summer

2020 Summer Bucket List

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Swim camp started last week (summer swim team’s Covid-19 cousin), the fireflies are out, and the gardenias are blooming – three cyclical indicators that school is out and summer is here. To say this school year felt different with its abrupt stop, online restart, and virtual year-end parties (my older daughter’s teacher is visiting in person this week) would be an understatement. Despite how the school year changed, I’m so very thankful for our amazing teachers who worked tirelessly to recreate content and stay connected, and the entire school community who stayed in touch with helpful newsletters and silly videos.

In looking back at the end of the school year, I hope my kids found closure in its ending. I know it seemed anticlimactic compared to previous years, but we tried staying true to some traditions – picking out any cereal they want for the last day (yes, I’m the mom who doesn’t do everyday sugar cereals), taking last day of school pics (poolside this year), making “thank you” teacher cards, and receiving some year-end sussies (a term my mom coined decades ago to mean thoughtful gifts).

Last Day of School: Poolside-style

We also did some new things to signal the end of the year. We drove through the school’s carpool lane like it was a Chick-fil-a drive-thru to collect yearbooks and all their items left in the classroom. Our kids said goodbye to friends and teachers virtually through online end-of-year parties. And, my older daughter’s teacher is stopping by for a visit this week (cue the happy tears).

End of Year 1st Grade Party
End of Year 3rd Grade Party

The end of the school year wouldn’t be complete without a summer bucket list to ease our transition into the summer months and motivate us to do some things, especially when boredom sets in. So, here it goes…

  1. Build a Little Free Library
  2. Make an indoor cardboard creation
  3. Visit a new ice cream place
  4. Try a new pizza joint
  5. Visit the beach
  6. Visit the mountains
  7. Survive our 40th birthdays
  8. Learn about the stars and some basic astronomy
  9. Catch fireflies
  10. Watch an outdoor movie
  11. Finish making our Covid-19 time capsules
  12. Carve watermelons into art (thanks, Nailed It!)
  13. Host a rose` wine tasting
  14. Hone my recipe for grilled buffalo chicken waaaangs

Want to see bucket lists from year’s past:

2019 Summer Bucket List

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School is bustling with end of year activities, the fireflies are glowing, and evening thunderstorms are popping up – it’s summer time! The next week represents a big swing of childhood development for our family. On Sunday our older daughter heads to Camp Seafarer for overnight summer camp for five nights. And, next Tuesday our younger daughter completes Kindergarten. While I’m thrilled about their growth and hunger for independence, I’ll be holding onto them (literally) while listening to “It Won’t Be Like This For Long” over the next few days. After I recover from those big events you can find me poolside with my magazine and adult beverage (ha!).

As with past summers, we’re excited about our upcoming summer travels. But, whether we’re on the road or at home this summer, we’re looking forward to making new memories. Here’s our kiddo-collaborative summer bucket list for 2019:

  1. Visit Scrap Exchange in Durham
  2. Explore Prairie Ridge Ecostation
  3. Discover two new breweries
  4. Organize a neighborhood block party
  5. See an outdoor movie
  6. Participate in some summer reading fun
  7. Go to the beach
  8. Make friendship bracelets
  9. Visit Defy Gravity trampoline park
  10. Go to Pullen Park
  11. Write letters to the troops
  12. Catch fireflies
  13. Do some camping in the Monty Winnie
  14. Go tubing down a river
  15. Visit Andia’s Ice Cream in Cary & Richland’s Creamery in Blackstone, Va
  16. Stay in your pjs all day
  17. Meet up with classmates for playdates

Want a trip down memory lane? Check out the Summer Bucket Lists of my past…

2018 Summer Bucket List

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With swim team in full gear, preschool finished, and the last week of elementary school on the horizon – summer is already in full swing! Next fall brings a new chapter in our lives with both kids in elementary school, so I’m looking forward to making fun summer memories! While we plan to hit the open road quite a bit this summer, we still have lots we want to explore here at home. I’ve intentionally shortened my summer bucket lists over the years to hopefully slow down our summer while having a go-to list of ideas for our family.

Bucket List

  1. Swim at a lake
  2. Decorate canvas bags for checking out books at the library
  3. Build an outdoor art table
  4. Check out Raleigh’s new Union Station via a short train ride to Cary
  5. See a movie at the Henderson drive-in movie theater
  6. Get a bushel of crabs
  7. Make ice cream in a bag
  8. Meet up with friends at a campground
  9. Visit a new brewery
  10. Visit the Whirligig Park in Wilson, NC
  11. Take a day trip to Saxapahaw, NC
  12. Explore the Riverwalk Greenway in Hillsborough, NC
  13. Watch some bull riding at Carousel Farms
  14. Go to the Kids Bop concert in Raleigh
  15. Have a water balloon fight
  16. Explore a new campground
  17. Try a new kid-friendly drink to cool down with on a hot summer day
  18. Bike the Art to Heart Trail in Raleigh

Summer 2017 Bucket List Follow-up

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Phew! Where did the Fall season go?! It’s almost December, but the recent warmer afternoon weather makes me reminisce about our amazing summer adventures with family and friends. Even though we didn’t cross off everything from our 2017 Bucket List, we explored so many new (to us) places in the mountains and at the beach.

