A Season

This post has been in the works for literally months now. The summer was extremely busy, but I naively thought that I'd have all kinds of free time once both kids were in school. Turns out there's a lot to be done, even without the kids around. I hope to update on more of the recent-er stuff soon, but now flash back to July and August...

This summer was pretty fantastic. Completely exhausting most days, frustrating at times, but mostly lots and lots of fun.

We made a good dent in our Summer Bucket List. We didn't quite gotten to everything, but I think we've done a pretty good job. I envisioned writing several posts going into details on the different activities we've done, but that's not going to happen at this point. 

So, a quick recap and some photos to wrap up Summer 2016 so far...

The Two Moms to Be Summer Bucket List for 2016

1. Have a picnic on the front lawn. Bonus points for having friends join us.

We managed to have several picnics on our front lawn, and even a few with friends. There aren't many photos though because the above is what a picnic with a bunch of kids looks like. Haha! 

2. Paint rocks.
I think this is the second year I've put this on our list, and it's the second year that we haven't done it. We did however, do a similar art project that was pretty cool. We coloured shells we found at the beach with crayons and then baked them in the oven until the crayon melted. (It works even better to colour on the shells with crayon AFTER they've been baked, but that didn't seem as safe.)

3. Pick berries.

We went strawberry and raspberry picking with my mom in July. They were delicious, but neither kid would take a bite. They just don't like berries. Silly kids.

4. Grow vegetables in our front yard garden.

 

 I think we've harvested most of what we're going to get for the season, but I have to say, I'm pretty darn proud of how our little garden did! We got several small harvests of peas, which the kids usually ate before I could get them upstairs. Our beans and cucumbers also did well. We got one measly carrot and are just starting to get some broccoli now. Sprout's pumpkin vines totally took over, but there has only been one tiny pumpkin. Fortunately she's happy with HER one pumpkin. 

5. Plan a blogger meet-up. 

We actually met up with fellow bloggers a few times this summer, which was awesome! The above photo was taken at an impromptu meet-up at Family Pride. Many of us (not all pictured here) also got together at Riverdale Farm a few weeks later, which was a lot of fun. And, of course, there was Stacey and Angele's Annual Pride BBQ, but that's further down on the list. ;) 

6. Get the finishing touches on the kids' room done. 

I just got the last few (major) things done last week. I'm SOOOO happy to have it complete. I really like the way it's turned out. No photos yet, but I'll try to get some soon. 

7. Ride a roller coaster.

The kids got to ride several roller coasters this summer. The Bean LOVES them. Sprout, well, I think she likes them. She usually spends much of her time riding them snuggled into the armpit of the nearest adult, but would get on time and again. This summer we made it to both Centreville and Canada's Wonderland AND Grandma and Grandpa took the kids to Conneaut over Labour Day weekend. Lots of amusement park fun! (Photo is of the kids on the Frog Jumper, because I wasn't going to risk the camera trying to take a photo on a roller coaster!)

8. Brew sun tea using herbs we've grown.

All our herbs died before we got a chance to use them for much of anything. We did brew many pitchers of plain sun tea though.

9. Celebrate love.

In addition to Family Pride, we celebrated at Stacey and Angle's Annual BBQ which was AWESOME. Their daughter Riley planned a whole bunch of activities, which the kids just loved, in addition to swimming in their pool. Jen and I got to talk to many of the other families there, some that we had met before, and others that we met that day. 

We were supposed to attend two receptions this summer, but unfortunately the scheduling for one of them conflicted with our family vacation. The other, the reception of Jen's good friend who she has known since KINDERGARTEN, was over Labour Day weekend. They held a really fun, relaxed, picnic-style party just out back of Jen's parent's place. (It's actually the same place her parents threw us a reception many, many years ago.) It was so lovely to get to celebrate their marriage with them. They're both so smitten with each other and seem truly, truly happy. 

