Summer Bucket List

 

We made a Summer Bucket List so that we could be sure to include a few of everyone's favorites in our summertime activities.

 

Here are the goals my kids and I came up with:

 

Do the Library Summer Program

Ali-Go to Pioneer School at the museum for a week

Josiah and I-10th Anniversary getaway trip

Visit the local museum

Have some friends and their families over for dinner

Visit some parks we've never been to before

Ride Boppa's horses

Make a water sensory blob

Go on family bikes rides

Draw with sidewalk chalk

Hike

Swim in the backyard pool almost every day

Visit Yellowstone with Josiah's parents

KK-play with Abigail and "Emmy" her friends

Do a Family Movie Night

Summer matinee movies at the theater for $1

Go to the park in Thermopolis and have ice-cream with cousins

Go to the Circus

Go swimming at the local pool

Justus-have a family birthday party in August

Celebrate Daddy's big 30th birthday with a BBQ party

Attend a couple of Vacation Bible Schools

Host a 5-Day Club and help feed the teen missionaries

Lake Days with friends

4th of July fun--picnics, fireworks, parade, rodeo, etc.

Camp a couple of times as a family

Attend Lego Club (Ali) and Jr. Lego Club (the boys) at the library

Eat lots of ice-cream

Lots of hanging out with friends

Attend the weekly church sport's nights/fellowship nights when we can

Playdates with Ansley, CC and Diana, Heidi, Eli, Stella and Celeste, Carston, and Dylan

Attend Gold Rush Days at South Pass City

Have lots of leisure time for fun in the sun and relaxing

 

 

 

The MOST IMPORTANT goal of our summer is to get into the Word of God.  No matter who you are or what your responsibilities, it is always a fight to make God's Word a priority and you have to make the time or it won't happen.  I have seen how easily even church activities and homeschool studies can crowd out family Bible time.  So....here is what our family is doing to make sure that doesn't happen.  If nothing else happens on our Summer Bucket List, I want to make sure that this stuff happens:

 

We are continuing to listen to Daddy read to them from the Bible every night

 

Having morning devotional time with Mom (Going through Thriving Family magazines' 60 Day Trip around the World praying for the nations)

 

Memorizing the ABC verses (26 verses printable I found online)

 

Ali and I:  Mother/Daughter tea time Bible Study every Friday morning

 

Me-weekly Bible Study that my mom leads in the summer-this summer we're doing "Having a Mary Spirit" by Joanna Weaver.

 

Take the kids to 5-Day Club, as well as church and Sunday School

 

Ali-personal Quiet Time once a day where she is looking up Bible verses for our study

 

 

Educational Goals:

 

Ali and Jer:  Read/listen to books for 1,200 minutes during the month of the library program challenge

 

Justus and KK:  listen to 600 minutes of stories

 

Ali and Jer: 1-2 pages of Math each weekday

 

Ali:  Learn cursive, do 1-2 pages in cursive workbook copying Scripture

 

Jer:  Practice handwriting, reading, and writing for 10-20 minutes a day

 

Ali and Jer-taking a free, 3-day class at the library in June called Word Play

 

Ali and Jer--taking a free, 3-day class at the library in July called Let's Pretend

 

Working on their Nature Notebooks (which they love) as we explore God's creation

 

Make a Gold Rush Days lapbook

 

Make a lapbook of their choice

 

Read alouds:

 

The Secret at Pheasant Cottage and Rainbow Garden

by Patricia St. John

 

Start the Christian Heritage series by Nancy Rue

 

 

Me-attend a practicum (training) for Classical Conversations in Casper, WY

 

Me-prepare to be a CC Tutor for the coming school year

 

 

Summer Chores:

 

Morning routine after breakfast:

Brush teeth

Make beds

Straighten Rooms

Help Mom with a household chore

 

Afternoon clean-up time before Daddy comes home

 

Sometimes the big kids help Grammy rake her yard or help her water the community garden, where she works part-time, and get paid to do odd jobs for her.

 

I'd like to have my kids help more with laundry, dishes, and cooking.  Lately they've been pretty spoiled and haven't helped a lot in those areas!  Ali often cleans like crazy just to bless me and she cleans the kids' bathroom 2-3 times a week, but my boys NEED to work harder and learn to do more of the chores.

 

 

So, this is our roadmap for the summer.  It may look like a LOT of things to do to some of you, and to others it may seem really low-key.  Every family is different!  My kids happen to be REALLY high-energy kids who love social activities and sports.  We live in a small town, that's very outdoorsy, and we can get to where we need to go within a minute or two.  So, I think we have a great balance of calm and rest and fun and energy-burning activities!