a summer bucket list

50 things to do in summer with (or without) kids

“Summer’s lease hath far too short a date.”

Preach it, Brother.  I mean, it’s Shakespeare, after all.  The man deserves a few “Amens” from the choir, since I guess he knew a thing or two about matching words with reality.

“Hey Mom.  This good day today.”

Preach it, Sister.  It’s Little Friend, after all.  The girl deserves the soft spot I harbor in my heart for her observations on life.

But both the Bard and my delectable offspring have the right idea.  This is a Good Day.  And it’s far too short.  Just as my soul shakes off the final winter hibernation shroud and gives a hearty, spine-cracking stretch toward the sun, July pops up on the calendar.  And just like that, the Back to School ads begin.

I want to hide.

Hide somewhere in the neighborhood of June 20th and not budge for six months or six years, whichever comes second.

Summer’s lease is well underway, so I’ve got to be intentional with the time I’ve got left.  As long as the school bus remains parked in a garage for a few more months, I’ve got 50 things to make each and every remaining summer day a Good Day.

Home

• Create a DIY acid mirror (during naptime, of course, to keep little hands away from caustic chemicals!).
• Design and execute a “big girl room” for a Little Friend who informs me daily she is now to be considered a “big girl.”  Just ordered these eye-candy pom-poms for her ceiling.
• Commission a custom portrait of our beloved Thumkin (again, “big girl room” time).
• Make some of these ridiculously simple yet stunning starfish and jute mason jars to line my deck for dinner-at-dusk.
• Finally, finally, finally get on a consistent cleaning schedule.
• Construct a reading tent.

Play

• Collect items for some finger-wiggling sensory play.
• Make Toddler Stilts.
• Set up  a “Mud Pie Kitchen” in the back yard.
• Bubble wrap hopscotch.
• Make (and of course wear) homemade super hero capes.
• Three words: Tin Can Telephones.
• Write and illustrate our own board books.
• Ride the carousel.
• Ride the carousel (once is never enough).
• Take a nap together (much needed after the dizzying carousel rides).
• Learn how to ride a toddler bike.
• Memorize 50 Nursery Rhymes.
• Set aside daily read-and-snuggle time.  Just because.

Outdoors

• Splash in a stream and see where the fun leads.
• Swim in the deep, cool creeks of World’s End State Park.
• Add Garden Art (like these wish flags) to our brand new green patch.  Little Friend personally kisses each worm we find.  Here’s hoping the love and wishes translate to bushels of tomatoes.
• Build a sandbox.  Hammer.  Dump.  Enjoy.
• Pick raspberries at Reilly’s Summer Seat Farm.  One for the bucket, two for the mouth.
• Visit the splash fountain at PPG place.
• Take a Breakfast Hike and munch on “Breakfast Cookies.“
• Catch fire flies for a night light and read Eric Carle’s The Very Lonely Firefly for a bedtime story.
• Have a sunrise campfire coffee date with Big Friend.
• Go on a color scavenger hunt.
• Kayak the tidal marshes of the Edisto ACE Basin.

Journeys

• Williamsport, PA for Cousin Camp 2011 (stay tuned for posts on the Second Annual event).
• Edisto Island for some Low Country Barbeque and lazy beach days.
• Lansing, Michigan to pay a long overdue visit to a family friend.
• New Milford, PA to pick God’s sweetest blueberries.
• New York City to visit dear friends and check out a Last Royals show.

Read (for me)

• What to Read When by Pam Allyn
• Big Machine by Victor LaValle
• The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
• The Reluctant Entertainer by Sandy Coughlin
• A Million Miles in a Thousand Years by Donald Miller

Read (for Little Friend)

• Press Here by Herve Tullet
• Fancy Nancy: Stellar Stargazer! by Jane O’Connor
• Knuffle Bunny Free by Mo Willems
•  A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead
• My Mama Had a Dancing Heart by Libba Gray

Kitchen

• Grilled Caesar Salad  (Uh huh–lettuce on a grill.  Love.)
• Chocolate Raspberry ice cream, compliments of David Lebovitz and our new, heavenly ice cream maker
• Coconut Flour Rhubarb Muffins
• Homemade Olive Oil Mayonnaise
• Gallons and gallons of freezable tomato sauce
• Green Spinach Pancakes (or kale or swiss chard) and read If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff
• Homemade Ricotta Cheese (easy, peasy)
• Baked Strawberry Cream and Rhubarb Oatmeal (I know.  My heart pitter-pattered, too.)
• Chocolate Raspberry ice cream (Not repeating–just moving onto gallon number two–it’s really that good.)

I’m indebted to the following Summer Planning Resources for the inspiration and guidance on how to dwell intentionally in the sun, sweat, and sweet days of summer.

• Somewhat Simple’s simple (go figure) weekly summer plan
• Sorta Crunchy’s summer daily routine
• MomAdvice’s visual treasure trove of 100 Days of Summer on Pinterest.

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