Last summer flew by in a blur of activity; moving house, friends visiting, a sea of boxes.
All of these things kept us busy, and we had some wonderful times with friends and family. But, we spent very little time on the simple and the ordinary, very little time just enjoying our family.
And, we didn’t venture very far afield. With so much going on, and so much change, we stuck with what we knew.
This summer? Well, this summer I am determined to enjoy every day. To have adventures and new experiences. To mix projects with lazy days.
I wanted the kids to be involved in this; to encourage them to think about what they would like to do. So, we sat down last week and wrote a list, our summer bucket list.
It is a fabulous mix of the ordinary and everyday alongside fun activities and exciting trips.
I wrote down everything that they said, and added a few day trips that were new to them, ending up with 50 activities! Our list ranges from the all encompassing food to specific restaurants. It covers activities like swimming, scooting, cycling and running. I was asked to help them do crafts and bake muffins, to paint outside and blow bubbles. I vetoed visiting Hawaii (I had to draw the line somewhere!) but included Storyland, Maine, Cape Cod and Connecticut.
Museums were a popular choice with the Science Museum, Children’s Museum and the Salem Witch Museum put on the list. They want to go camping and hiking. They want to eat ice cream and crisps! Lego Land and the Lego Store were must-dos and going to the beach featured in a variety of ways including, of course, building sandcastles. Playing with friends, building rockets and going to the zoo are there, as are picnics, water fights and the Aquarium.
I took each idea and wrote it on a post it, and I’ve put them all up on a cupboard door in the kitchen (in a vaguely sun, sea and sand pattern!). This way we can add new ideas as we go along, and we can easily cross off those things that we’ve done. Although, I suspect that some activities will happen many times over the summer!
There will certainly never be any reason to hear the words I’m bored…!
I will update on progress as the summer goes on. Do you think we can manage to tick off all 50 things?!
Love this idea Sara. I shall definitely be stealing it xx
Can’t wait to see what your kids come up with :)
Wow – you certainly have an amazing Summer to look forward to! :)
#Pintorials
I hope so !
Sounds like a fantastic list and a fab summer you are going to have. I think I might do something similar with my children. Thanks for the idea.
Thanks for linking #LetKidsBeKids
It’s a good list, we’re ticking things off already! It’s great having ideas so we can decide what we do each day :)
We’ve done a bucket list for the last three years and it has been so much fun to see all that we manage to pack in to just a few months. We are late this year and plan to create our 2015 version this weekend. :)
We haven’t done it before, but last summer in particular I felt that we just drifted and didn’t make the most of it. I don’t want to do that again. I feel so much more organised and we’re already having a lot more fun, and the kids are still adding to the list! Hope you have fun with yours, and I imagine we’ll bump into each other along the way!
Great idea and very colourful poster of ideas! I must admit that our little bear goes to our childminders for half days for the majority of the holidays due to work. We do have 2 weeks off when they’re on holiday though so absolutely no clock-watching and taking it as it comes will definitely be the order of the day :) I’ll be watching with interest to see how many you get through Sara!
We’ve already ticked a few things off :) We’ll see how we get on!
I love this Sara and can’t wait to read about all of your adventures as you tick them off! Xx
Thank you Caroline, I’m looking forward to working through our list :)
What a fab idea, I would love to try this but I fear the only answer the teen will give me is “I dunno, go on holiday.” I may however get some ideas from little man so I guess it is worth a try!
Ha, I can imagine, but I bet your little boy will have some ideas :)
This is close to what I’ve done this year! I wrote down something new to do every day on a calendar. We don’t have to follow it strictly, but at least we won’t run out of ideas :)
That’s the key thing for me, to always have some ideas ready so that we don’t waste our days :)
Fab, I’m hoping to do something similar with my family as like you I felt last summer passed by in a flash! I want to enjoy my summer this year x
It’s already working really well :)
Ah this is fab Sara! How exciting for you all :) Last year, I asked my three to come up with an intinerary for one day each, including food and entertainment. It worked really well :) This year, we are away a lot and the girls for 4 weeks out of the 6. I’m not sure how that will work for us but I think our ‘down’ time will be when we are on holiday. I can’t wait :)
We have nine weeks to fill, so I figured we needed a plan! We’ve done the ‘day’ thing too, it’s great fun as well :)
I love this! Summers do have a tendency to slip by without making the most of them – I certainly found that last year and I ended up a bit disappointed that we hadn’t made the most of it. It’s great that you can do this while your kids are young – with the age my kids are now it’s much harder, especially as the boys are away on Scout camp for nearly two weeks! One definite for us will be the Shaun the Sheep trail in Bristol – I’m intending to that in the very first week of the holidays!
They really do slip away, don’t they, and I really felt that last year. Enjoy the Shaun the Sheep trail :)
What a fab idea. I think this would work really well with Mario as he needs the structure. Thanks for sharing!
It’s been great so far x
A fab idea, Sara! My kids loved the children’s museum in Boston! You do live in a fab place xx
The Children’s Museum is on our list, haven’t done that one yet :)
Lovely idea! I’ve been thinking a lot about making more concrete Summer plans and this has motivated me some to get on with it. Love the idea of getting children to come up with the ideas of what to do as a family. My little one is not old enough but I know the things he enjoys :-) #Blogbounce
Ooo can i come and live at your house lol sounds lots of fun