Three Ways to Add More Lighting Outside

Whether you're a party animal who loves entertaining friends, or you prefer being alone with your family and some good books, you'll still want to add some new and fresh lighting outside. With the right lights, you'll have all the brightness that you need to see your kids racing across the yard as they play and all the words on your book pages. You can also look for lighting ideas that make entertaining easier. Landscape lighting Overland Park options will work in homes and yards in this city and in others.

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Highlight Specific Features

Landscape lighting is a great choice for those who want to highlight specific features in their yards. When you spend months adding just the right amount of water and plant food to a flower bed to watch flowers grow from the seeds that you planted, you'll want to make that area the focal point of your yard. Landscape lighting options include spot lights that you place right in front of the bed. The light shines up and towards the flower bed, which makes it nearly impossible for guests to stop by without seeing your flowers.

Hang a Chandelier

If you think that chandeliers are only for your dining room and other indoor spaces, think again. These light fixtures now come in designs perfect for the outside. Those that use plastic globes rather than glass will stand up better to the weather conditions outside and won't break or shatter. You can hang one right from the center of the roof on your porch to have light when entertaining friends or kicking back with a book. Some models even function as both chandeliers and ceiling fans. You can use an included remote control to adjust the lighting and blade speed.

Install Sconces

Sconces are another option for your home that can create an intimate or romantic vibe as well as a festive atmosphere during a party. These fixtures come in different designs that include square and round shapes. You can hard wire the lights into your home's electrical system and control the lights with a switch inside your home, but some work on batteries that you can replace as needed. Solar lights recharge when exposed to the sunlight too. Using any of these lighting ideas will transform your home and make your outdoor space perfect for all of your family and friends.

Fun Backyard Games for the Entire Family

In the age of tablets, smartphones and video games, it can be challenging to convince your children to go outside and play. Not only can outdoor play be loads of fun, but it can also help children and adults alike get the healthy exercise they need. Backyard games are fun, healthy activities that can be enjoyed by the entire family. This article provides some fun game suggestions to help you and your family have more fun than ever before in your backyard.

Cornhole

Similar to a bean bag toss, each team or player takes a turn trying to get bean bags into a hole at the upper end of a tilted platform. Companies like Custom Corntoss specialize in providing an assortment of boards, bags and decals to enhance your cornhole experience. They also offer accessories like cornhole lights for playing cornhole during the evening hours. Once you have selected a cornhole board set for your family, set each board 27 feet apart. Players can then take turns attempting to toss bags through the hole to earn three points each bag. If a player misses the hole but lands a bag on the platform, they receive just one point. The object of the game is to get exactly 21 points to win the game.

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Horseshoes

Horseshoes is another fun game to play in your backyard. To play this game, players take turn tossing horseshoes at a stake that has been firmly planted in the ground. Each player takes two tosses, getting as close as they possibly can to the stake. The closer to the stake a horseshoe lands, the more points that player gets. Each time a horseshoe completely encircles a stake, that player earns three points. If the horseshoe lands touching or leaning against the stake, the player earns one point. Players can play until a pre-determined number of points have been accumulated or when a specific number of rounds have been played by the group.

Scavenger Hunts

While this game may take a bit of planning, it is well worth the effort. Start by hiding small objects throughout your backyard while the children are inside. These objects can include anything from small colored toys to common backyard items like rocks, pinecones or yarn. Divide the group into teams and give each a list of the items that they are looking for. As the objects are located, you can instruct players to take a picture of the item and leave it where it is or to add it to a bag as part of their scavenger hunt bounty.

Backyard games are a great opportunity to bring the entire family together for some wholesome family fun. These games are sure to please crowds of all sizes.
 

Benefits Of Owning A Boat

For many, it is a great fantasy to own a boat. However, for many of those same people, that dream never comes true because of the worry over money and time to spend enjoying it. There can be many time-consuming and expensive things that go into becoming an avid boater. Aside from the purchase of the boat itself, you need to pay for things like maintenance, storing and docking costs, fuel charges and insurance. For a hobby, it can really add up. If you are still wanting to take the plunge into owning a boat, there are also many great benefits to it as well if you purchase a good boat from a Florida down east yacht dealer such as the one found at yachtregistry.net.

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Happiness

There are a lot of mental health benefits to owning a boat. For most people, there is a soothing and decompressing feeling about being out on the water away from your daily duties and stresses. Being out on your boat can give you a sense of bonding with mother nature.

Affordable Alternative

Boating can be a more affordable alternative compared to other types of recreational vehicles. Of course, however, owning a boat is not that cheap in its own right. Having a boat can be more affordable and practical if you need to participate in recreational activities. After purchasing your boat and all of the necessary gear and stuff that go with it, you will be set for years of fishing, travelling and enjoying the water and views.

Family Bonding

Another great benefit of owning a boat is you can use it to spend time bonding with your family. There is so much to do out on the water with your family that everyone will be able to enjoy themselves. You can fish together, go on adventures, ski and just cruise around together. Boating together is also a great way to stay active and in-shape as a family as well. Most activities you do on a boat will require some form of physical exertion.

These are just a few of the great benefits that owning a boat can offer. It can be a very rewarding experience that both you, your friends and family can enjoy. A boat can offer many years of great memories that you can cherish for a lifetime. Take some of the stress out of life and enjoy some time out on the water.