2014 Summer Bucket List - Final Post

Summer is officially over and so is our 2014 Summer Bucket List? You remember our bucket list; our goal of 30 things we planned to do this summer. For much of the summer we kind of forgot about it :/ We started participating in the bucket lists as a way to keep away the "I'm bored", "There's nothing to do" and to give ourselves a gentle reminder to do new things. Last summer we had a massive list and completed all except 2 or 3 things. Then there was the Fall List and the Winter List. While we loved marking off the activities we came up with as a family, this summer we kind of lost interest in our list as we found new interests to pursue.

This summer was just kind of off. We never got around to posting our list on our kitchen wall as a visual reminder of what we wanted to accomplish. Joey was on his "drug holiday" (which was not as smooth as it had been in the past). The boys really got into skateboarding and were content to hang around the house and improve their skating skills. I did not do well at all with keeping everyone updated on the activities that we did mark off. The whole summer we were just happy to be not doing much of anything.

While we did not complete our goal of 30 activities we did pretty well. Here's the last couple things we marked off our lists.










 Family bike ride- We actually did this a couple times over the summer. We 
love our Metro-parks and when we visit our bikes usually come with us. Our first ride we rode 3 miles down the path to get to the McDonalds, where we stopped for  break and a drink then rode the 3 miles back to the car. We made the whole 6 mile ride in 55 minutes!! Our other family bike rides were at another Metro-park where it is a bit more challenging with the hills in the path, but manage another 3.5 mile ride and a 5 mile ride. As the boys are getting older I'm realizing that I'm the one now asking to breaks and having a harder time keeping up with them Lol :)





 






Go to the beach- There weren't as many visits to the beach this year as the weather just wasn't warm enough. However we made it to the water's edge 4 times this year. It has become sort of a tradition that I bury all 3 boys in the sand at least once at the beach.





 






Silly string fight- This turned out to be a better in theory, then practice activity for us. Jordan and Jacob were all into it, but Joey not so much. Joey loved straying everyone else but could not stand the feel of the string on him. Everyone was given to cans of silly string, the first can was for them to get each other so I could get pictures and video tape. The second can was for a free-for-all and they could spray mom also, and spray mom they did :)












Make pretzels- A few years ago (wow! 7 years ago) I worked in the mall at a pretzel shop and thought it would be fun to teach the boys how roll pretzels. The recipe we used left the pretzels tasting more like rolls, but once we dipped them in liquid cheese they were more like "real" pretzels. The boys didn't master the art of pretzel knotting but had a fun coming up with their own way to form the pretzels.








Kid movie marathon- This just kind of happen on a a day that it rained all day long. No pictures though, we didn't realize we had marked this off until after we did it.









Visit a splash pad- Friends of ours love a splash pad that is about a half hour north of us. On one of the rare really warm days the boys and I went to check it out. There was a fence that surrounded the whole splash pad area with gates that closed. It was really nice to know that your kiddos could be contained to just the splash area and less risk of them wandering off. There were tables and benches along the outside the of fence where parents could sit and watch with out getting splash themselves. There is also a playground near the splash area and walking paths.








Go fishing- There was a scheduled fishing derby through the scouts at the nearby Metro-park. The boys decked out in the scout uniform and excited to fish with friends. I was excited that there was going to be other people there so I didn't have to worry about putting worms on hooks or taking fish off hook. It was suppose to be a 6 hour derby, and we got there 2 hours after it was said to be set up. We drove area the area we were directed to and didn't see anyone. Turns out scouts decided to cancel the derby and didn't send out an email to those of us that had planned on attending. Not to let my boys down we set up their fishing stuff and just the three of them fished. Jordan wasn't thrilled by having to keep putting worms on hooks for his brothers, therefor not getting to relax while he fished. No one caught any fish, during those few and far between moments they weren't reeling in their lines for a better cast.

We had also planned on marking off camping in a tent and picking up trash with the scouts. There were two clean-up scheduled for the VFW hall and both days were canceled due to rain. The boys were super excited about the camping trip which the date was TBA. It was never announced to us, I learned from a fellow blogger on Wednesday the week of the trip it was to be that weekend. We don't have any camping equipment here, all that kind of stuff gets stored with Papa. There was no way I could have rearranged our schedules and gathered the camping supplies within a couple days. I was a couple day after the missed camping trip that both boys decided they no longer wanted to continue with scouting. The kicker is now that my boys have called it quits, I get tons of emails from the den leaders.

