The beginning of summer always reminds me of a few things. While it always excites me to know that school is out by this point, there a few more important things that I'm reminded of. June 21 is my grandmother's birthday and while she is no longer here to spend summer days with, I think it's pretty ironic that her birthday is the first day of summer. While I'm not sure what her favorite season was, it was definitely the season I enjoyed spending with her the most, mainly because that is when we saw her the most. My grandma and grandpa lived 4 hours away, but it wasn't uncommon for Nicole and I to spend a week or two at a time, a few times each summer, with them. And we always had a blast!! It was obviously awesome that they lived on a lake and we spent a lot of our time at the lake, but there are so many other memories I have of her too. She was very crafty and often helped Nicole and I make barbie clothes, cabbage patch doll clothes, and hair scrunchies. When we got older, she let us help her in the kitchen and to this day I still can't use a vegetable peeler because I'm used to just peeling things with a knife like she did. She was an avid shopper and loved taking my sister and I shopping (and we didn't exactly mind it ourselves) and we would often travel nearly 1.5-2 hours to a "bigger and better" mall to walk around, try clothes on, and pick out a new outfit. She let us play with her Avon make-up stash, and we thought we were the bomb! We looked forward to the nights when we walked up to the party store, or took a boat ride across the lake, to get some superman ice cream. She was also so patient when showing me how she did her crossword puzzles. I always wish(ed) I knew more words to be able to complete an entire puzzle like she could. And I will never forget that caramel popcorn she always got for me and Nicole to share! I could go on and on...but looking back, I realize that it didn't really matter what we were doing, it was just the fact that we got to spend extra time up north with both her and my grandpa, doing things we wouldn't normally do at home, that made it exciting. Memories that I will never forget!
So where am I going with this? Grandparents, don't worry, I'm not saying that we are sending the boys off to you for a week or so at a time this summer, but I relate to these memories myself because the summer time is the time of year that I get to spend more time with the boys, since I don't work. So while I was creating a summer bucket list of sorts, I was trying to think of activities both in and out of the home that the boys (and us) would enjoy. Some activities are repeats from previous years, but now that they are older, they may enjoy it a bit more, or just as much as they did last year. My grandma never seemed stressed and always went with the flow (or if she was stressed, she never let it show!), so I'm trying to go with that theme too. Let things happen as they happen. Allow the boys to experience, play, create and do things that we don't always get to do other times of the year because of the seasons, or because I'm working.
With that in mind, here is our list of activities that I hope to attack this summer:
- Hit up more local beaches - Stony Creek Metropark or even Rochester's own Spencer Park
- More frequently go to our Farmer's Market
- See a fireworks show - wishing more cities had actual shows over 4th of July weekend, but it looks like many cities do them during the week of, or the week before. Weekday nights aren't as easy with Troy working!
- Detroit Zoo - an oldie but goodie place to go, but also go to Toledo Zoo, which was on our list last year but we never made it. With Dan and Rosie less than an hour away, hopefully we will make it there this year.
- Pick strawberries at a U-Pick Farm
- Bowling - awesome free bowling for kids - check out it out!
- Splash Pad - HUGE favorite from last year
- Storytime at the library
- Eat dinner outside more
- Hit up a local carnival - still wondering if they might be too young for this?!?
- The boys love airplanes and cars, so I'd like to find an air show or car show to take the boys too
- Lots of playdates with friends I don't get to see much during the school year, and their kiddies - I see parks, water play, and lots of hands-on activities in our future!
- As far as home activities, I have a ton of different possibilities - too many to list here, but when I try some out, I'll try to share on here, if they were a success. The first one I want to try is making bird feeders!
- And of course, not quite an activity, but tackling this potty training business is priority. I don't want to push the boys into anything, but they have been responding fairly well in only the past 2 days, so I am keeping my fingers crossed that we make good progress in the next week or so!
One thing I do want to say as well, is that I'm not going to try too hard to get everything "checked off" this list. Last summer it almost seemed like a challenge to get everything done, but this year, as I said above, I'm just going to go with the flow. If we don't get to see fireworks, well, so be it. This is just a brainstorming list of things we could do if the cards fell just right. As long as we are having fun, that's all that matters!
So, to you Grandma - Happy Birthday! Missing you tons and thinking of you daily! xoxo
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