Believe it or not (and despite what your kids may tell you), not every house on the block (except your, of course) has a swimming pool. And the absence of a swimming pool does not mean that summer vacation is going to be “sucky” (again, according to your kids). There are lots of ways to get wet in the summer, and none of them involve being fully submerged in a high-maintenance swimming pool or frolicking in the rain during a sudden summer storm.

Growing up without a pool means that you have to improvise. And it’s as simple as balloons. Yes, the bag of 100 balloons you can buy at the local dollar store, filled with plain old, non-chlorinated tap water, make for an excellent war. Who among you can resist the temptation - especially once you’ve been “shot” - of grabbing a great big red water balloon and hoisting it at the perpetrator?

Water guns, from simple squirting pistols to mega-gallon, super-squirting uzi-like machines are all the rage. If guns are not your thing, don’t forget about slip-n-slides, water blasters and sprinklers. Even kiddy pools are perfectly fine (and nothing to be embarrassed about, regardless of what the kids say) for cooling off tired tootsies and distracting the kids from the heat. And when all else fails, there’s always the garden hose - in the hands of a hot, grumpy adult, someone is sure to be soaking wet by the end of the day.