We kept the weekdays simple, yet fun, with pool time and swim team with friends, and spent the weekends mostly traveling around NC and VA. We had lots of ups – amazing travels meeting up with friends and family, fresh seafood, gorgeous waterfalls; but, we also had some downs – getting lost down a one-way road with the Winnie, late night kiddo fevers in the Winnie, Winnie electrical outages in hot July, and the Hatteras Island evacuation. So, when things got out of our control, we tried to stay positive and improvise knowing that things will come full circle, which they eventually did! We somehow turned Winnie around at the end of Little Buck Creek Rd, fevers magically disappeared, my sister saved our food (and sanity) during the great electrical outage, and we moved our family vacation to beautiful Emerald Isle at the last minute.

As a summertime bonus, we survived a major kitchen renovation that is finally concluding, we celebrated what would have been my mom’s 60th birthday, Claire turned 4 years old, we celebrated Labor Day weekend with a crab feast and lots of Hokie buds and their littles, and we witnessed a total solar eclipse. I don’t know how we’ll top the mix of relaxation and travel from this past summer!

  1. Enjoy a low country boil (with the in-laws over Memorial Day weekend)
  2. Survive having two kids on summer swim team (it was touch-and-go at some points)
  3. See some waterfalls (Tom’s Creek & Roaring Fork Falls in western NC, Catawba Falls in Pisgah National Forest)
  4. Swim at a lake (Jordan Lake & Falls Lake Recreation Areas)
  5. Discover new & easy campfire recipes (garlic broccoli and potato pockets, french bread pizzas, rocky road dessert)
  6. Go blueberry picking (the farm was closed so we discovered nearby Kelly Rd Park instead)
  7. Discover new hiking trails on our travels (Hughlett Point Nature Preserve in Kilmarnock, Va, Emerald Isle Woods Park)
  8. Catch fireflies (Jordan Lake campsite and backyard)
  9. Try a new ice cream place (Sweet Spot in Emerald Isle, Fudge Factor in Beaufort)
  10. Visit a new museum (Museum of NC Minerals on Blue Ridge Parkway, Swannanoa Valley Museum in Black Mtn, NC Maritime Museum in Beaufort)
  11. Perfect my mojito making (muddle 8 sprigs of mint with slice of lime cut into quarters and spoonful of sugar, add 2 Tbsp simple syrup, add 1.5 oz of white rum, fill glass 3/4 full of ice, add enough club soda or La Croix to cover ice)
  12. Start composting (Bill put the nix to this idea)
  13. Have a water balloon fight (backyard sister fun)
  14. Read a long book together as a family (Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame)
  15. Enjoy Winnebago camping as a family (5 trips under our belt this summer)
  16. Visit a new brewery (Deep River Brewing Co in Clayton, Sierra Nevada & Wicked Weed in Asheville)

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2017 Summer Bucket List

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Over a decade ago, my mom dubbed Bill and me as the traveling gypsies (she had a unique way with words). Having moved away from home after college, we travelled more weekends than not, and she routinely asked, “Where are the traveling gypsies headed this weekend?” We visited friends and family in VA and MD, and explored exciting new cities across the US and Western Europe. Bill and I still have the traveling gypsy bug (let’s call it wanderlust to sound more romantic) and want our kids to experience it with us. And, we want to create adventures that are more outdoors and immersed in nature.

So, we bought a small pull-behind Winnebago (cue up the Randy Quaid Christmas Vacation quotes) and planned out several weekend family trips around NC this summer. It might sound a little crazy, but the girls seem super excited, and we think we’re in the sweet spot of traveling with them right now – high curiosity, good sleep patterns, and easily distractible. We want to keep things simple, yet comfortable and imaginative – similar to the gypsy caravan from Wind in the Willows:

 

He led the way to the stable-yard and there, drawn out of the coach-house, they saw a gipsy caravan, shining with newness, painted a canary-yellow picked out with green, and red wheels. “There you are!” cried the Toad, straddling and expanding himself. “There’s the real life for you. The open road, the dust highway, the heath, the common, the rolling downs! Here today, and off somewhere else tomorrow! The whole world before you! And mind, this is the finest cart of its sort ever built.” The mole followed him eagerly up the steps and into the caravan. It was very compact and comfortable. Little sleeping-bunks – a table that folded up against the wall – a cooking-stove, lockers, bookshelves and pots, pans, jugs and kettles of every size and variety.

