Lazy Days of Summer Bucket List

I have always loved the lazy days of summer.  As a child, I spent the bulk of my time playing outside in the kiddie pool, running to the library across the street (sometimes still in my dripping wet swimsuit) to check out more books or to play on the playground, riding my bike, laying in the grass with my best friend, Jessie, watching the clouds drift by, playing in our pup tent, just about anything that involved being outside or reading books.

As a mom, summers are a little bit different from what I was a kid--I no longer go to the library in my swimsuit, I don't ride my bike through the neighborhood like a speed demon, and I don't sit around in a pup tent playing endless card games of War.  But I still love those summer days spent doing nothing constructive.  

My favorite place to be in the summer is at the Lake House.  Whether at the beach, climbing sand dunes, berry picking, hiking in the woods, biking on the bike trail, or just sitting around the campfire, I love being at a place with no agenda, no internet, no TV, and limited cell reception.  Where family time is a given.  Where the kids can run out the door and find tons of things to occupy their imaginations.

I have come up with my Summer Bucket List to help create a "Lake House Effect" at home.  To try to give my children a fun, lazy, wonderful summer.

1. Built a fort out of downed wood.

2. Pack a picnic lunch and go fishing.

3. Fly a kite.

4. Watch the clouds drift by on a hot, summer day.

5. Catch fireflies and put them in a jar so we can watch them light up in a dark room.  (And then release them)

6. Build a sandcastle.  

7. Paint nature scenes while sitting outside.

8. Go on a bird watching hike.

9. Go canoeing and/or tubing down a river.

10. Buy a pup tent that the kids can set up themselves and play in outside.  

The first project we're tackling is building a fort.  We have started it, but need to find more branches to complete it.  Here's the beginnings of our fort--we're working on the walls.

David nailing a stick to the board brace

Joy helping me nail sticks to the board brace