Ames is full of warm-weather activities for students and families alike. Here are 10 things to do in Ames with your summer freedom and when you get to school.

10. Go to a movie

Escape the reality of back-to-school with a trip to the movies. Ames has two movie theaters: Cinemark Movies 12 and Cinemark North Grand 5.

Cinemark Movies 12, located just off of Duff Avenue near Kmart and Staples, shows new movies, while Cinemark North Grand 5, located in North Grand Mall, shows movies that have already left Cinemark Movies 12.

If you’re on a budget, Cinemark North Grand 5, commonly called “the dollar theater,” is your best option. Go to a matinee and pay only $1. If you can’t make it during the day, go to the theater at night and pay only $1.50 Sunday through Thursday or $2 Friday and Saturday.

You’ll be seeing movies that are somewhat older, compared to the new releases shown at Cinemark Movies 12, but you’ll also be saving money. Your patience will be rewarded by how much money you have in your wallet.

9. Go to the pool

The Furman Aquatic Center, which opened two summers ago, is the best outdoor recreation facility Ames has ever had. With its three water slides, lazy river, kids’ area, diving board and 50-meter pool, the aquatic center offers many choices for people looking for ways to beat the summer heat.

For example, the slides are for those looking for some excitement. Each slide varies in size and intensity.

The smallest and least intense slide is for children and is in the kids’ area. Moving up in size and intensity, the slide leading into the lazy river is actually two slides in one; one of the slides is an open tube and the other is a closed tube.

The most intense slide is the drop slide that dumps swimmers into the 50-meter pool.

The lazy river, on the other hand, is for those looking for some rest and relaxation. Just make sure you watch out for the little waterfalls that are sprinkled around the river. You can travel around the river in a tube alone or grab a two-person inner tube and float with a friend.

The aquatic center is a great place to go when the weather is scorching. However, keep in mind that many other people will have the same idea.

My recommendation is to go later in the day. Remember when you were a kid and how you bugged your parents early in the morning to take you to the pool? Kids haven’t changed — they still do that. So wait to go to the pool until later in the day, when parents have taken their children home to eat dinner, take baths and go to bed.

8. Go to Perfect Games

Like the Furman Aquatic Center, Perfect Games hasn’t been in Ames for that long. However, in its young life, Perfect Games has already become a favorite spot for college students looking to relive their childhood and have some fun.

Although I’m not a fan of bowling, I know many college students are. Perfect Games caters to bowling enthusiasts by offering 24 lanes.

For those who are not very good bowlers and get frustrated with getting gutter balls over and over again even though you use the same technique as your friend who gets multiple strikes (sorry, that was a bit of a rant), you can order food and drinks while bowling and a waiter or waitress will bring those items to your lane. Nothing makes you feel better about how awful you are at bowling like some pizza and beer.

Perfect Games also offers a laser tag arena. You can put the skills you gained from playing “Call of Duty” to the test. When the game is over, the arena attendant will give you a receipt, telling you your stats, including how you ranked amongst the participants. If you did well, gloat to your friends. If you did badly, crumple the piece of paper up and say you lost it.

My favorite part about Perfect Games is the arcade. From classics like skee ball to modern games like “Deal or No Deal,” the arcade caters to all game enthusiasts.

7. Go frolfing

If the remaining weeks will be anything like the rest of the summer, the temperatures in Ames will be extremely high. Doing strenuous activities outside will not be that great of an idea. However, if you are still in the mood for some physical outdoor activity, try disc golf.

For those who haven’t played, disc golf, sometimes referred to as frolf, is a mixture of Frisbee and golf. Participants play on courses, which are composed of holes, and attempt to throw their discs into metal baskets in the fewest number of throws.

Ames has two disc golf course: Carroll Marty and Stable Run. In my experience, Stable Run is an easier course. However, a major problem with Stable Run is that it’s close to a river, which means it often gets flooded. Just make sure you plan your disc golfing outings accordingly.

If you need discs, you can go to several places in Ames to buy them. For instance, Sports Page and Jax Outdoor Gear both sell discs.

6. Go out to the bars

If you weren’t thinking it already, here it is, my recommendation: you could spend your last remaining weeks of summer bar hopping around Ames.

There are the campus bars — Sips, Welch Ave. Station, Cy’s Roost, etc. — and there are the other bars that students often miss.

