Summer Bucket List in Review

1.  Celebrate Bristol's 1st birthday.  Check!  We had a great party in our backyard with great weather with most of our family and a few friends. I still can't believe our peanut is 1, though!   

2.  Go strawberry picking.  We picked a few berries in a friend's yard, but we never actually went berry picking at a farm. 

3.  Tend the veggie garden, orchard, and berry patches.  Check!  The kids enjoyed helping out with harvesting and even some weeding.  

4.  Hit the beach - whenever, where ever.  :)  Check!  It was kind of a crummy summer for the beach, but we did go whenever we could when the weather would cooperate.  

5.  Go to story time at the library.  Check!  We only had the chance to do this once, but it was still a fun time.

6.  Get our pool up and running (aka clean) and ready for summer.  Swim in it as much as possible.  Maybe build a deck around one side of it?  Check!  Again, it wasn't the best summer for swimming, but we did swim in it a lot when the weather was nice and warm.  

7.  Go blueberry picking.  We did not do this. 

8.  Take a road trip up north at least once.  Check!  We traveled north to Honor where we rented a cabin, tubed the Platte River, and checked out the Sleeping Bear Dunes.  (Post to come soon about our trip!)

9.  Spend at least part of a day on one of the Big Lakes (Huron or Michigan).  Check!  We spent time on Lake Michigan a couple of different times this summer.  

10.  Go camping at least twice, if not more.  Sort of..  We did not go camping to a campground, but we did camp in the backyard, which was a lot of fun!  

11.  Visit a friend or family member that we have not seen in awhile.  Check!  We saw quite a few of our friends this summer that we had not seen in more than a year.  It was so great to re-connect in person!

12.  Meet up with west-side family in the Lansing area at least once.  Check!  We met up with Aunt Mary, Rebecca, and Abram at the MSU Childrens Gardens and had a lot of fun.  

13.  Visit a new (to us) zoo (Saginaw Children's?,  Toledo?, Fort Wayne?, Binder Park?, Boulder Ridge?)  We never made it to any of the zoos, unfortunately.  We had plans to go once, but the weather ended up not working out.  Bummer!  

14.  Visit a local park/playground that we have never been to before.  Check!  We've been to a few new ones - Clarkston's Depot Park, Holly's Crapo Park, plus lots of parks we've been to many times before.  

15.  Have fun watching Kevin and the Faith Lutheran softball team play every Monday night. Sort of..  The kids and I didn't make it to as many games as we'd like, but we did make it to some.  

16.  Attend at least one Silver Lake Ski Club ski show - maybe most/all of them if Kevin ends up joining the team.  Check!  We made it to one ski show... and Kevin did not end up joining the team this year. 

17.  See professional fireworks.  We did not go to any of the fireworks shows this year.  It just didn't end up working out with our schedules.  

18.  Do outdoor messy painting and finger painting.  Check!  A couple of times.  :)

19.  Cut down a couple of trees in our backyard.  Check!  We had 6 huge trees cut down in early June. 

20.  Visit a place in Michigan that we have never been (possibilities include Port Austin, East Tawas, South Haven, St. Joseph, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Charlevoix, Rifle River).  Check!  We went to Honor, the Platte River, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Frankfort, Empire, Glen Arbor, and Fishtown in August.  

21.  Tube the Platte River.  Check!  So fun and can't wait to do it again next year!

22.  Play with bubbles and sidewalk chalk outside.  Check!  We did this quite a bit.  

23.  FaceTime with friends and family that live out of state.  Check - although it only happened once.  

24.  Hike and bike as often as possible.  Check!  It didn't happen as often as we'd have liked, but we did hike or bike as often as possible.  

25.  Roast marshmallows over an open fire.  Check!  We did this many, many times.  Our new fire pit came in very handy this year.  :) 

26.  Visit Applewood Manor.  We didn't get to this.  We had plans to go two different times that fell through.  

27.  Attend at least one local festival (Hometown Days, Summer Happening, Back to the Bricks, Applefest, etc.).  Check!  We all went to Swartz Creek Hometown Days at the end of May.  

28.  Take a trip to either Cedar Point or Michigan's Adventure.  This didn't end up working out.  

29.  Continue growing photography business, pursuing branding, and developing website.  Check!  

30.  Attend a car show.  Check!  We went to a car show that was part of a benefit for one of the local fire departments.