"No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow." ~Lin Yutang

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

dreaming of summer!

a month or so ago, my creative, fun, wonderful mom-of-a-sister posted about 60 things to do before her son turned 6 (in approximately 60 days from when she thought it up).  how fun, i thought.  so i marked 60 days on my calendar before my son, jones, turned 6.  and it came, and it went.  :(
but last weekish i started getting the itches for summer break.  i miss my kids.  i'm getting antsy to hang out with them ALL DAY LONG!  and no, i'm not being sarcastic.  i'm SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!  honestly, i'm having a hard time waiting.  both last monday and the monday before that, i almost didn't want to wake them for school.  in fact, I DIDN'T... but otter pop did (being the responsible parent that he is).  anyway, i dream of all these fun things to do with them.  i get all these ideas in my head of places to go and see.  i anticipate all sorts of activities... and then the summer comes and goes. 
i shouldn't shouldn't say that.  last summer we had a gay ol' time.  my creativity drew me towards vacation bible school every other week, all summer long.  the kids hadn't done vbs before and they really enjoyed it.  it also prepped my mr. jones for school... which i was pretty worried about. 
this summer i've decided to get all those ideas, and write 'em down.  we're gonna have a summer bucket list!  i started it yesterday.  here's what i have so far:
  1. picnics
  2. horse races
  3. birds of prey museum
  4. botanical gardens
  5. farmer's market
  6. check out free festivals that happen all summer long
  7. wednesday evening ***** centre on the grove (live music and entertainment)
  8. travel!  road trips!  mountains, ghost towns, national parks, local ginormous canyon, up north, visit cousins, visit grandparents/aunts/uncles, beaches, hot springs...
  9. camping
  10. find a dinosaur museum
  11. and still a vbs here or there
  12. play ball in the park
  13. go swimming
  14. hiking
  15. fishing
  16. climbing
  17. tree climbing
  18. bird watching
  19. house hunting
i'm so excited!!!!! 

next on my to-do list-making-list is to make a bucket list of things that NEED to be done during the summer.  maybe we'll compare the lists and make it a fun if-then tally sheet.  for instance, if we accomplish 1 to-do, then we'll pick 1 fun activity.  or if we get 3 *'d to-do things done, then we'll choose a * fun bucket list thing to do.  or, if we do 5 !'d to-do things done, then we'll choose a ! fun bucket list thing to do.  (those *s and !s would be labels we could put on our fun bucket list, if you didn't catch on.)



Try to remember, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

6 comments:

Liz said...

Great list! Let me know on the vacation bible schools, Evelyn loved the one she went to last year. There is a dinosaur museum down in Ogden (I'm pretty sure) but for sure there are to be a few in Utah (at least, according to dinosaur train, Utah has a ton of fossils). I should make a list like this, I end up dreading the kids fighting all day through the summer.

Jonathan and Telcia said...

don't get so excited that you lose control and burn the house down.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget the zoo and that new place! And remember that doing work together is fun, too, when it's a group do-it-together activity. lylyly

bonniebee said...

Sounds like a great summer awaits us both! Maybe our paths will cross!!

Anonymous said...

I hope your paths cross too, in fact I hope all THREE of our paths cross this summer! lylyly

MamaT said...

thanks for the tips liz. i'll let you know about vbs's!