summer checklist

It seems like I ALWAYS have a mental checklist of things I want to get done/do. Like always. Often I write these lists down to give my brain a break :) I've got checklists hanging around everywhere...on the fridge, laptop & desktop, phone, Microsoft Word...so this one is going on my blog for a change.

SUMMER 2014 CHECKLIST!

What we've done:
Beach day with friends (more like late spring..)
First time to the Enchanted Forest.
Pond fishing.
Backyard BBQs/camping.
Zoo day with friends.
Run through sprinklers in the back yard.
Splash pad at park.
Drive-in movie with friends.
Lots of family walks. We like those :)
Gone on vacation, saw tons of family, and swam in quite a few hotel pools.
Celebrated fourth of July with lots of firework shows!
Picked strawberries, raspberries, cherries, blueberries~ and hoarded them into the freezer.
Dollar movie day with the kids. (I wanna do a few more of those)
Art festival/ face painting.

Amazing what happens in just a few months! Especially because it feels like most of the time we just sit around at home... making lists like this help myself feel a little bit better about the massive amounts of television/movie watching that goes on... I guess we aren't totally lazy after all :)

Here's some pics of the aforementioned activities!

blueberry picking

Art Festival- first time getting faces painted!

blackberries from the field behind our house.

Weekends are so precious...they're the only times we have to be together. I try my best to fill them up with as much family time goodness as possible while staying within our budget. It would be an understatement to say that this is hard...but there are so many awesome FREE activities out there! And the ones that aren't free- we just have to be really careful and sometimes LET GO of the cost because you can't put a price tag on memories together :) Still, it's the struggle of the summertime season. At least during the holidays you can price out how much presents will cost, but going out and doing stuff together is tricky to budget! (And it seems like we all get hungrier when we're in the car with no snacks...heh).

Anyway, here's the rest of my list.

What we still have left to do:
Swimming lessons at the pool.
Library carnival (for participating in the summer reading program).
Go camping & go on a hike.
Family bike ride with kids in bike trailer.
Go to the beach as a family- hopefully a few times!
Pick more wild blackberries.
Do some legit fishing and actually catch some fishies to eat.

To quote our family's favorite snowman...

"Winter's a good time to stay in and cuddle. But put me in summer and I'll be a - happy HOUSEWIFE!"

That's basically how I interpret it.

I can't wait to make some more summertime memories as a family!