Summer Checklist - The End

Now that summer is coming to an end, it's time to recap our Summer Checklist. I created this checklist as an inspiration for us to try new and fun summer activities. We only accomplished 7 things.Ugh. I hadn't failed as a mom in months, my record was going so well..until now. My children like to point out the empty check boxes on the chalkboard frequently as my punishment.
Perhaps I set our limitations too high. Who would've thought going canoeing and making homemade ice cream would've been such a hard task to accomplish. Apparently for us, it was. I searched some other family checklists online and I found things like learn a new joke, have pancakes for supper and wear your clothes backwards for a day. That stuff is easy. Why didn't I chose those activites? You can be sure I'll be revamping our checklist for next year.
Like I said, we did accomplish 7 things on our list. 7 fun things!

Here's our recap:

We had a campfire
I made delicious roasted bananas.
I split open a banana and stuffed it with marshmallows and peanut butter cups.
Wrapped it in tinfoil and left it on the fire for about 10 minutes. I know they might look a little unappetizing in the picture, but they weren't.
We also brought out some sparklers later in the night which are always a hit with a kids. (this could be an easy checklist activity).

          

We watched a movie under the stars

We made it to the drive-in once this summer. Once. It was raining and we couldn't really see any stars but we still had a great time!

We went on a picnic
This was by far one of my favorite summer moments. We picnicked beside the river after a refreshing swim. We made sure to repeat this activity throughout the summer.

We went to an outdoor concert

We rode the PEI Ferry

We didn't light our own fireworks, but we did watch them twice this summer. That counts right?

We visited the Farmer's Market
However, I don't know if I would actually call it a summer event we enjoyed. It was crowded, loud, we almost lost all 4 kids and everyone wanted something from every table we walked by. Since I wasn't made of money that day and the sound of screeching children was drilling a hole through my head, we didn't stay there long. Perhaps on another day, with just 1 child, or on my own this could be a fun experience. They had lots of great things to buy and enjoy. But you know I still scored a picture!

We performed a Random Act of Kindness
Since it was random, I had no camera to capture the rare kindness my 7 year old displayed. I wanted it to be something one of the kids thought up on their own. While waiting in the Tim Hortons drive-thru the customer ahead of us dropped a handful of change while trying to pass it through the window to the employee inside. Without a thought, Jessee jumped out of the car and immediately started to gather up the change and passed it inside. How proud was I.

In the end, we still had a fabulous summer and made many great memories. The idea of a Summer Fun Checklist was brilliant, and I'll definitely use it again. I hope that some of our activities inspired other families to try new things and create fun, family memories!

Summer Family Checklist - outdoor concert

We checked off activity #3 - go to an outdoor concert! Actually, we were lucky enough to attend not one, but two outdoor concerts on the same day!
It was a beautiful day, the sun was shinning and we were happy to be out enjoying music, dancing and  snacks.

First we went to the Children's Jubilee and listened to a children's entertainer, Sunshine Sue. She sang songs, put on a puppet show and told funny stories. The kids were dancing and singing along with her and really enjoyed themselves.

Later that evening we attended an outdoor family ceilidh. There were musical entertainers all evening, a bbq, strawberry shortcake (Jessee's fav!) and lots of other goodies to choose from. Although the rain put a small damper on our outdoor fun, we still had the opportunity to listen to some great music and enjoy our time together.

I love any activity that will take us outside and experience something new!

Summer Family Checklist - go on a picnic!

Last week were finally able to check off our first Summer Family activity! Go on a picnic. We spent a beautiful Wednesday morning at a local Provincial Nature Park that has picnic areas, and a fresh water river. Amazingly it was our first trip to this watering hole. The kids loved it! It was a great day for a picnic and a refreshing swim in the river.

We brought along all the traditional picnic essentials, except the wicker basket. That would have really made the experience. I put together a little checklist of picnic essentials when bringing a group of kids.