If you ever get sick of the campus bar crowd, head over to Main Street. You’ll find the London Underground, a British pub; Corner Pocket, famous for its pool tables; DG’s Taphouse, which hosts many live bands; and Whiskey River, which serves hot dogs topped with mac and cheese. Olde Main Brewery Company also has a nice size bar, in addition to a restaurant, and Della.

Viti is a self-serve wine bar, perfect for those wine lovers on campus.

5. Go geocaching

Geocaching is the modern day form of treasure hunting. But instead of having a map and following it to a large X, you use a GPS and follow it to the coordinates of a cache.

You’ll be like Indiana Jones or Captain Jack Sparrow, with hopefully fewer meetings with snakes and mermaids.

The great thing about geocaching is the caches are often in picturesque locations. As you follow your GPS, which could be your smartphone, you’ll travel paths few people have walked on.

It’s exhilarating and a fun form of exercise.

You can geocache alone or with friends. Geocaching also serves as a unique date activity. Think back to how many women were involved with Indiana Jones or Jack Sparrow; treasure hunting is sexy. So, if you use the if-then construct, geocaching is sexy.

If you’re interested in geocaching, go online to Geocaching.com to find caches in Ames. The website also offers apps for smartphone users.

4. Go shopping on Main Street

Ames has a vibrant Main Street. In fact, Main Street Iowa ranked Ames’ Main Street as number one of the 48 Main Street Iowa communities in gross retail sales. College students should take the opportunity to venture to Main Street and experience its many shops and restaurants.

If you’re looking for women’s clothes, stop by Lyla’s Boutique or Teal and Tenacious. The Loft and Miss Meyer’s Clothing Consignment, which both sell gently used clothing, are also in the Main Street district. Moorman Clothiers sells both women and men clothing.

Shoppers looking to buy shoes can go to Brown’s Shoe Fit Company or Emerhoff’s Footwear. Casual Revolution Fashion and Art Market is a footwear consignment stores and is also on Main Street.

After a long day of shopping, you should treat yourself to some food. Some popular restaurants on Main Street include: Great Plains Sauce and Dough Company, a pizza restaurant; Olde Maine Brewery, a restaurant and a bar; Downtown Deli, a sandwich shop; and The Grove, a classic cafe.

3. Go to Hobby Lobby to buy items to decorate your living space

Decorating is not for everyone. So, if you could not care less about what is on your walls, skip to no. 2.

If you are interested in decorating, I highly recommend taking a trip to Hobby Lobby.

Hobby Lobby is a store you won’t fully appreciate until you spend an hour or two just walking up and down its aisles. There are so many items in the store it will take you a good deal of time to investigate them all.

The great thing about the vastness of Hobby Lobby’s inventory is it provides decorations for all styles and personalities.

For instance, I like European or travel-styled decorations. My roommates love modern, girly decorations. Hobby Lobby has portraits of European cafes for me and pink things for them.

2. Go sing karaoke

You already sing in the shower and alone in your room. Why not showcase your skills in public? You’ve got nothing to lose, except for maybe some pride.

Karaoke is the perfect opportunity for good singers to show off their amazing voices and impress their friends and/or significant others — just think how much singing is in a romantic comedy.

If you want to take the leap and publicly sing karaoke, you have a few possible locations to go in Ames. For those 21 and older, you can find karaoke in many bars on campus. For instance, Paddy’s, Mickey’s and Outlaws all offer karaoke nights. West Towne Pub in West Ames also has a karaoke night.

For those who are serious about karaoke, or who are not yet 21, you should try out Golden Wok’s karaoke. The restaurant recently built five karaoke stages in its three-story building. The karaoke setups have professional vocal speakers, the ones you see at concerts, and a system that is constantly updating its song list.

Four of the stages are in private rooms, which can between 30 and 50 people. The other stage is larger, open and can seat more than 100 people. You have to pay hourly to rent the rooms, but you can split it between your group.

If you are not yet ready to show your singing talent to the world, try using your Wii, Xbox, PlayStation 3 or other game console to practice your musical abilities at home.

1. Just relax

Before you know it, you’ll be taking classes and will be too busy to do anything but homework, eat and sleep (yeah, right). So, while you have time, just relax — put your feet up and enjoy not having to do anything. Just make sure to take your shoes off so you don’t dirty the coffee table.