Summer Bucket List

With our oldest son about to enter kindergarten, this summer feels a bit like our last hurrah.  Realistically, I know that there is much more fun ahead, but emotionally I can't help but wonder if we've done everything we want to do.  Have we made the most of our time together during these pre-school years?  So, in an effort to make sure we got out and had some serious fun this summer we made a summer bucket list.  The list really helped us prioritize all the things we wanted to do.

Our Summer Bucket List:
Mom

1. Lakeside camping
2. Date with each of the boys
3. Movie with my hubby
4. Craft retreat

Leon

1. Canoeing
2. Slot car racing
3. Baseball at the park with hard bat and ball (so easy to please)
4. Fishing

Dad

1. Canoeing
2. Playing music with some guys in the hood
3. Mountain biking
4. Camping

Eli

1. Go to the girls' house - the girls are our neighbors, whom he adores.  (Another easy one to check off the list - done)

There's some nice overlap between our lists so those are definitely the biggest priorities.  In fact, we've already been able to cross a few of these off our list.  We've managed to fit in lots of baseball and we've booked a lakeside campsite for later this summer.  Actually, we booked two as we're going during the week so there was lots of availability and it will give us added privacy and flexibility with naps and sleeping.  We're planning on having our fire at the second campsite so that the hubby and I can hang out by the fire after the kids go to sleep.

Last weekend we took all three kids to Devils Fork State Park and paddled to a great swimming spot.  There are no pics of all of us in the canoe as Ada was miserable in her life jacket so we canoed as fast as possible to our destination and got her out of that bulky, thumb-sucking preventer super necessary life-saving vest.  We had a great time, Ada included, and we managed to get some cute pics even thought our camera is on the fritz so we only had our plain old basic cell phone.

Ada kept sticking her head in the water to drink it so we took it as a sign that she was thirsty. 

We totally canoed with the stroller - you know, just in case we wanted stroll through the red clay or sandy hills, lol. 

Leon loves life under the water.  He spent most of his time searching for fish. 

The boys enjoyed a snack break in the canoe. 

You can barely make out the boys in the distance canoeing back to the boat ramp.  Ada and I returned on foot.

Leon finally caught a fish!  We didn't see a single fish (unless you count the dead one on the shore) until we returned to the boat ramp and then he caught one in a ziploc!  He was thrilled and then heartbroken when we had to leave.

Since our life got a little less crazy (read about our -or my - craziness here) we've really been trying to focus on our family and spending lots of time together doing the things we love.  Our bucket list has helped and the kids felt like they had a say in our summer plans.  Why shouldn't they?  So, what's on your family's summer bucket list?