10. Go to the Farmer's Market.

We made it to a couple early on in the season. I do take pictures, I just can't find them.

11. Meet up with friends. Often.

 We did get to spend time with many of our friends, but summers are busy for everyone, and while we would have loved to coordinate more meet-ups, but it just didn't happen.

12. Collect shells at the beach.

See items 2 and 17. :)

13. Borrow books from the library.

We actually made it to the library far less often than I imagined we would. The weekly routine that we had during the school year was a bit lost over the summer. Most of our days were spent outside. We still went to the library often and read books a plenty. 

14. Be tourists in our own city.

I'd say we accomplished this. The library here will give out Museum and Art Passes, so we were able to get into some attractions that we might not have visited otherwise. The kids loved playing games from the "olden days" at Black Creek Pioneer Village (pictured above). 

15. Camp in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard --don't forget the s'mores!

Unfortunately we didn't get to this one. We had hoped to spend a week or two mid-summer at Grandma and Grandpa's, but they ended up having to go out West to watch the cousins. Next summer.

16. Listen to live music.

Surprisingly there was little live music enjoyed this summer. I did tune in to CBC for the "final" Tragically Hip show. It was quite emotional. Like so many other Canadians, I've grown up with their music. 

17. Take a family vacation.

Spending a week in Myrtle Beach was the highlight of the summer. The kids just LOVED it there. The place we stayed was right on the beach and also had several pools and splash pads on their grounds so we spent hours and hours in the water every day. Both kids became much more confident swimmers and The Bean REALLY took to boogie boarding. Not a surprise. They can't wait to go back again. 

18. Find some new splash pads to play at.

I think we only made it to one new splash pad, but we had lots of fun playing at ones we were familiar with and also just in our own front yard.

19. Go on at least two kid-free date nights with my wife.

We sorta'/kinda' managed this when we were in Myrtle Beach and had Grandma and Grandpa available for babysitting. (We did a LONG walk down the beach and drinks at a local place, and later in the week got out for some window shopping and ice cream.)

20. Bake a peach pie. 

Didn't happen. Turns out having one family member who can't eat wheat and another who can't eat dairy puts a damper on the whole pie-making thing. Probably for the best, though I'm sure Sprout and I would have enjoyed it. 

21. Donate toys, books and clothes that we're no longer using. 

Many bags have been dropped off at the donation bin near our house. Other have been passed along to friends and family. There's still a lot to go through, but I feel like we're putting a good dent in things. 

22. Go to the zoo.

We made it to the zoo several times. I love having a membership! This year the kids were able to walk around without the stroller and we explored some areas that we haven't spent much time at in the past. Of course, the zoomoblie, KidsZoo, the splash pad and the merry-go-round were also big draws.

23. Ride our bikes --try to get The Bean riding a two-wheeler with no training wheels.

This was almost a fail but then, on Labour Day, The Bean figured it out! We weren't even at home when it happened. Jen's parents had picked up a bike someone was getting rid of and The Bean wanted to practice riding it up and down the driveway. After a few tries with my running behind steadying him he got it! He's now able to zip up and down, turning on a dime and practicing various "stunts" like he's been doing it his whole life. 
Sprout also has graduated to a two-wheeler, but with training wheels on. She's surprisingly good on it, in a much more understated way than her brother, though I notice that she's also been trying out little stunts. Daredevils, the two of them.

24. Visit a new-to-us skateboarding park.

We managed to get to a few familiar skate parks, but no new ones. The Bean kept up with his lessons with the teenager from down the street. He's making slow, steady progress, which is good, but difficult for him, I think, as he wants to be able to do all kinds of tricks without having to master the basics first.

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So, I think that about covers the long overdue update. There were many other things we did, to be sure: A Gatorade and Art sale (They sold out! Entrepreneurial kids!), long hikes and playing in the woods, the consumption of copious amounts of frozen desserts, to name a few. It really was a wonderful summer with these two little loves.