We came close a lot of days to all day in Pj's, just puttering around the house. Usually sometime in the afternoon the boys would find real clothes so they could go outside to play.

We attempted to catch fireflies but the couple times we went searching for them there was none to be found. We've decided to blame the cooler temperatures for the lack of fireflies.

We managed to find 3 out of 5 Geocaches back when we got distracted by the new to us park. Just never ventured out to find the other 2. Now that we have found most of the "caches" near our home and surrounding cities we're finding it harder to want to seek them out.

Trying to watch the sun is harder than you think it should be. We just couldn't get the timing right. We'd head out a bit earlier and then get busy playing while we waited for "the right moment" and end up missing it LOL

I personally was looking forward to the glow-in-the-dark party. I'm not sure when we will actually get around to doing this, but we're going to still do it.

That concludes our Summer Bucket List 2014. Thank you to all who followed our very inconstant journey this year.

Not a Typical Day at the Park

Over the weekend we marked off our non-board game day. We switched things up a bit; instead of having every one gather around the table or on the living room floor we headed to our favorite Metropark. The plan was to spend most of the day at the park and we loaded up our non-board games, bikes, and barbeque supplies. With everything packed and everyone in the van we headed for a day of fun. Then it started to rain.

Rather than tossing in the towel and heading back indoors, we took a quick inventory of how many ponchos and umbrellas we had and went to the park anyways. We were already packed, and looking forward to our visit, if the weather got to bad be would just come back home. By the time we reached the park the rain had stopped and the sun was trying to peek out. They boys really wanted to start with a family bike ride seems it was still too early to start setting up for dinner.

While we love spending time at this metropark, it's not one of favorites when it comes to bike rides, there are so many "hills". Poor Jacob tried keeping pace with his older brothers and had to tackle the hills on his one speed bike. Jacob's bike had collided with a friend's runaway skateboard a few weeks ago resulting in the brake cable getting tangled under the bike chain. We swapped Papa the broken bike (in hopes he knew how to fix it) for Jacob's "old, slower" bike.

Things were off to a rough start, as they tend to be at the beginning of our rides together. Jordan wanted to go much faster than this brother were physically capable of. Joey and Jacob wanted to be the "leaders". The one behind the leader would be riding to close causing the leader to become nervous. (Bike rides for us are rather difficult due to the different stages and ages.) After everyone found a place and pace they could deal with it was smooth riding. I' m so proud of my boys, we managed a 5.2 mile ride with minimal breaks (I think I was the only one requesting the breaks. I'm not nearly as conditioned as the kids are).

After getting the bikes back on the rack we were off to set up for dinner. We went over to "our spot", which is a quite, seldom used picnic area just off the main drive. Every time we have stopped either for a quick picnic or to spend hours there, there is never any major gatherings nearby. The boys have the run of the whole area to play games in.

While we were waiting for our coals to be ready, we brought out the non-board games. With there being so much room to run we could really challenge each other in the game Hyperdash. Family games means everyone plays, which means after our long bike ride even Mom had to dash about. With our muscles already stretched there wasn't any complaints of  cramps during Twister. Having thoroughly working out our bodies it was time to work out brains with a couple rounds of Connect Four and Jenga.  No picnic is complete without a few ants, so Ants in the Pants was a great way to end our outdoor non-board games. Our games come to an end when dinner was ready.

Seems the coals were hot it was time for S'mores. I was trying out an experiment on my kids and the open area we were in was perfect for it. As many of you know we are a dye-free family (not sure what I'm talking about? Check out my post here) and try not to consume any foods containing artificial dyes. There are very few times that exceptions are made or something will sneak past us. I just kills me that there are dyes in marshmallows! Don't believe me? Check out the ingredients the next time, most (but not all) contain Blue 1. Anyways, we happened to have a package of these blue 1 marshmallows and I wondered if it was just enough dye to send to boys into a hyperdash of their own. After the boys having 3 s'mores I had to empty the coals for fear of someone toppling into them. It only took 15-20 minutes for the dyes to take hold of my children. Ever see the Chipmunk movie where they have double cappuccinos, my boys looked just like that. (I'm sure the chocolate played a part too). Joey was the only one who kept himself mostly under control (he doesn't eat marshmallows, it's a texture thing). SO, it appears blue dye effects me kids just as strongly as the red dye, even in small doses.

We used the open space to expel some of the extra energy. Knowing there was no one else around to question why my children were so unruly was just one of the perks to "our spot". Once everyone had more self control we packed up to spend some time at the playground. Our plan was to stay long enough to watch the sun set and also mark that from our bucket list, but the weather decided we had a long enough break and it started to rain again.

