The long summer days and cool, delightful evenings are a perfect time for family fun. Maybe this year's economic circumstances won't allow your family the traditional vacation, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of things to do to fill those summer days and nights. In this and our next column, we shall provide you with fun, simple, and low-cost ideas to do with your family.

Game Nights:

Street Games. Take a walk through memory land and teach your children the games that delighted you as a child. Kick the can, hula hoops, Red Rover, Mother May I, Dodge Ball, Tag–let your imaginations run wild! If you can't remember too many games, there are sites online for games and game rules to jog your memory. Or head to the library to check out a book filled with family games.

Home Games. Scrabble, Hang Man, Concentration, Monopoly, Battleship, Pictionary Charades, Trivial Pursuit–there is no end to fun board games. Search through the old boxes and dust off a few and try them tonight. Go to your parents or grandparents and see what board games they might still have kicking around. If you can't find any, visit a thrift store, or check the internet for used games and if you decide to buy a few, look for those without bells and whistles. These are generally the most fun and last the longest because they don't need repairs only the proper playing pieces.

The Power's Out . Our children loved the nights when the power went out. We'd grab a camping lantern or a candle or two and we'd gather around the kitchen table or just sit around the family room on the floor. On these wonderful nights, Dad would read to us from a book of short stories and we'd all start to giggling. Or maybe we'd get out some of those board games we mentioned. Why wait until the power goes out? Turn it off and vow that tonight you won't use any power. Eat sandwiches or settle down beside the backyard grill, a fire pit, or the old camp stove. Don't forget the roasted marshmallows!

Pizza Night. Children love making their own pizza. Here's our favorite recipe.

Dough:

Sauce

Mix dough and add 2 more cups flour. Knead well and let rise. Can let rise and punch down all day. Spread dough in pan and put on sauce. You may put on lots of sauce or just a little. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and top with your favorite toppings: sausage, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, hamburger, olives, green pepper, mushrooms, pineapple, etc. Bake 425-450 degrees, until brown and bubbly.

Doughnuts. Our children love to spend an evening making doughnuts. Here is their favorite recipe. You can make it on Family Home Evening Night from Sunday's left over mashed potatoes.

Spudnuts

Warm the 2 c. milk, dissolve yeast and sugar and let rise for 15 minutes. Mix in remaining ingredients, wet first and then dry. Knead 10 minutes. Roll out ½ inch thick. Cut with doughnut cutter. Let rise ½ hour or until light. Cook in deep fryer at 375-degrees in oil. Glaze: ½ c. boiling water, 1 pkg powdered sugar, ½ tsp. vanilla. Makes 48.

Movie Night. Why go out to an expensive movie theater? Set up a projector, a stereo, and a DVD player in front of the garage and after dark, invite the neighborhood to a movie. Movies can be checked out from the local library or rented at the video store or online. You might try the classical movies of yesteryear on for size: watch John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Cary Grant, Gary Cooper and Hope and Crosby yet again. There are hundreds of delightful and wholesome titles that your children and their friends may have never seen. Don't forget popcorn.

Aunt Luana's Baked Carmel Corn

Combine popped corn and nuts. Keep warm in oven 225-degrees. In saucepan, combine sugar, butter, and corn syrup. Bring to boil, stirring. Cook until it turns a caramel color (280-degrees). Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Place popcorn and nut mixture in buttered 9 x 13 pan. Pour syrup over mixture and stir well, turn out. Break into clusters with 2 forks. Store.

Backyard Parties. You don't have to go to Hawaii for a family luau. You can have one right in your own back yard complete with tiki torches, paper leis from the dollar store, sale-priced pineapple and pulled pork sandwiches. Or maybe your family is more inclined to an old-fashioned western barbeque. Don't forget a batch of dry-ice root beer.

Dry Ice Root Beer

Dissolve sugar in part of water (heat but don't boil). Add root beer extract and mix with remaining water in large plastic container. (New Plastic garbage can be perfect container or 5 gal. thermos) About ½ hour before serving dry ice. Stir frequently.

Serves 50 people.

Watch for In the Good Old Summertime, Part 2 Coming Soon