This is our 6th year creating this fun little chalkboard summer bucket list on our chalkboard wall. I love hearing (and seeing many of yours on social media) how this chalkboard has inspired you to paint your own chalkboard and create your own lists over the years! I added a fun little festive touch this year! YAY! You can find all previous summer bucket lists here: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017. It’s fun to look back on these old ones year after year!
Our ideas and want-to-dos change every year. The list always looks a little different. This year, we are choosing to do less. We have done a lot of the things we want to do in KC over the last six years, and my kids are getting older, so we really try to concentrate on what we want to do and what seems realistic! Mostly, we just want to try new restaurants and sweet treat places and hang out! And I’m okay with that! The older I get, and the older my kids get, I realize life is really about the simple things and just being together. I cherish simplicity and living in the moment.
I’ve also made the decision this year to not enroll my kids in any summer camps, except a 3-day Youthfront camp. Have I lost my mind?! Ask me come end of July! No, I’m just really focused on spending quality time with my kids with few commitments. We will be doing new things, old favorites, swimming and playing each day by ear. I love that. We love our free summers and being able to kind of do whatever we want. We love to explore our city. We are so booked from Sept – May, that having 3 months in the summer to really be together, play board/card games, play with friends, and be outside, is where my priorities lie.
I also think being “bored” is a good thing. It promotes creativity and a chance to discover/do something different. I also think my kids bond in the summer in a way that they can’t during the school year. They play together in the summer and make up games and play wiffle ball and run through the sprinkler and build forts together. They learn to compromise and figure it out together because he/she is their primary playmate.
They bicker too. A lot. It’s something I have to manage and have gotten good at after almost 10 years of a lot of togetherness! 🙂 I want to them to connect and have a bond that will last a lifetime. I want summer memories to be a part of that. It might seem like a pie in the sky idea, but I”m a positive person with a glass half full attitude. It’s all about priorities and making things happen!! I want these two kids to look back on their childhood and their summers and smile, in a way that I do.
It’s not all fun and games. #meanmom
Everyday, the kids know they must read for at least 20 minutes. They must have their room picked up and clothes/laundry put away and they must exercise at some point during the day, either on their own (or as a family). We allow 1.5 hours per day of electronic time (video game/Ipad). This is for them to manage and so far, it’s making a big difference in the way they are thinking about time management and being smart about it! It’s making them conscience of what they are doing and watching and playing, and when they are doing it. It’s also a trust exercise. They know I am counting on them to be honest on the time and do the right thing.
The summer is short! And having young kids in our house is going by all too quickly! Pretty soon I will have two teenagers on my hands, and I’m not sure if hanging out with mom is going to seem fun anymore! 😉
The kids and I are headed out tent camping this week with my parents in Eureka Springs, AK. We are also taking a family vacation to San Diego next month, and the kids are heading to Chicago to stay with my in-laws for a week. Cheers to me and Steve being home alone! 🙂 If you have any San Diego recs, please send them my way! We know about all the touristy stuff, send me all the hidden gems and restaurants!
Also, I post a lot of family pics and things we are doing on Instagram stories! I would love for you to follow along! And if you have been inspired by this chalk wall in any way, I’d love for you to send me a pic! I will post it to my stories to give others inspiration!
Do you create a summer bucket list? xo