droolicious : 7 days of outdoor fun

7 Days of Outdoor Fun: A Sand and Water Table That's So Much More

elizabeth leach — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:00:00 GMT

This sand and water table is more than just a sand and water table. The cover has a recessed roadway on it for playing with cars. So, you don’t need to store it away in the winter, but if you do it collapses easily. (Photo of the table with roadway after the jump.)

The table comes with ten toys including three shovels, a tugboat, a starfish sand mold and two extremely cute and colorful pouring mills. This sand and water table is actually adorable. It’s colorful and won’t make you wince when you look outside like so many other sand and water tables. And it's on sale for $55.95 (it used to be $69.95) from One Step Ahead.

7 Days of Outdoor Fun: My First Real Fly Rod

Chris Ford — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:04:00 GMT

I realize this one's fairly specialized, but I think it still qualifies for 7 Days of Outdoor Fun. My First Real Fly Rod is exactly that, a fully functional rod for "the next generation of fly fishers." Details after the break.

My First Real Fly Rod is a "mid-flex" 8'6" graphite fly rod, with chrome guides and an aluminum reel seat. A legit fly fishing rod also comes with a legit fly fishing price. You can buy just the rod for $89.00, or get the whole outfit (reel and rod) for $149.00. Someone to teach you how to actually fly fish is extra.

Check it out at Orvis.com.

7 Days of Outdoor Fun: Gnome Bowling

Aaron Burgess — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 15:04:00 GMT

Sure, you could sneak through the neighborhood stealing lawn ornaments for your own backyard bowling tournament, but what sort of example would you be setting for the kids? With the gnome bowling set (around $54 U.S. from the U.K. site I Want One of Those), you get six 10-inch-tall garden gnomes, two different balls to knock 'em down, and the luxury of not having to explain to the family why Officer Jones needed to crash Mom and Dad's picnic.

7 Days of Outdoor Fun: Throw & Catch Ball by Crocodile Creek

Heather Kuldell — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:24:00 GMT

When you’re letting your chickens out of the coup to go free-range, they only need one toy: a ball. A ball, especially a non-sport-specific type, offers plenty of outdoor entertainment for just a little money ($8.49 for the 7-inch size). The Throw & Catch Ball says kids should, well, throw and catch, but they can play plenty of other games or hatch their own. I suggest any sort of kicking game because nothing makes greater boing-oing-oing sounds than a rubber playground ball. In my household, “who can kick the furtherest?” and “who can kick the highest?” are popular.

Also available in other colors and sizes.

7 Days of Outdoor Fun - The Sidewinder Falls Pool and Slide

SunnyChanel — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:44:00 GMT

In the summer heat, when you want a truly fun outdoor activity, nothing beats the thrill of a water slide. Personally, I hate people. Well not people in general, but when they are collected in crowds, a mass of humanity, I just want to run and hide in a corner somewhere. So the prospect of braving the throngs to slide thru some water ain’t too tempting. Enter the Sidewinder Falls Pool and Slide ($449.99 from Target) where you can “Leap through the tunnel and down the diving ramp into the splash pool, then scale the climbing wall of this 10' tall waterslide and ride the banked curve all the way back into the splash pool”. Sorry Water World, hello Sidewinder!

7 Days of Outdoor Fun: Hours of Horseplay

Lisa Mulcahy — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:30:00 GMT

As a little kid, summer Sundays at my grandmother’s apartment in Queens were spent looking out the window, where down below the old men of the neighborhood would play horseshoes. (A strange phenomenon, being that I lived in the burbs of Westchester.) This rubber horseshoe set takes me back to that slice of life.

There’s nothing glamorous or high-tech about it, it’s simply a classic, redesigned for younger players. I know it’s totally cliché, but I guess we all relive a bit of our childhood through our children. I hope Schylling’s Rubber Horse Shoe Set will create the same fond memories for my son.

$9.49 at Amazon.

7 Days of Outdoor Fun: Long Live Croquet

Erin Behan — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:26:00 GMT

I'm going to make a confession: One of my favorite childhood summer games was croquet. Having croquet in my backyard was almost as good as having minigolf in my backyard. To my friends, it was an odd but fun game the Behans had summoned from another era entirely. "Croquet, is that like quiche?" But I digress. The one important thing to know about croquet purchasing? Don't buy a cheap croquet set. Since smaking a neighbor's ball as hard as humanly possible is one of the greatest joys of croquet, it pay to invest in a set that won't crack.

The Scottsdale six-player set ($109.95) should do the trick, and if you'd like to pay extra you can even personalize the mallets! A handy feature of this set is its carrying case, which allows you to take croquet beyond your own backyard, to the park, to the neighbor's backyard, on vacation--the possibilities are endless.