The Rainy Day Suitcase

We've been getting lots of rain here lately, but I'm certainly not going to complain, because in a few weeks it will be in the triple digits every day, and the wild fires will be burning. For now, I'm just happy that I don't have to water the lawn. Rainy days and active little boys aren't always a good mix, but I have a little trick up my sleeve that helps get us through these soggy stretches. I don't remember where I originally saw this idea, but I have seen it on a handful of blogs, and thought it was brilliant, so of course, I had to copy it. Behold, The Rainy Day Suitcase:


This suitcase lives in my cleaning closet, and the boys know that whenever it rains, they can get it out. In fact, when Griffin woke up at the crack of dawn yesterday and heard the rain coming down, the first thing out of his mouth was, "I'm getting the Rainy Day Suitcase!" The suitcase was purchased at a yard sale for $1.00. I gave it a good cleaning, and then got out my paint pens and jazzed it up a bit.
The inside is filled with mostly things that I've found at thrift stores - dominoes, lacing cards, coloring books, VHS movies (yes, that is a Mary Kate & Ashley movie that you see in there...we don't discriminate in this household!). Oddly enough, the most popular item seems to be the zip lock bag full of pipe cleaners. Who knew. From start to finish, this project probably cost all of $10.00 to pull together. I switch items out from time to time to keep things interesting. What I can tell you is, this little suitcase is worth its weight in gold -- the boys love it, and it keeps us from getting nutty when we find ourselves trapped indoors for days on end.