Summer officially ended just a few days ago, so I don't feel too bad about not posting our Summer Bucket List Recap until just now.
But technically, I guess, we kinda considered the summer over once boys went back to school.
I must say I *LOVE* how long summer break is here in Michigan though.
I do so enjoy this family I've got....and all the wonderful fun things to enjoy during summer.
Here's a few pics of our adventures:
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| Picking Berries |
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| Family Service Project @ Blandford Nature Center |
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| Making Cinnamon Rolls |
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| Take a dog for a walk. This dog was also named "Dog." |
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| Build something using all of our Legos. |
Here's a brief Re-Cap of our activities:
I must mention that we are not bucket list nazis where we insist EVERYBODY must do EVERY item.
If the majority of our family did it, that's good enough.
Stay up until Midnight - Well, we stayed up until Midnight....paired this one with going to see the Musical Fountain in Grand Haven. Smart, we are.
Go to Chuck E.Cheese's - Went for Tate's birthday.
Learn to Swim - Landon and Tate both made GREAT strides this summer. They are swimmers! Full-fledged-no-lifejacket-in-the-deep-end swimmers. Its like something just finally clicked for them.
See the Musical Fountain in Grand Haven - Fun to see.
Go to a Splash Pad - Met up with some friends and enjoyed this early in the summer.
Pick Berries - Mmmmm....strawberries. Even made some jam to can.
Visit a Library we Have Never Been to - The boys did this with Grandma Vig while we were in Mexico.
Go Fishing (and catch a fish!) - Last one on the list that was done. Kenny (our international student from Taiwan) was the only one that actually caught anything, but they were all excited about it. Next year, they say they want to go fishing AND use real, live bait AND catch a fish.
Finish our School Bridge Books - A little painful at times. Landon decided early on that he did not want to finish it. But I pushed them and kept us on track. Someday they will thank me. Right?
Take a Dog for a Walk - Borrowed a friend's dog (named Dog) and explored our favorite nature center trails.
Do a Service Project as a Family - Apparently its pretty hard to find non-profits that allow volunteers as young as my boys. But our favorite nature center lined up a project for us and we had fun helping move a bunch of rocks to different areas for them.
Camp in the Backyard - the ONLY thing on the list we didn't actually do. Oh well. We like to keep it real. If we did everything, we are aiming too low. :)
See a Movie in the Theater - I took the boys to see the Minions movie.
Watch the "Wizard of Oz" - Landon had heard of this movie and really wanted to watch it. Figured it was a classic, so I said "sure." And thankfully, the flying monkeys and scary witch didn't bother them.
Go on a Long Bike Ride - While on vacation, some of us rode about 12 miles. Others did around 9. That's long enough for little boys.
Do a Toy Freeze Activity - They did this with Gradma Vig while we were in Mexico. I was planning to freeze some of their small toys in big blocks of ice and let them chip away at it (i.e. drop it and smash it in the driveway) on a hot day. I'm not sure what she did with it.....but she told me she did it. Good enough for me.
Go Bowling - We went a few times with some friends.
Memorize Proverbs 3:5-6 - If you don't know it. Go look it up. And then memorize it.
Use all of our Legos to build something - We built a city/fort with a fleet of vehicles. This took a long time. I thought it was never going to end. Like, weeks and weeks. This activity did not include Legos that were lost and hiding behind couches. Because there is always, ALWAYS, Legos hiding in places around this house.
Camp at a Campground - We tent camped for just 1 night. The boys loved it. We'll have to plan a weekend of it next summer.
Make Homemade Cinnamon Rolls - Yum. Made a BIG batch of the Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls. Even froze some to enjoy later.
I really enjoy doing this Summer Bucket list thing. Others have told me they have implemented some version of this for their families also. Makes me stay intentional about making memories with the boys and working on things together as a family. We've already begun thinking of ideas for next summer!
