Summer Bucket List: B, D, and T

Over the last week we've checked several activities off of our bucket list!

On Saturday, we went to the bookstore!  I told Aria we were going to Barnes and Noble, but for some reason she couldn't remember the name and kept calling it McDonalds. :)  We had a little treat, she played at the train table and then built the tallest Lego tower ever!  We also went ahead and picked up a few books as donations for activities on our advent calendar around Christmas time.  I find that it helps to pick up a few things throughout the year so that we are ready to go when we start our advent events!

What I love about going to Barnes and Noble is that if you skip the treats (and obviously the books) you can enjoy a few hours of fun for free!

After leaving the book store, we moved on to duck feeding at Research Park.  This is another option for cheap fun in town!  I spent 88 cents on a loaf of bread and Aria had a blast watching the ducks and the turtles.

We finished just in time before the sky opened up.  Loved watching the clouds roll in.  

Aria came to Jason today and said she wanted to do taekwondo which just happened to be on our bucket list! Jason was so excited and suited her up immediately.  He said she did such a great job and listened well.  I just can't believe how big she looks!

And doesn't she look cute in her sparring gear??

Summer Bucket List: M is for Movie

Last week I asked Aria if she wanted to go to the movies to see Finding Dory when it came out, and of course she said yes.  She was also very firm in the fact the she wanted her friends from school, Zoey and Sophie, to join. On Tuesday we decided that Saturday worked with everyone's schedules so I let Aria know our plans.

If you've ever had a 4 year old, you know that once you reveal a future plan to them, you will then spend every day until said future plan telling them how many more days until the event will take place. I will say it was all worth it to see the excitement on these sweet girls' faces! They had so much fun!

Summer Bucket List: S & J

This week Aria started her swim lessons which is the letter S on her summer bucket list.  She has been doing such a great job!  She really dislikes getting water in her eyes so I've been so impressed with how willing she has been to dunk her head under water.

We also completed the letter J on our bucket list - Jigsaw Puzzle. Is anyone shocked that a 4 year old girl selected a princess puzzle as her puzzle of choice??

Quentin seemed to enjoy watching and did his new favorite activity while we worked on the puzzle.  Oh, you thought I meant playing in the activity jumper?  Take a look at his mouth, I was referring to screaming a blood curdling scream, a talent I'm sure he picked up at day care.  He screams like this when he's happy...or sad...or mad...or hungry...so pretty much most of the day. My ear drums really thank him for this.

Immediately following this picture Q had a record setting baby blow-out.  It took a two person team and a bath to clean him up.  Just another day in paradise!  :)

Summer Bucket List: N

Ever since Quentin was born, I feel like we spend a lot of time telling Aria what she can't do. Don't  touch your brother.  Stop whining. Stay out of your brother's face. Don't talk so loudly (of course that one may be harder since she's up against those Brinker genes 🙂).  I felt like I needed to take control and be very intentional about giving her some special time so I created a summer bucket list for us to complete!

I had an old cork board sitting around and decided to put together one activity for each letter of the alphabet. Here is what I came up with:

A - Art Project

B - Bookstore

C - Camp in a tent

D - Duck Feeding

E- Eat at a new restaurant 

F - First Friday

G - Game Night

H - Have a picnic 

I - Ice Cream

J - Jigsaw Puzzle

K - Kites

L - Library

M - Movies

N - New Park

O - Ocean
P - Play date with a school friend 

Q - Quality time with Nanny and Opa

R - Random Acts of Kindness 

S - Swim lessons

T - Tae Kwon Do 

U - U Paint It

V - Volunteer

W - Water balloons 

X - Xplore Nature

Y - Yardsale

Z - Zoo

This weekend we tackled our first activity. Aria chose the letter N so we went to a New (to us) Park.

We have not visited Hensel Park before and I really liked it, particularly the trees!  Aria had a lot of fun and it was so great to watch her run and play!

Quentin was not thrilled that he wasn't able to run around with his sister, but he was still cute!