Summer Bucket List

Sharing our summer bucket list for 2022! We LOVE summer over at our house. I feel like it’s just so much fun and we love being outside every single day. I wanted to share some things we are wanting to do this summer to give you some ideas with your kids. Let me know what you plan on doing in the comments!

I bought a few new things from Target for the kids to use in our backyard. I like to do a little refresh outside and get some new water toys, bubbles, shovels and things like that. I love the Sun Squad line at Target for outdoor toys. They are all really affordable, super fun and colorful and great for summertime. I’ll link all the things I got for you in this post along with some other things online that look really cute too!

Summer Bucket List 2022

• summer nature scavenger hunt

  We love scavenger hunts these days. We did a spring one and one for Easter. I write down things like, something that crawls/something yellow/something flying and make some type of theme. The kids then draw a picture of what they find down on their clip board and it’s really a fun way to get us all outside together. For summer I’ll things like, a lizard, a bee, a brightly colored flower, ants, grasshopper and so on! Let me know if you make on for your kiddos!

• arts & crafts

  Painting is definitely our go-to craft. It’s so fun to see what they come up with. Some days I’ll have something for them to paint and other days I’ll just say paint whatever you’d like. We use craft paper or I’ll find boxes that’ll be thrown out for them to paint. One time we had a huge box and we made it into a little playhouse and I drew a door and windows then let them color the rest. We also love play doh and cookie cutters, dot markers and I love looking on Pinterest for specific ideas. And if you haven’t given your kids paint brushes and a cup of water to use outside you need to today! My kids will “paint” the rocks or fence for so long!!

• beach days

  The kids are at such a fun age for little afternoon beach trips. We love to hang at the beach for a while with our sand toys and then go out to a casual dinner together.

• river trips

  We are hoping to make a lot of these this summer! The river is one of our favorite places to be. We disconnect for a few days and just enjoy being outside and in the water. We wakeboard, paddle board, play corn hole, can jam, honestly you name it. Basically games all weekend long!

• ice cream and old town

  Some times we don’t feel like packing a big bag or doing anything that takes prep, but still want to do something. That’s when we will head to old town and get some ice cream together. Especially on a hot evening!

• lots of time in the backyard

  Our patio cover/deck is set to start on May 1st! I cannot wait to have that done by hopefully end of June. I need to go to Target and get one of those plastic pools. We had one last summer and used it SO much. So easy to cool off and the kids love it.

• swimming at the grandparents house

  Andrew’s parents live about 25 minutes from us, so we swim at their house a lot! Now that the girls can swim we are planning on going over there at least once a week!

• legoland & safari park

  We make a lot of trips to the safari park but I’d love to go to Legoland again!

• family bike rides

  Another FREE and fun thing we like to do with our family. We put Owen in the towing seat that attaches to Andrew’s bike. We usually will bike to a park and let the kids play for a while.

I hope you all have the BEST summer! Make sure to check out all the fun outdoor toys at Target!

Happy Birthday June and Violet!

Our girls are THREE! I can’t believe it. I’ve been looking back on photos and they look so little! I feel like all of a sudden they look like girls, not toddlers anymore. So for their special day I wanted to share 3 things they have taught me. We are always trying to teach our kids so much, yet we forget how much they are teaching us!

1. Every day is a new day.

   Something that kids don’t hold are grudges. If you get mad at them for something, they won’t wake up upset. They move on and forgive. We can be having a hard day and I’ll be so tired that evening, yet in the morning they run into our bed so happy and ready for a new day. It’s moments like that, which make me realize how important it is to move on and not let things get you down. Sure toddlers can have epic meltdowns, but they are so resilient. They bounce back and are happy as clams. Every day is a fresh start and a chance to re-do what you wish you would have the day before. Our love for our children is so huge, yet sometimes we forget how much they love us!

2. Stop to look up.

1. One of my favorite things to do with June and Violet is to just go outside. Whether that’s on a walk or outside to jump on the trampoline, it always is worth it. There is something about being outside with little kids that is so special. And just being outside in general makes you feel good. It’s good for the soul. Kids are so young and innocent that everything they see is exciting. We could watch airplanes fly over us, the ants crawl by or just run around and they find so much joy in it. Whenever we are outside I really am forced to slow down. I take a breath and just enjoy the moment. My days can be so go, go, go that I can get frazzled really quick. But whenever we are all just outdoors (and unplugged) it’s so refreshing. The simple act of a watching a jet stream overhead always makes me pause and smile.

3. It’s the insignificant times that are the most significant.

Sometimes when we are just doing nothing at home I think to myself, these are the special times I’ll remember. The times when we are running around the house like a bunch of crazy people, cuddling in bed before the sun is up, or sitting in the kitchen waiting for the pasta to cook. Those are the moments where I see the girls in their purest state. They are just little sweet girls who want love and to have fun. We could plan the most elaborate day, dressed all cute and have the best photos to prove it, but it’s the days we are in pj’s with no plans that end up being the most precious to me.

You can watch some clips from their party below! I also added a little montage of videos of them over the past three years! Thank you all for following our family, I appreciate you all so much!