Our Summer "Bucket" List

I was inspired a few weeks ago when I came across a summer bucket list of fun things to do with the kids this summer. I know that with the new baby in the house K has been frustrated that we don't go out as much and I can tell she feels cooped up. We don't have a swing set in the yard yet and with the Texas heat playing outside during the summer is rare and usually only happens in the morning or late evening. I liked the list I found (from http://thedailydigi.com/summer-bucket-lists/) but some of the things on it I wasn't a fan of so I decided to make my own list (still borrowing heavily from the original)

 

I printed off the list and every time we complete an activity I have K highlight it some we know we have accomplished it. We have been off to a slow start but now that July is here I plan on getting to more of them as quickly as possible. I will admit that a lot of these are also Pinterest ideas so they may count for double duty, both as fun things to do and pins to blog about. I also plan on putting together a photo book of all of the things we did this summer. I am hoping this becomes a tradition, and as the kids get older we'll help decide what does on the list. Here are a few pictures of what we have done so far.

#12. Make Beaded Necklaces

She enjoyed doing these but didn't have much patience to fill up an entire necklace for me (which she said she wanted to do). I made her the necklace she's wearing and we made the bracelet she's wearing together as a present for her dad.

# 16 Bake a cake

As you may have read about in my Pinterest inspired Father's Day post (http://pinterestingsummer2012.blogspot.com/2013/06/fathers-day-pinterest-style.html) K and I baked her Dad a cake we lovingly name Ugly Cake. It's just a regular boxed yellow cake made in a bundt pan that I let K be in charge of decorating. She is a fan of sprinkles and had a blast decorating. We plan on making this a Father's Day tradition and I look forward to seeing what E will be able to bring to the process next year.

#36. Make Popsicles 

Technically we made fudgesicles, not popsicles, but these were better anyway. I used the recipe I made last summer (http://pinterestingsummer2012.blogspot.com/2012/06/challenge-20-nutella-fudge-popsicles-or.html) and they were another big hit. K was also a big fan of licking the Nutella off of the spoon. I love this recipe but I still haven't got the hang of getting the Popsicle to come out in one piece. I used my sister's suggestion and ran warm water over the mold, but still only successfully got two of the six pops to come out. We scooped out the rest and it was delicious. I plan on making this recipe again but just putting it in a bowl and eating it like ice cream.

#22 Make Smores

I decided to make indoor s'mores from a pin, which involve putting the graham cracker and marshmallow in the oven on low broil for a new minutes then slapping on a Hershey Kiss and bam you have s'more. I wasn't on my A game and forgot to get more pictures and slightly burnt them. Kathryn still ate her's (it's still a s'more) but I plan on doing it again while paying attention and getting better pictures.

 #33 Choose a chapter book for a read-a-loud

Picture from http://www.harpercollinschildrens.com/harperchildrensImages/isbn/large/7/9780062082947.jpg

I was excited to try this one (I am a librarian) and see how K would handle a chapter book read-a-loud. She loves Fancy Nancy so I figured reading a book about a character she already knows might keep her interest. She was excited about getting to listen to a big kid book and she would start out really well but her attention would quickly wain. There are some illustrations but not like a picture book and I could tell her mind would wander during the longer chapters. She liked it overall and we had fun guessing who dun it, but I may wait a little while longer for chapter books, or stick to short chapter-ish books like Henry and Mudge. I would recommend the book itself though, it's cute, teaches good vocabulary, and has a good overall message. Any girl who has grown up with Fancy Nancy should like the older, more mature, Nancy Drew want-to-be version Jane O'Conner is presenting in this book.

I'll keep everyone up to date as we get through our 2013 Summer Bucket List. What's on your bucket list this summer? Did everything go as planned? Feel free to take my list and add an subtract to it. It's your summer, make it a memorable one.