy. We love making these skillet cookies on the grill during the summer. Or you could keep your favorite ingredients on hand to make milkshakes. Play games or browse through funny YouTube videos together while you eat your creations.
The nice thing about summer is that even at night, temperatures are warm. Pull out your squirt guns or a bucket and have a fun little fight against each other.
You can find a glow-in-the-dark version of a lot of fun games. Lawn darts, bocce ball, pickleball, and a lot of fun group games too. It gets dark later in the summer, but not so late that you can’t enjoy playing games in the dark. The temperatures after the sun go down are often a lot more bearable than when the sun is up, especially if you live in a place that gets really hot in the summer months. Take your date night outside, later in the evening, and play a glow-in-the-dark version of your favorite backyard games.
Combine this with a sunset date, or do it separately. We love climbing out our bedroom window to sit on the roof and watch the stars and the neighborhood from a different perspective. Lay out on a blanket in your yard and listen to music together while the world gets dark and quiet. And the sounds of crickets replace the sounds of traffic and the light of the moon takes over the sky. Summer nights are my favorite for so many reasons.
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Every once in a while, I love a late dinner on the deck, after the kids are in bed. One of my favorite cookbooks, Date Night In, shares stories of a couple who cooks a meal together once a week and then enjoys eating it. It’s a weekly date night at home, low key but it can be a really intimate experience to share together. Cooking together allows you to work as a team, create something, and enjoy the success of your hard work all in one evening. It’s a great time to talk and laugh and spend quality time together while doing something that everyone has to do three times a day anyway. Weekly dinners together could be a really fun tradition to start in your marriage, even beyond summer.
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Ever since we redid our backyard and finished that project, I’ve wished we’d find ways to spend more time out there. I think that backyard games could be a fun way to enjoy our yard, enjoy summer evenings, and have fun together after the kids are in bed. My first purchase this summer is going to be this badminton set that can be assembled and taken down quickly when we have some time to play. If you want a variety of options, you could get a variety set like this one that includes badminton, volleyball, flip toss, frisbee, and horseshoes or ring toss. You can never go wrong with a classic game of croquet. And I really love the backyard version of board games, like this Yahtzee set that’s on my list to buy.
When the weather is warm, we like to wait for temperatures to cool down a bit and then we climb out our bedroom window to sit on the roof together and watch the neighborhood from a new perspective. I always loved sitting outside on the front lawn of my parent’s house, talking to friends and people watching. Grab your favorite drink and sit next to each other in chairs or on the porch steps. You might strike up a conversation with neighbors while you’re out there as well.
Maybe this is an idea in this post just because we’re in the middle of a huge yard project, maybe not. I know a lot of couples who really love to work in the yard together. I’m not a work in the yard sort of person, but my husband is. He’s always asking me if I’m going to join him in whatever project he’s working on, but I usually bow out. Find something you can do outside together, whether it’s working in your garden, planting flowers, or tackling a bigger project. Some nights we spend time outside doing something simple like watering our plants and pulling weeds. It’s a great way to get outside and accomplish something together.
Juice some lemons and make lemonade or pull out your favorite cold beverage. Sit outside on your porch or watch one of those rainstorms out your window. Sit as close to each other as you can, stare into each other’s eyes, and just enjoy being together.
Who doesn’t enjoy a good fire? It can be fun to just sit by the fire, but it’s also fun to roast things. You can roast almost anything! Sugar-coated marshmallow creatures (you know what I’m talking about, right?) are delicious when they’re roasted and the sugar crystallizes. Starbursts are one of my favorite things to roast over the fire. Or pick your favorite chocolate candy (peanut butter cups, caramel-filled chocolates, etc.) and push them into the center of a marshmallow to roast. You could also see how many fun s’mores combinations you can come up with. Invest in a simple fire pit, one that’s tall and runs on propane, or make a smores pot with this tutorial for a smaller scale fire.
The Adventure Challenge – Couples Edition is a great resource to add some adventure and fun to summer nights at home. Click here to order your copy and use code APM10 at checkout to save 10% off your purchase.
Writing this post has made me so much more excited for our summer nights at home this year. We’ve been experiencing a cold May this year so it hasn’t really felt like summer yet, but I’m ready for it to warm up. I’m determined to cut out some of our Netflix nights and fill our time with these activities instead.
What’s your favorite summer night tradition?
For more date night ideas like these ones, check out the book, Prioritizing Date Night in Your Marriage, with 300+ date night ideas.
