Summer Bucket List - How Did We Do?

I posted our summer bucket list around Memorial Day.  Since today is the symbolic end of summer, I figured I'd do a follow-up post to let you know how we did.  We didn't get to everything, but we did accomplish the majority of activities, plus we did a whole lot more than is on this list, too.  I'll be back later this week with our fall bucket list, so stay tuned. 

1.  Meet up with friends at a local park.  Check!  We did this several times. 

2.  Meet up with friends at the Bicentennial Park Splash Pad.  Unfortunately, we never did do this, even with the extremely hot summer we had.  With a new baby that cannot regulate her temperature and a splash pad with no shade nearby, it just didn't pan out the way we had hoped it might. 

3.  Go on a family hike on the Dauner-Martin trails in Fenton.  Check!  We have gone on several hikes on the Dauner trails.  Sara wears Bristol in the Moby or Baby Bjorn (if its hot) while we hike. 

4.  Camp in a tent in the backyard... we'd actually really like to go camping at a campground, but I'm thinking that is pretty unlikely this summer, so we'll do some backyard camping instead.  This has not happened yet.  We're still hoping to have a chance, but we'll have to see how the night-time temperatures hold up. 

5.  Father-son camping trip... the backyard camping will be fun for all of us, but Kevin and Carson both really want to do a father-son camping trip for one night at a campground within an hour or two of our house, as well.  As much as they really wanted to do this, we never had a free weekend for it, unfortunately.  Maybe next summer.

6.  Play with bubbles in the backyard.  Check!  Bubbles were a regular past-time this summer.  We especially had fun with the new bubble blower that Carson received from Auntie Jaime, Uncle Jeff and Grant for a big brother gift. 

7.  Take a short walk to get ice cream together as a family at The Twist.  Check!  We took a few walks down the street to the Twist. 

8.  Make and eat homemade popsicles.  Check! 

9.  Meet up with family from the west side of the state in the Lansing area for playtime and hanging out.  Check!  We met Aunt Mary, Rebecca and Abram at Impression 5 in early August.

10.  Draw in the driveway with sidewalk chalk.  Check!  Sidewalk chalk was another favorite past-time this summer.

11.  Fly a kite.  We have not done this yet.  We kind of forgot about it, actually.  We need to dig out the kite and fly it soon, hopefully. 

12.  Take a day trip to Lake Michigan (maybe either to Grand Haven or South Haven... we seem to always migrate towards Holland, so we figure we should change it up... we've been to Grand Haven many times before, but not in the last couple of years and we've never been to South Haven.).  Check!  We didn't get to Grand Haven or South Haven, but we did get to Petoskey for an afternoon.  It was beautiful!

13.  Take a day trip to Lake Huron (either to East Tawas or Port Austin... we've never been to either).  We had this planned two different times this summer, both of which turned out to be rainy days... so we did not go.

14.  Walk through the forest at Hartwick Pines State Park. Check!  We were there for a wedding in early August.  We took a few hikes through the forest while we were there.  It was so pretty and peaceful.

15.  Visit the Grand Blanc Farmers' Market for one of their kids' days.  Check! 

16.  Go fruit picking at a local farm/orchard.  We did not do this, though we did lots of raspberry and blackberry picking in our owm backyard.

17.  Visit a local park that we have never been to.  Check!  We went to Rust Park in Grand Blanc for the first time at the end of May. 

18.  Set up a playdate with Carson's friends from preschool.  Check!  We have had playdates with three of Carson's preschool friends.  We have also had several playdates with non-preschool friends. 

19.  Catch fireflies and put them in a jar.  Check!  We have done this several times.

20.  Invite the neighbors over for a fire in the backyard, make s'mores, and have fun with sparklers.  While we've spent a lot of time hanging out with our neighbors this summer, we never did do a fire with s'mores and sparklers. 

21.  Visit a local beach - Holly State Park, Silver Lake Beach, Clover Beach.  We never did this, though we did spend a good deal of time at the lake at one of Sara's aunt's houses. 

22.  Attend a Silver Lake Ski Club ski show.  Check! 

23.  Do messy finger and feet painting in the backyard.  We have done finger painting, but Carson didn't want to do feet painting. 

24.  Swim as much as possible in our backyard pool.  Check!

25.  Attend Vacation Bible School at Faith Lutheran.  Check!

26.  Attend summer camp for a week in August at Faith Lutheran.  Carson decided he did not want to go since it was Sara's last full week home on maternity leave. 

27.  Visit the local library for story time and/or other activities for kids.  Check!  We did this several times.

28.  Go play miniature golf.  We have had this planned three times this summer and it hasn't worked out weather-wise any of the times we've had it planned. 

29.  Go to an outdoor community concert in one of the local parks.  We never made it to one, unfortunately.

30.  Visit a friend or family member we have not seen in awhile.  Check!  We visited a friend we had not seen in about 7 months, we visited a cousin we had not seen in over a year, and also had some friends over to our house that we had not seen in about 2 years.