My Summer Bucket List

There is a lot I want to do with my family and friends this summer, and there are also a few personal goals I want to accomplish. I know that if I don't get these things on the calendar they won't happen. I have just a short ten weeks and the little boys have about 11 or 12 weeks left (and they've already been out for over a week now) until we have to report back to our time-pressed school year schedules. Some days and activities will get some extensive planning and other days will be carefree with nothing at all on the agenda. Most days will be somewhere in between, with activities that don't need a lot of preparation or effort. 

Oh, the Places We'll Go: We plan to go on a weekly day trip (zoos, amusement parks, water parks and play fountains, museums, etc.). We also plan to head out to do some serious camping at least once each month during the summer months, including September.

Oh, the Things We'll Do: We will have a family night and spend the evening together at home once or twice each week  watching a movie, playing games, working on craft projects, etc. And I plan to spend a day or two each week creating pages in the family scrapbooks.

Oh, the People We'll See: The best part of summer is getting the chance to visit family and friends, go together on day trips  or invite them over to swim or have a cookout. We will not be venturing far from home this year, so we hope that some of our family from out of the area will make their way this direction.

Oh, the Books We'll Read: I'm planning on reading some good fiction (nearly) every day, mostly with the help of my Kindle and my new electronic library card. The little boys will read with the Summer Reading Club. We will visit the public library and new and used book stores, as well as accessing our home library to get books that they are interested in delving into during summer's quiet moments.

Oh, the Things We'll Grow: This year, for the first time in a couple of decades, I have a small kitchen garden in which the boys and I have planted fruits, vegetables and herbs. It's only 160 square feet, but there is a variety planted there. I also have an even smaller flower garden that has been started and several pots I plan to put flowers in around the patio.

Oh, the Food We'll Eat: We want to go to great places to eat: some that are new and others that are family favorites. The kids want to explore places where they can eat "free" so we may do some Monday and Tuesday night dining out, as those are the days that most commonly have the offer available. We will be visiting the local farmer's markets and at least once we'll go to the city market that is about an hour's drive. During the trip we'll get a variety of fresh produce and enjoy an experience my boys have learned to love. I also want to introduce new foods and cooking styles into the menu at home and finish our outdoor kitchen so we can do the bulk of the summer cooking outside (and hopefully a lot of autumn and spring cooking as well).

Oh, the Closets We'll Clean: This is the time of the year that I find it easiest to lose a bit of house weight. Closets get reorganized each year, and for the past several, I've done the purging and straightening up over the summer months. No storage area will be left untouched. We will also organize the cabinets, drawers, shelves, bins and sheds.

Oh, the Blogs I'll Write: I really miss creating my regular blog entries. Time has just got away from me. I hope to write on a more regular basis as I have a lot of ideas I'd like to share.

So my bucket seems to be filling up fast. My family and I are ready to dig into summer. I hope you enjoy more than a few lazy days enjoying a summer breeze and a cool beverage yourself, and then that you accomplish any goals you set for yourself or your family.