It’s finally June and I want to make the most out of summer 2012. Too often I turn the calendar to September and feel like the summer passed by without experiencing every single warm weather joy. Here’s our summer bucket list with 50 things to do before fall.
1. Teach the girls how to swim. Saturday swimming lessons are a start. I hope to get them swimming in the lake soon.
2. A full week off of work and vacation at the lake. We’re headed to Lake Andrusia in Bemidji this June.
3. Enjoy fire pits in the backyard and eat s’mores until we’re sticky and happy.
4. Spend a weekend in Duluth and see the sights. We’ll go in August for a family wedding.
5. Keep the girls up past their bedtime on Friday nights to listen to outdoor concerts at Staring Lake near our house.
6. Hire a babysitter for a few Sunday afternoons while the girls nap so we can take advantage of sushi happy hour at Kona Grill.
7. Go to outdoor art fairs.
8. Take a family pontoon ride.
9. Teach our daughters how to fish. I think we’ll give our toddler a net (I can just imagine a hook in an eye if she has a temper tantrum), but our four-year-old is at a perfect age to catch sunfish off the dock.
10. Catch fireflies at night.
11. Go to weekend farmer’s markets and stuff ourselves with fresh, local fruits and vegetables.
12. Watch outdoor fireworks at Round Lake park.
13. Run at least two 5K races. I’m thinking the Firecracker Run in Excelsior on the 4th of July and the Tiger Tracks 5K at the zoo in August will be fun.
14. Potty train our toddler.
15. Go to Lake Harriett Bandshell for summer concerts and bring a picnic.
16. Paint the trim on the house and fix the porch.
17. Throw a party for our friends and neighbors. I miss entertaining and I’m ready to have a shindig.
18. Learn how to can fruits and vegetables.
19. Go to a jazz fest.
20. Start blogging again. After a six-month hiatus I am ready to post new recipes and family adventures.
21. Stay in a hotel in downtown Minneapolis one night without the girls.
22. Go a matinée Twins game.
23. Attend at least two Minnesota Food Blogger events.
24. Spend two weekends at our church’s Spirit in the Pines camp in northern Minnesota.
25. Run through the sprinkler–often.
26. Pick a nice sunny day to wash and detail our cars. We’ll put the girls in swim suits and put them to work with buckets of water and rags.
27. Teach our 4-year-old how to hop and kick a moving ball.
28. Give our daughters flashlights and look for frogs at night at the lake.
29. Expand our summer menu and find 10 new easy recipes.
30. Read. I’m on an Alice Hoffman kick and I aim to read all of her books by summer’s end. Three down, 20 to go.
31. Color our driveway with chalk drawings.
32. Take the girls on a nature walk.
33. Get rid of our junk to the city’s clean up day.
34. Go the Aquatennial.
35. Take the girls to a St. Paul Saints game.
36. Eat popsicles on the deck.
37. Keep the girls busy so my husband can go golfing with his buddies.
38. Experience a full day at the Minnesota State Fair.
39. Patch the driveway before winter rips it up again.
40. Book club with my best girlfriends.
41. Plow through our family videos–delete the bad ones and edit the good clips.
42. Show my daughters how to shuck corn.
43. Go to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
44. Make a fruit pie from scratch.
45. Invent a new summer drink. Preferably a fruity blender drink.
46. Hang up the hammock and take a nap.
47. Play bocce ball.
48. Get a babysitter and hang out with friends on Brit’s rooftop playing lawn bowling.
49. Ride a ferris wheel.
50. Go on a long bike ride.
That should keep us busy. What are your summer plans?
