Sometimes, I feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day for all the things that I would like to do with my kids. Like most families, my husband and I juggle work responsibilities with home responsibilities and caring for our two young children and two dogs. In the fall, school gets added back into the mix too, and that can get even hairier. So, I try to multi-task so that we can do as much as possible.

For instance, on sunny summer days, I unplug my laptop and set up shop on the porch or in our backyard so our children can play while I work. One of the big perks of being a freelance writer is that my kids can also tag along when I am researching locations for a travel or dining piece or checking out local foods for a cooking piece.

But one of our favorite multitasking activities is the rolling picnic that we frequently have when it’s warm and sunny. This one has little to do with writing and instead is more focused around fitting exercise into my day, eating lunch and spending quality time together.

So, what is this rolling picnic? Well, I pack up a lunch in individual portions and we head off to a nearby park with walking trails. The kids get situated in their double stroller and I hand out food — one baggie each at a time, and they can’t move onto the next part of the meal until they are both done. Then we walk through these beautiful wooded trails while they eat.

Sometimes, like earlier this week, we catch glimpses of wildlife in their natural habitat like a deer and her fawn or a pheasant and her (six!) chicks. My son gets so excited when we see animals along our walk and quietly points them out, so as not to scare them. And for both, the fresh air is a wonderful start of a summer afternoon.

What kinds of foods work for a rolling picnic? Here are some that we like:

• Sandwiches that are stuck together like peanut butter and jelly, cream cheese and jelly or grilled cheese
• Meat rollups — take one slice of luncheon meat and roll it with one slice of cheese. These make great finger foods.
• Crackers
• Cut up fruit in bite sized pieces like strawberries, grapes and melon. Blueberries are also a favorite. Mott’s makes some wonderful individually packaged sliced apples that are good fingerfoods too. These are also good with a small container of dipping sauce like a creamy mix of yogurt and marshmallow fluff or caramel sauce
• Fresh popcorn tossed with parmesan and salt or cocoa and sugar
• Sippy cups filled with water or juice, like Mott’s for Tots Juice or Mott’s Organic juice.

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