Summer Bucket List :: 2014

We are thisclose to being done with school for the year. I have plans for a few things that we are going to do scholastically over the summer, but for the most part, we are going to shelve the books until mid-July and take a nice long breather. I have my eye on several projects around the house and some things I want to study and read up on and I know the girls are going to try and see how many consecutive days they can talk me into taking them to the swimming pool.

With that in mind, we put together a VERY SIMPLE summer bucket list. I know myself. If I don't have some game plan at the beginning of summer, this might be the third year in a row that I forget to take the kids blueberry picking. As I'm sure I've mentioned before, planning is my strong point; my weakness is follow-through. : )

If you get on pinterest and google summer bucket list, you can definitely find quite a variety. I wanted a way to display some of our ideas that didn't cost me anything and I was able to use supplies I had around the house to put it together. I actually started with this pretty picture on Instagram. (Her whole feed is full of gorgeous ideas of things that she does with her kids).





Washi tape + post-its.



The post-its weren't staying up on the wall on their own so I added some extra tape to keep them up.(We have a ceiling fan right over where this is on the wall and when it's on, it creates quite a breeze in the kitchen). I did most of the writing on the notes, but you can see (below) where someone has added an idea or two of her own.



I think she's a little optimistic about how much time it will take to watch all those movies!

Ideally, as we do each activity, I'd like to replace each post-it with a photo from us doing the outing / activity. Then, even more ideally, I might put those in some sort of mini-book at the end of the summer. We'll see how that pans out.



On the list this summer:

• blueberry picking
• exploring Burgess Falls
• watch Anne of Green Gables with the girls
• visit Radnor Lake
• trolley ride
• the zoo!
• How to Train Your Dragon 2 in the theater
• bowling
• science center
• Warner Park Nature Center
• Children's Discovery Center
• hiking and exploring trails at the local parks around us
• visit the Nashville Public Library downtown and take in one of their puppet shows
• kids make dinner on their own (a.k.a. mama's night off)
• visit Narrows of the Harpeth
• telescope night at Dyer Observatory (probably a big kid activity with Daddy)
• make liquid chalk paint
• finally do this crayon melting art project
• sponge war
• swim (including swimming lessons for B)
• VBS
• Classical Conversations Practicum
• bake through our Cookie Friday cookbook
• memorize Psalm 1 and 19
• drive in theater
• park and pool days with our CC friends
• summer reading program with the library
• lots and lots of reading aloud together!

I'm sure some activities will get added as the summer goes along and some will get dropped altogether. All-in-all, it's shaping up to be a pretty fun summer regardless!

2013 Family Movie Night, Listed

For the past two years, I've tucked a sheet of notebook paper inside my planner and have kept a list of what we have watched for our Friday family movie night. This event (FMN for short) is a Big Deal. Each child (and adult) gets a turn picking the movie of choice and everyone else watches with (very little) complaint. (Though I admit to a quiet sigh at the second viewing of a certain American Girl movie). : ) 

We try to keep movies and video to a minimum during the school week and for the most part I stick to my guns on this. We won't discuss my laxness during our recent Christmas break. Ahem. This makes our Friday night fun something that we all look forward to. Anyway, our routine is to have pizza and some kind of sweet treat on Friday night and we rotate who gets to pick our movie. There is plotting, planning and much secrecy as your movie night approaches! The guessing of someone's pick is half the fun. And it's always fun to go back over the list and remember how we spent our Friday nights the last year. In our pjs, eating pizza, hanging out under afghans and blankets and relaxing together at the end of the week.

Here's what we watched in 2013. Please note: this is just the list. I'm not going to give any kind of rating (although if you want an opinion on something you are welcome to ask). There are always a few duds that we come across in our viewing. (And by duds, I mean they are generally - in our opinion - just not worth rewatching. We're pretty careful about what we put on to start with as far as it being appropriate for all the kids).

Where the Red Fern Grows
The Lorax
Finding Nemo
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaur
McKenna, American Girl Movie
The Last Airbender
Megamind
The Odd Life of Timothy Green
The Princess Bride
Wreck-It Ralph
Despicable Me
Spy Kids 3: Game Over
Home Alone
Avengers
Pirates of the Carribean
Winnie the Pooh
Journey to the Center of the Earth 2: The Mysterious Island
Wild Stallions
The Fellowship of the Ring
Ratatoille
How to Train Your Dragon
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
Sky High
Prince Caspian
Kung Fu Panda 2
Cars 2
Disney's Robin Hood (cartoon)
Evan Almighty
Hook
Legends of Ga'Hoole
The Croods
Turbo
Cars
Cats and Dogs
Despicable Me 2

I've already started our list for 2014. Any good movies that you would suggest for Family Movie Night? 



This post is part of a list-making project called Lists With Friends 2014, an effort to document the year in lists of all types. I love lists and am excited to be taking part of this fun project. : )