What Am I Doing with the Kids this Summer?

I hate planning summer activities, so I appreciated the prompt for the #TuesdayTen linkup about your summer bucket list because it was probably the only way I would ever be forced to come up with stuff for my kids to do that don’t involve a DS or marathon viewings of Ben 10.

Here’s the list…

Winnebago road trip to Mammoth Caves. My husband is all over the RV thing. I think he’s watched too many episodes of Extreme RVs. I want to take a test run before plunking down a bagillion dollars for one. The caves are close and the only way I am camping, especially with kids, is in a Winnebago. I am a germophobe and I would likely be apoplectic from the time we arrive, especially if I had to use a public toilet and shower with them. I can hear me now, “Don’t touch that! Why are you eating that flower? No, you cannot pet the foaming-at-the-mouth squirrel!”

Make wildflower daisy chains. I have no idea how to do this, but it seems like such a summery thing to do. I have a feeling I’ll fail miserably, the kids will walk away after a few minutes and I’ll be left trying to tie just one flower into my daughter’s hair. With my luck, it will be ant-infested, and the ants will invade the RV when I try to wash them out of her hair and we’ll have to sleep under the stars and use a port-a-potty.

Catch (and release!) fireflies. Don’t know how this will go either. I am a little squeamish about closing my hand over the fireflies to catch them. If they tickle me, I’ll probably squish the bug as an involuntary reflex, and scar the kids for life. They go to their therapist talking about their mom the bug killer. Maybe I’ll make the husband do this.

Eat watermelon until the whole family is about to pop. Who am I kidding? We do this every year. Watermelon does not last a day in our house.

Stop and stare at the caterpillars. Have you ever looked at these fuzzy beasts? They’re pretty cute. I can deal with this type of teach and learn activity. All I’ll have to do is prevent my daughter from hugging it too tight. Although, at least she’d be labeled the bug killer and not me.

Lake Logan in the Hocking Hills, a favorite place to hike.

Take a hike where we walk too slow and stare too long at the trees. Sometimes I feel like our hikes are a session of speed walking to catch the faster members of the family, sprawling on the bench while waiting for everyone to catch up, and then carrying the kids for a few miles when they get tired. I’d like for all of us to go slow and really appreciate what we’re seeing. Maybe even look up once in a while. Oh, and I’ll get some sort of kid carrier for my husband so he can do the heavy lifting.

Feed some ducks. I know. It’s all fun and games until one of the ducks starts chasing you for your bag of bread. Note to self… make the hubs carry the bread bag.

Campout in our backyard and make smores. Or just eat the chocolate. I LOVE smores, but the kids just like the chocolate so I end up eating more marshmallows and graham crackers than my hips appreciate. I may be able to get away with handing the kids a chocolate bar and sitting beside our firepit one evening. I am sure my waistline will thank me for it.

Stargaze, and make up our own constellations. Who can tell what constellation is what? For the life of me, I can never see what the stars are supposed to be. Who gets a lion out of four stars randomly clumped together? Even with the lines on a stargazing chart, I don’t see it. I think someone made it all up so the artsy types look stupid. The only exceptions are the Dippers, but I think anyone can see those, so they don’t really count.

Swim until the kids turn into raisins….. while I sit on the sidelines with a margarita. Now that’s what I call summer.

I really hope we can do all of this over the summer. It would make for a great back to school report. The kids can talk about eating chocolate until they threw up, their mom squashing bugs, and their dad getting attacked by ducks. Now those are the kind of memories you hold with you forever.