What I keep at home to keep the kids healthy in the summer

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We LOVE summer break.  We love not having to follow anyone’s schedule but our own… long lazy days of swimming in the pool, boating at the lake, eating lunch at 2:00 and dinner at 8:00.   Soaking in the sun, hiking in the woods and reading on our back porch swing.

There is one thing that I need to remember in the summer: have a back-up plan.  I’m not talking about a back up plan for activities… I’m talking about a back up plan for the boo-boos that come with summer.   The bug bites, the allergies, the muscle aches, even the hungry tummies because the pool day is longer than we expected.

We have a CVS Pharmacy right up the road from our house, so we tend to run through there when we are headed out on the lake or before we spend the day at the pool.   It never fails that someone is hungry or got a blister on the days that I have nothing around to help them.   So… I’ve learned to be prepared with a  quick stop at CVS on my way.  I use their Rewards program, which is one of the main reasons that I pick up my snacks & first aid products from CVS.  They have some amazing ExtraCare Rewards that you earn.  Plus, the program & mobile app make it easy to “send to card”, where you earn 2% back on every purchase.  It was actually designed for moms & their families.   The CVS ExtraCare Rewards program is the industry’s longest-running loyalty program and is considered the “gold-standard” of rewards programs with more than 80 million active ExtraCare members.  1 in 4 people in the US have an ExtraCare Card, just in the last year.   They’ve handed out over 400 million cards and we (the ExtraCare members) have redeemed over one BILLION in savings and ExtraBucks in Q4 last year.  Yep… you read that right.  That’s $4B in 12 months.  No wonder 18 million customers have downloaded the app! lol!

Here are a few things to give you a “back-up plan”

1- Premium Bandages.   I can’t tell you how many fingers, toes & heels will be wearing these this summer!   I keep these in my purse.   They are perfect for blisters. 

2- Tea-Tree oil & muscle spray.  I love to keep both of these on hand.  The tea-tree oil is perfect for bug-bites, which is almost a constant in our family.   I can’t stand when I have an itchy bug bite, so I keep the tea-tree oil in my purse.  It’s a roll-on, so it’s easy to grab & just use it quickly.   Mickey swears by the Cold  & Hot sore muscle spray, so we keep this around, too.   After 20 years of sports & 10 surgeries, I’ve learned to trust what he says about what works & what doesn’t when it comes to a muscle ache.
PS- note: if you think it could be more than just sore muscles, or if that bug bite turns into a rash, stop by the MinuteClinic while you’re there, or even the pharmacy, to get the help that you need.

3. Allergy Relief:  We LOVE to go to Hilton Head, but the thing that we don’t love is the allergies that our family seems to have as soon as we arrive.   Our kids don’t have any signs of allergies at home, but something about that South Carolina beach air just makes their eyes water.   I don’t have allergies, so I can’t relate, but Mickey can.   He says it’s awful.  My sister-in-law suffers from allergies, too.  (You should see her, Mickey and the kids with their watery eyes & sneezes if they don’t take anything.).

4. Who doesn’t want to cover a boo-boo or bandage with this cool Shopkins tape?  LOL.   Allie wore this around for the whole day.  I’d like to tell you that there was a major boo-boo under it, but no… she wore it just for style.   I just LOVE her & her personality! 😉    There are over 15 million active ExtraCare Beauty Rewards member that have shopped at CVS Pharmacy in just the last year… You can just go ahead and add her to that list. 🙂  

5. For the hungry kids (and moms!) these are my favorite snacks.   I LOVE the PEAS please (with 1/2 cup of veggies!) and Ethan loves the Margherita Pizza Lentil Chips.  I’m always happy to give him a healthy (convenient) treat that I felt good about.  Win for mom!   They have a lot of great bars at CVS, too.  I am the snack-bar queen. I always keep them in my purse because someone is always hungry & they are easy to take wherever I go.

6- I really try to make dinners every night, but some nights… time just gets away from us.  I try to keep a few simple meals like these on hand.  Jack LOVES anything blueberry, so the Superfood Blueberry Chai cereal is a hit for him.   Beau loves macaroni and cheese.   “Love” is an understatement.  He would eat it for every meal, every day of the week.  We even pack it for his lunch in a thermos during the school year.  🙂

I hope that was helpful!  If you want more tips (or more savings), I’d suggest signing up for ExtraCare Rewards e-mails.  Those customers save 3 times more because they are aware of the deals.   You can always use the app, too.