1.A blanket. It's not a picnic without one.
2.Paper towels, napkins or baby wipes (my recommendation) for sticky hands.
3.Drinks in cups with lids, or juice packs. Spills are frequent and hard to avoid during picnics.
4.Snacks that don't require much preparation or mess. Sandwiches (peanut butter and jam with the crust cut off if you're looking to feel nostalgic), crackers, pre-cut fruit, granola bars, chips etc.
5.Paper plates and utensils if you are eating something a little more elaborate.

Everyone loves a picnic and an outdoor swim! This was a great way to kick-off our Summer checklist!

Post Vacation & Summer Family Checklist

After a fun-filled trip to PEI we're home and slowly easing back into our normal routine. Don't you hate that feeling of the post-vacation blues? The reality wake-up call that you really can't continue to eat out at restaurants, spend lots of money, and hold onto that "who cares Im on vacation" attitude. There's something invigorating about being on vacation, and coming home is almost like a let down. I think we're all feeling that today. And the dark, rainy weather certainly isn't helping! I came across a few tips to help you ease back into regular life, especially with kids. Most of these I've tried to adapt into the end of our vacation.

1. Give yourself a "rest day". Book off the day after you return. No work, no school. Just give yourself a day to rest, unpack, do laundry and mentally prepare yourself for reality.
2. Plan a fun, but easy activity with your kids. Baking cookies, or renting a movie you've never seen. You don't want to overdo it on your "rest day" but it's nice to give yourself and your kids something to look forward to and make them forget about all the fun they just left behind.
3. When you're packing to come home, do your best to make the unpacking as smooth as possible. Put all the dirty clothes together in a bag so they're ready for the wash and pack everyone's clothes separately so clean clothes are easier to put back in drawers. I've been guilty of just tossing everything in the suitcase and telling myself I'll worry about it when I get home. I've discovered that when I get home is NOT when I want to worry about organizing clothes, garbage and laundry.

Aside from a few disappointments from Mother Nature, we did have a wonderful time, squeezed in everything we could and took lots of photos to remember such a great weekend! We revisited some of our favourite stomping grounds and indulged in the some of the best treats PEI has to offer!

We managed to check off one of our activities on our Summer Family check-list! Ride the PEI Ferry!
This has always been so much fun for our kids, and I look forward to it as well. It's such an excitement for them to drive up onto the ferry, then run upstairs to explore the boat. We can eat at the restaurant, play arcade games, and sit outside and enjoy the gorgeous view. To end our trip,we took the last boat of the day, so a gorgeous sunset was our background for our sail home.

I'd love to hear about some of your Prince Edward Island experiences!

Summer Family Checklist

Now that school is out I'm looking for some inspiration for summer fun!
I've been seeing these Summer checklists everywhere and I've been wanting to actually try this with my family. First I needed to find one that was actually realistic for us, and that had activities I knew we could tackle. I asked the kids what activities they would like to do over the summer so we added a few of our own. I can't wait to get started on some! It'll make our summer one to remember!

We wrote our list on the chalkboard so it was easily visible and it was more fun to write. The kids are really excited about it, and are already talking about which activity we'll do first.

1.Have a campfire - and make these
2.Go on a picnic
3.Light fireworks - all by ourselves
4.Go to an outdoor concert - rain or shine
5.Make homemade ice cream - need I say more?
6.Go on a hike
7.Ride the PEI ferry - summer isn't summer without it
8.Go the Farmer's Market -
9.Go Kayaking or Canoeing - one of the kid's ideas
10.Watch a movie under the stars
11.Visit the Hector Quay (A heritage museum site in town that my kids have never actually experienced) Pictou has always been my children's home and I think it's important they learn it's history
12.Perform a Random Act of Kindness - or 2 or 100
13.Build a greenhouse  - for Mike of course
14.Adopt a lobster (The local Fisheries Museum runs an adoption program) - learn more here


Here are some other great checklists with some more ideas!

Stay tuned and I'll update our activities throughout the summer :)