– excerpt from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

Even though our Winnie isn’t a canary-yellow caravan with green and red wheels, we’re excited to hit the open road. Finally, whether we’re out on the open road or back in Raleigh, we still have some summer bucket list items for 2017:

  1. Enjoy a low country boil (Memorial Day weekend)
  2. Survive having two kids on summer swim team
  3. See some waterfalls (Tom’s Creek & Roaring Fork in western NC)
  4. Swim at a lake (Jordan Lake recreation area)
  5. Discover new & easy campfire recipes
  6. Go blueberry picking
  7. Discover new hiking trails on our travels
  8. Catch fireflies (Jordan Lake campsite and backyard)
  9. Try a new ice cream place
  10. Visit a new museum
  11. Perfect my mojito making
  12. Start composting
  13. Have a water balloon fight
  14. Read a long book together as a family
  15. Enjoy Winnebago camping as a family

 

2016 Summer Bucket List

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IMG_5057Our neighborhood pool opened, another year of preschool finished up (including Claire’s first year and Ashley’s final year) and we had kindergarten orientation this week! Phew…it’s been a busy week, but that also means it’s time to switch gears and think summer activities!  While we were able to cross a lot off our bucket list goals from last summer, we have some of the same goals and some lofty new goals this summer.  With help from little ones, here’s my mostly kiddo-friendly summer bucket list for 2016.

  1. Visit the library
  2. Build a backyard water wall (Bill will looooove this)
  3. Visit a recreational lake
  4. Visit a farm
  5. Enjoy a bushel of crabs
  6. Visit the rivah
  7. Go to the beach
  8. Use my smoker
  9. Make pizza with ingredients from our pizza garden
  10. Explore a new brewery
  11. Visit the Durham farmer’s market
  12. Take a boat ride
  13. Visit CA
  14. Go to Frankie’s Fun Park
  15. Make ice cream sandwich brownies
  16. Wash the car
  17. Have a water balloon fight
  18. Watch an outdoor movie
  19. Go backyard camping
  20. Stay in our pjs at least until noon
  21. Go to Blacksburg
  22. Read books in the backyard
  23. Play with the sprinkler in the backyard
  24. Have a backyard breakfast picnic
  25. Paint on the easel outside
  26. Make garden tiles
  27. Catch lightning bugs

Next fall brings a new chapter in our lives with all-day kindergarten, so I’m looking forward to making great summer memories and having photos to cherish, so #bringonsummer!

2015 Summer Bucket List

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Backyard pool time, May 2015 #bringonsummer

With the opening of our neighborhood pool this past weekend and another year of preschool finished up, it’s time to switch gears and think summer activities!  While we were able to cross a lot off our bucket list goals from last summer, we have some of the same goals and some lofty new goals this summer (note, “survive swim team”).  In no particular order, here’s my kiddo-friendly summertime bucket list:

  1. Have a breakfast picnic in pajamas
  2. Visit the library
  3. Visit the Eno River State Park
  4. Camp in the backyard
  5. Try a new ice cream place
  6. Attend an outdoor concert
  7. Explore Downtown Raleigh via Segway
  8. Play with the slip ‘n slide
  9. Let the kiddos enjoy the water fountains at NC Museum of Art after a Stroller Strides class
  10. Go blueberry picking
  11. Discover three new parks (and be current on blog posts)
  12. Catch lightning bugs
  13. Explore the Prairie Ridge Ecostation again
  14. Survive swim team
  15. Go to the movies
  16. Attend a Durham Bulls game
  17. Discover a new (to us) brewery
  18. Make s’mores
  19. Fly a kite
  20. Watch a movie outside
  21. Grill oysters
  22. Go to the Durham farmers’ market
  23. Visit Beaufort, NC
  24. Visit a farm
  25. Enjoy a bushel of crabs

This might seem like a busy list, but I’ve got energetic girls who can hang! I know the next three months will fly by but we’ll have great memories and photos to cherish, so #bringonsummer!

2014 Summer Bucket List Follow-up

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bucketlist69The first day of Fall began this week with a few days of colder temperatures, which led me to reminisce about my first full summer home with both girls.  Despite having a tough adjustment period from 3-day-a-week preschool to zero-day-a-week preschool, things smoothed out and we had an awesome summer!  I find myself longing for more pool, beach and picnic days and having more of that carefree, energetic spirit!  We completed a lot of things on our original bucket list, but did so many more unexpected things too – spent time at the Rappahannock river, welcomed my niece Ava, watched Claire take her first steps, watched Ashley head off to her first summer camps, had cookouts with friends, celebrated Ashley’s swimming successes, spent time with family, and visited old college and high school buddies and all their kiddos.  For all these reasons and more, summer makes for endless fun and is our favorite season.  But, Fall is here now and that means preschool fun, Hokies football and pumpkin beer, so #bringonfall2014!

