We have a (seemingly) long summer upon us after an only eight week summer break last year.  Heading into it, I determined that there would be no aimless wandering  and drowning in the slow, sweltering hours of the inevitable downward spiral of boredom-induced sibling spats and toddler fits.  Wow, that sounds intense.  And exactly what can happen by August, maybe even July, if we’re not “doing” summer right.

Enter:  the summer sand pail list, or bucket list.  My children were stoked to call out ideas for our official to-do list.  And, of course, they will love actually doing all these fun things and checking them off!  (FYI on the photo:  I simply typed our ideas, copied them onto a Print Artist template, and printed and framed it to check off with a dry-erase marker.)

It’s so fun to have plans to look forward to.  We may even add more, but I wanted to start off with a manageable list that allowed ample downtime and flexibility.  Here’s what made the list:

Hit the beach
Go to VBS
Picnic in the park
Music in the park
Play at the Children’s Museum
Visit the orchard
Go to the drive-in
Dine by campfire
Swim in the pool at night
Stargaze
Camp out
Catch lightning bugs
Host a family cookout
Do a summer reading program
Journal
Write letters
Play games
Hike
Wash cars and bikes
Cook together
Garden
Make treats
Paint
Make rock pets
Sew

And these mesh well with our special plans for each day of the week…more about that to come!

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