During the spring I was eager to see how the rest of the year would play out. One of the great things about summer time is being able to enjoy the outdoors without catching a cold (although, still possible). I knew this summer was going to be different because Pickle is getting older now and he is going to be starting preschool, next week! I cannot believe time has already brought us to this new season of our lives. I knew that there were going to be things I wanted to do this summer, to get us out of the house more, and to experience more things together.
In the spring, I sat down and thought about the things that I want to do before Pickle starts school. I think the list that I came up with is rather simple of things, for the most part. However, I was still not sure we would be able to do everything on the list. Here is what I had come up with.
- Go fishing – I don’t know about anyone else’s kids, but mine really like watching YouTube videos of other kids. One of the kids that Pickle watches is always going exploring with his dad. In one of the vlogs they were looking for crawdads. Pickle expressed an interest in crawdad hunting, but I was not sure we could find those anywhere close to where we live. I thought a good compromise would be to take him fishing. Unfortunately, this is one of the things on the list that has kind of been sent to the end of the line. We have not been fishing yet, but we are planning a big family trip at the end of September where we will be able to do some fishing.
- Go to the zoo – This year we decided to go ahead and buy a zoo pass. With the constant additions that are being added to the zoo here the prices are constantly going up. Ticket prices are roughly $20 a person now. We decided it would be much more worth our money to go ahead and spend money to buy a pass for $120 that lasts the entire year, 365 days. With our family of 4, plus having the added benefit of bringing a guest and up to 6 children, we decided that it would be well worth the money. It also gives us the excuse, not like we need one, to get outside and get some exercise in. We have used our zoo pass at least three times so far, but with the weather being so hot, plus having an infant, it is not the most pleasant time of year to enjoy it fully. We fully intend on using it quite a bit though as the weather starts to cool down some.
- Go to the splash park – My kid loves water. He loves playing in water. One of the things we enjoyed last year was taking him to the splash park. The splash park is free and there are a few locations nearby. It is a nice place to go on a hot day to cool off and have fun. We did get to check this off of our list!
- Play with bubbles – This part was more so for Poppy. Being an infant, she had not experienced bubbles before. I know how much our son loves playing with bubbles, I figured she would get a kick out of it too. We wound up having a bubble dance party in the living room with Pickle, Poppy, and my nephew. The only thing that made this a little less fun was the fact that our crazy dog Kona, thought he needed to eat every single bubble while jumping all over the darn place. He is mildly entertaining though. Poppy did not care about the bubbles all that much. I imagine she will grow more interest in them as she gets older. CHECK!
- Go to the dirt track races – This one was more for my husband. He has been going to the dirt track races with his family for as long as he can remember. His parents still tend to go nearly every weekend. We use to go to the races a lot before we had our kids. Especially this year now that we have two kids. They don’t exactly sit still or have a lot of interest in the race itself. Pickle does pretty well now as long as he gets enough time to go burn off some energy every so often. Poppy has not been to the dirt track yet. She is only 7 months old and after the fiasco we had at the NASCAR race a few months ago, we will hold off on taking her a little bit longer. Before summer started I had told my husband that he needed to plan a date for just him and I to go to the races without the kids, kind of like old times. I especially enjoy seeing the Sprint Cars. Time has a way of sneaking by us, though, and he did not get to plan that date (I suppose there is still time). We did get to go to the races together a couple of weeks ago, without children, but it was not planned that way. Pickle decided at the last-minute that he wanted to go to Meena’s (my mom) house with his sister. So it was an impromptu date. I just really still want to see those SPRINT CARS!
- Go camping – One thing I loved doing growing up was taking family camping trips. We would spend time fishing, grilling, and in the river or lake. It was just a good time to be together as a family. I want my kids to be able to experience that. Unfortunately, when the hubs and I were dating we had a camping disaster where we got caught in a really bad storm and our brand new tent ended up in the dumpster. I still really want to go tent camping, but the hubby is not convinced. Like I stated earlier though, we are planning a family trip where we will be staying in cabins on the lake. I suppose this is close enough to real camping.
- Have a science party – This one may sound random and it sort of was. I have always loved science and learning how things work. When I was making this list Pickle had begun expressing interest in learning how and why things are the way the are. He would ask me questions like, What are rocks made of? What is straw made of? I figured a little science party would be right up his ally. The only thing I ran into was that there was not a whole of suggestions for his age group to where he could understand what was happening. I wound up getting this plastic piece that connects to two soda bottles and you can create a tornado with it. We also did a Mentos and diet coke fountain. I also found a kit to make your own bouncy ball (which was a total fail by the way).
I think making bucket lists every season are fun. Especially when you can get the kids involved and see what it is that they want to do or learn. I feel like you can learn what is on each other’s hearts and minds by doing this, too. I have been mentally making a fall bucket list, but I have not written it out yet.
What are some things you did this summer? Do you have a seasonal bucket list? Let me know in the comments below! Don’t forget to enter your email so you never miss a post!
-Jenn
Reclaiming My Sanity 