Three Chaotic Adventures: June 2017

I love lists.

I love checking things off my list. It is super satisfying. And I'm not ashamed to say I make lists all the time! Every morning I make a list of what each kid needs to do for that day and they cross it out as it get accomplished. See...I'm feeding my list maker soul, by creating little list makers...

For the last two summers, I have made a Summer Bucket List. It is full of all kinds of fun stuff from the easy like play outside or go to the park to the ones that require more effort and planning like go on a hike to a waterfall or go to the beach for the day! A simple google search will bring up all kinds of summer bucket list ideas!

Bucket lists seem to be a different story for me. For some reason, my list making skills are regaled to the daily list variety. If I make a general list that could last a week, a month or more, it will never get completed and that makes me a little nuts! That list kind of just stares at me. Mocking all the "fun" that I had planned. We do great for about 4 days and then the list gets forgotten and we focus on the daily tasks that keep us alive and somewhere along the way we just never get to all the "fun" things we had planned to do and the summer is over!

So, this summer we are trying something different! I'm sharing in case you have been looking for something different to do this summer. I drew out big calendars. Now the kids know what is going on. I'm telling you, life changes big time once you have readers!! They each have a color (because, I'm still type A after-all) and if nothing is planned for that day then we plan it that morning and write it in! So far, so good.

I would say our summer goal is to really be intentional with our days. I don't think we need to have something big planned. The other day the boys built a water wall in the back yard that took all day. Yet, that is something that they had been asking to do and we just kept forgetting about it. All it took was us heading to the Habitat Re-Store and finding cheap pipes that they could use. And some days staying home and reading or playing with the neighbors is great too. But one day we may wake up and say, let's hike to a waterfall! The point is that these big calendars on the wall is making up come up with a plan for the day and EVERYONE gets to be involved! I am also much more likely to say yes to painting or doing that big messy science experiment, if we talk about it ahead of time AND if they don't ask me at 5pm at night. We are also keeping a record of what we do on the big calendar. That way we not only remember what we have done, but we are able to cross it off that imaginary bucket list!

I'm going to go ahead and go on the record that I am loving these Elementary years. I think now is when we really start to have fun. While the youngest is still only 3, he seems to be a much more capable 3 year old then the others were. It's amazing what having older siblings pushes you to do! The kids will remember these days. J will remember when he went paddle boarding on the lake with Mom, and CB will remember that we let her experiment in the kitchen. They also will remember the beach trip with cousins and our family camp experience at Ridge Haven. These are the days where memories are made and relationships are formed.