Enjoy the slideshow below with pics from our #bringonsummer2014 adventures!

  1. Visit the library (completed June 6)
  2. Play with water balloons (completed June 1)
  3. Visit the Eno River State Park
  4. Camp in the backyard
  5. Attend an outdoor concert (completed June 19, Pickin’ in the Plaza in downtown Raleigh)
  6. Visit Fearrington
  7. Paddle board at Lake Wheeler (completed Aug 24, Lake Wheeler via Triangle Guides)
  8. Take Ashley fishing (completed Sept 3 in OBX)
  9. Play with the slip n slide (completed July 4 in VA)
  10. Let the kiddos enjoy the water fountains at NC Museum of Art after a Stroller Strides class (completed June 24)
  11. Go blueberry picking (completed July 9, Creekside Farm)
  12. Discover three new parks and be current on blog posts (We were busy – Simms Branch Trail, Neuse River Trail MP 13.25-15, Top of the Hill Trail, Halifax Park, Hobbit House @ NCMA, Caroline County Park in VA, Optimist Pool, Neuse River Trail MP 11.5-13.25)
  13. Catch lightning bugs
  14. Explore the Prairie Ridge Ecostation again (completed Sept 16)
  15. Survive solo trips to the pool with both kids (completed at least 12 times beginning June 5)
  16. Take Ashley to the movies (completed June 14)
  17. Attend a Durham Bulls game (completed Aug 17)
  18. Discover a new (to us) brewery (strangely enough we didn’t make it to any new Raleigh breweries, but we visited two popular RVA breweries Ardent Craft Ales (July 5) & Strangeways Brewing (Aug 9))
  19. Make s’mores (completed July 5 in RVA)
  20. Fly a kite (completed June 3 @ NCMA)
  21. Watch the Sandlot movie (completed June 11)
  22. Visit Waverly Place splash area in Cary (completed July 3)
  23. Walk for ice cream at the new Quail Corners Creamery in our ‘hood (completed numerous times this summer)
  24. Grill homemade pizza (completed June 4)
  25. Visit the farmers’ market (completed Aug 13 at downtown Farmer’s Market and Sept 19 at State Farmer’s Market)
  26. Go to the beach (completed Aug 16 and week of Labor Day in OBX)
  27. Visit the Asheboro zoo
  28. Play putt putt (completed June 28 with Gaga & Papa at Frankie’s Fun Park)
  29. Enjoy a bushel of crabs (completed July 4 in VA)
  30. Take a boat ride (completed June 7 in VA)
  31. Stomp in rain puddles (completed in June)
  32. Watch the clouds overhead

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3-year Blogiversary & 2014 Summer Bucket List

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20140601-221046.jpgSo apparently it’s common in the blogging world to celebrate the yearly date of your first blog post aka your “blogiversary.” I’m sorry I don’t have any freebies to give away but I wanted to say thanks to everyone who has read, commented and supported me with this blog over the past three years. I had no idea what a resource it would become and am tickled whenever I meet someone new and discover they’ve visited the blog for outing ideas! I’ve loved exploring the Greater Raleigh Parks & beyond over the past three years and am continuously amazed by the facilities and activities we discover.

But now that preschool is over for the school year it’s time to set some goals for new (and old) places to visit and things to do this summer! In no particular order, here’s my kiddo-friendly summertime bucket list:

20140601-222310.jpg

  1. Visit the library
  2. Play with water balloons
  3. Visit the Eno River State Park
  4. Camp in the backyard
  5. Attend an outdoor concert
  6. Visit Fearrington
  7. Paddle board at Lake Wheeler
  8. Take Ashley fishing
  9. Play with the slip n slide
  10. Let the kiddos enjoy the water fountains at NC Museum of Art after a Stroller Strides class
  11. Go blueberry picking
  12. Discover three new parks (and be current on blog posts)
  13. Catch lightning bugs
  14. Explore the Prairie Ridge Ecostation again
  15. Survive solo trips to the pool with both kids
  16. Take Ashley to the movies
  17. Attend a Durham Bulls game
  18. Discover a new (to us) brewery
  19. Make s’mores
  20. Fly a kite
  21. Watch the Sandlot movie
  22. Visit Waverly Place splash area in Cary
  23. Walk for ice cream at the new Quail Corners Creamery in our ‘hood
  24. Grill homemade pizza
  25. Visit the farmers’ market
  26. Go to the beach
  27. Visit the Asheboro zoo
  28. Play putt putt
  29. Enjoy a bushel of crabs
  30. Take a boat ride
  31. Stomp in rain puddles
  32. Watch the clouds overhead

(With trepidation) I’m looking forward to my first full summer home with both girls. This might seem like a busy list, but I’ve got some energetic girls who will keep me on my toes! I know the next three months will fly by but we’ll have great memories and photos to cherish so #bringonsummer!