Summer Bucket Lists are a common occurrence in the mommy blog world and I love what they stand for but dislike the notion of trying to cram 157 “moments” into one summer. I think at the end of the day, our kids have an amazing summer whether we cross off all those items or not. But I love the idea of getting their input and finding out what is actually important to them. It’s rarely the things I would expect.

I’m linking up with Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop again this week as one of her prompts was “What you’re most looking forward to (or dreading) this Summer.” I asked everyone in the family what three (3) things they most want to do this summer. Here’s what they said:

BB, Age 4
1. She wants to play outside. When I asked for something more specific she said she wants to ride her bike.
2. She wants to watch Strawberry Shortcake. I kind veto’d this one because she watches Strawberry Shortcake every day so she said she also wants to read lots of books. How can I say no to that?
3. Lastly, she wants to go to the beach.

Her list seems completely doable to me. I want to try and focus on helping her learn to read more sight words, keep our outside as much as possible and yes definitely go to the beach!

MM, Age 8
1. The first thing he told me was that he wants to go to his best friend’s house 100 times. I have no idea if this is feasible but I will try to schedule a lot of play dates this summer.
2. He also wants to go to the zoo. I think there is very little chance of this not happening.
3. Lastly, he wants to go to summer camp. Both kids are going to one week of summer camp via the school district. He’ll be going to solar system camp this year and should have a blast.

Dan, Husband
1. After rolling his eyes at me and trying to explain that he doesn’t care what we do this summer and that I’m silly, he finally conceded that he would like to go for a hike at one of our favorite state parks. I might never have known that if I hadn’t asked – so there!
2. Other than that, he says that he wants to go on a road trip and
3. See his family and both of those things are already planned so basically he’s very easy to please.

And lastly, me, Jen
1. I want to make a vacation journal for our summer vacation. Ideally I want all four of us to keep a journal of the trip, have the kids draw lots of pictures and Dan and I take lots of pictures which I will then turn into a photo book.
2. It’s not a big goal but I will be devastated if we don’t go to my favorite bakery back home and eat delicious baked goods and drink an amazing cappuccino. Whenever we’re back home, for me half the goal is to eat all the amazing food that we can’t get in the midwest. It’s the little things.
3. In general, this summer I want to keep active, whether that means going for daily walks, taking up a new fitness activity like perhaps pilates or swimming with the kids. I want to be up and moving as much as possible.

That’s it! What things are you hoping to do this summer?