to do

Here are some updates from our summer to do list.  I think we did quite a good job checking things off the list.  We didn’t get to everything, but we got to a lot!  At the beginning of the summer, I was so anxious and scared about what I was going to do to keep all of us entertained for the entire summer.  It all worked out and we had lots of fun.  We got into a groove and had lots of help.

• Pick a summer theme song. Right now I’m thinking of something by Jenny Lewis or Rilo Kiley.  We just saw Jenny last week, so I’m on a Jenny/Rilo kick.  Or I might throw back to some of my favorite summers, and go with a Dave Matthews song.  DMB songs always make me think of summer.
  I decided on Budapest because it’s fun, it’s on the radio a lot, and Peter just did a cool version.
• Take, and post to Instagram, a photo every day, starting June 21st and ending September 22nd – the first and last days of summer.  Recently I’ve gotten into sharing my day to day stuff on Snapchat, and haven’t been posting as much on Instagram.  I think I’ll look back and wish I’d taken more permanent documentation of these days.  This summer, I will post (at least) one photo a day and I’ll use the hashtag #93summerdays if you want to play along! I did this pretty well!  The past few weeks, I sort of stopped because it hasn’t felt very summery.  I did have one friend play along, and it was fun to see our photos together in the #93summerdays on Instagram.  Thanks for playing, Meredith!
• Run through the sprinklers.  I tend to be an observer in this activity.  I vow to participate this summer. I did this a couple times, but I also got in the kiddie pool, too!
• Play outside everyday.  This is a long-term goal to get my kids to play outside everyday, rain or shine or snow or fog or whatever.  I think they’re getting to be old enough, and creative enough that I can start this.  Best to start in the summer, I figure! Not sure we did this absolutely everyday, but pretty darn close!
• Have a dinner of corn on the cob.  When corn is in season, there’s nothing better. Nope. We had some good corn, but not a full meal.  Then we started Whole30 and couldn’t eat corn anymore at all.
• Go to a concert. We went to a few of the free concerts at the Hult Center.  It was fun to have things to do out on the town.
  
• Stargaze with Alma. Ideally, I want to take her out into the country or wilderness where stars are brighter.  I think it would be fun to let her stay up late (or get her up) and take her out, just the two of us. Nope.  It got dark way too late for this.  Maybe we’ll bundle up and do it this winter.
• KonMari Method everything. This will likely be an entire blog post, but I have read The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up and am in the process of getting rid of things that don’t spark joy.  It’s already been incredible, I can’t wait to continue. We are soooo close to being done!  I did the photographs last weekend, and there are just a few boxes in the attic to tackle.  I’ve been waiting for it to cool down so it’s not an oven up there. 
• Go on a day date with Jesse. 
• Hike.
• Camp.  We went to my parents’ annual campout for Harriet’s first camping trip.  She loved it and we all had fun!
  
• Ride bikes.  We didn’t ride as much as I thought we would…
• Make lemonade from scratch.  Nope.
• Watch fireworks.  Big ones this year, I think. Nope.  Next year.
• Build a sandcastle. In Coronado, Alma spent lots of time digging and building and ruining sand castles.
  
• Make ice cream from scratch.
  We made a cherry dark chocolate ice cream.  I liked it, Alma didn’t, Jesse was indifferent, Harriet likes anything.
• Redecorate the living room – specifically the mantel. It still is covered in Easter decorations.  Come on.  Jesus has already ascended into Heaven and we’re fully in a new church season.  Seriously, Carolyn. We did this, but now it’s time to do it again!
• Go to the beach.  This should be easy.  We have another vacation to Coronado planned. Yep.  Alma loved it, Harriet fell asleep every time we went to play in the waves.
• Go to the mountains.
• Bake a crisp, or other summery dessert.   Blueberry cobbler ftw.
• Swim in nature – ocean, river, lake, stream.
• Eat wild berries. Nope.  What?  How did we miss this?
• Make s’mores.
• Take each Harriet and Alma on an adventure, just us.  I don’t think we really did this… I mean, I spent some time with each of them, but not on purpose.
• Plan our tenth anniversary celebration.  Ten years!  What? We are still working on this one…
• Learn how to shop at thrift stores.  They totally overwhelm me and I never buy anything.  I love to idea of not wearing new clothes – better for earth, better for the workers who make clothes, cheaper – I just don’t know how to do it. Nope.  Someday, maybe!
• Go to the Country Fair. Photos here!
• Go to new parks.  Maybe try for all the parks in Eugene?  Is that crazy?  Anyone want to attempt this with us? We went to lots of new parks and found some new favorites! 
• Shop at the farmer’s market as often as possible.  Maybe make it a weekly activity. We never really made it to the farmer’s market, but we went to the farm a lot!  I decided it would be much easier with the girls to go somewhere that they can run around, feed goats, climb in hay, etc.
• Have a water balloon fight. Ugh!  We never did this!  Boo!
• Buy some treats from the ice cream truck. I tried hard for this one.  We never even saw an ice cream truck, darn it!  A couple times after the kids were in bed I heard one in the distance…
  
• Go to the library.  Another weekly activity? We went a lot, but not weekly.
• Swim in a pool. We went to my parents’ club pool a few times.  Both girls love being in the water.  Alma got really brave with jumping off, and even went off the diving board!
  
• Tie dye something. Nope.
  
• Go berry picking. Nope.