Wonderful Waterfront Town

We tend to clump together some of our bucket list activities, sometimes on purpose and other time just by chance. It happened to be a little bit of both when we visited a lighthouse which so happened to be in a city we've never been to, which just so happened to be the same city our friends live in. (We'd go straight to our friends' house and never pass through the town).

Living in Michigan leaves us with many lighthouses to visit (we love the Great Lakes), but we were looking for one that would be relatively close by. Turns out that approximately 20 minutes up the road is the Peche Island lighthouse, who knew! Peche Island Lighthouse was established in 1908. It was originally displayed at Peche Island near Belle Isle. In the 1980's the lighthouse was nearly collapsed and was rescued by the Coast Guard and taken to Marine City where it stands (60' tall) inactive on the banks of the St. Clair River


 Where we found parking was a short walk for the lighthouse, but ended up being right across the street from a school our old varsity team played their tournament games at. We had been parked in the same parking lot a little over a year earlier and had no idea that we were less than a couple blocks from a really cool little town.

 

We walked the boardwalk to the Peche Lighthouse and took many pictures along the way. Then kept right on walking straight into town that had many antique store and little shops. We happened upon a candy store that had just about every kind of candy you could think of, including chocolate cover bacon! Jordan took a spin of chance on a Jelly Belly game where you picked a candy that matched the picture the pointer landed on. Sounds like fun, right. Where is the chance in that, you may ask? Well not all the flavors are pleasant. Jordan landed on a white bean with yellow dots, there were two flavors you could pick butter popcorn or rotten eggs! You have no way of knowing which flavor you grabbed until you put it in your mouth. Poor Jordan and Jacob they picked the rotten egg!!! Lucky for the other two of us, we tasted buttered popcorn (which tasted just like buttered popcorn). We ventured into many little shops while we there, just to look around. The boys got a real kick out of called Earthstar Wisdom. where there was meditation music playing and asked many questions about what crystal healing was all about. They had gone in ahead of me (I stopped to take a picture of the shop on the outside) and I was greeted by all 3 of my boys sitting on the floor in the lotus position. We walk through many antique stores, some of which I walked through with just one kid at a time so I could make sure they didn't accidentally bump into anything breakable. There was a cute little beach tucked away in the corner of town, but we hadn't thought to bring our suits with us.

Is it a museum or a house?

The museum hidden in a neighborhood.

My GPS notified my there was a museum nearby so we set off in search of it. Along our way we found another new playground/park. Actually a friend of our told us that the park was so new that it didn't even have a name yet. The boys played for a bit then we were back to our search for the museum. Sadly when we found the museum it was closed, there was a huge "house" across the street that had a historical sign in front of it so we investigated. It was difficult to tell from outside it was an open to the public house (like the Octagon House) or a real house people were living in that had historical importance. We thought just in case, we better not try the front door. (Later we learned from our friend that people actually live there, but sometimes the host tours of the property.) Being in a new place means there are new places to try for a meal. Well, my kids, being kids, chose McDonald's off all the places!! We rarely eat at fast food places, so to them getting Mickey D's was really special.




Our friend that lives in Marine City seen when I posted it on Facebook that we were in the area invited us over for a visit. It seemed like a great way to conclude on tour of the city. After our lovely meal of burgers and chicken nuggets (only the best for my kiddos...LOL) we stopped to visit. We pulled up just as my friend was filling water balloons for her kids. Knowing that she is a much better pitcher than I, I proposed the idea of playing a bit of water balloon baseball with all 6 kiddos. So we managed to mark that off our list that day too. After everyone took a couple swings in water balloon baseball, we let the kids go at it in a water balloon fight. Then the kids went off playing games and skateboards and such, while we enjoyed catching up.  It was a wonderful way end to a great day in a beautiful city.

Skater Boys

When the boys asked to add the skate park again to our summer bucket list, it was mostly because they had so much fun last summer riding down the ramps on their bottoms. This year they are a bit more intense about skateboarding. All of my boys have their own skateboards, around seven years old they have all asked for one as a birthday or Christmas present. While they have had the boards and protective gear that goes with them for years. Usually the skateboards stay buried in the shed except for a day here or there then they dig them out to make sure they still know how to do their one or two "tricks" and toss them back in the shed.

This spring we had a new neighbor move in next door who saw the boys on one of rare days the skateboards were out. He showed them some of the tricks he use to do when he rode his skateboard years before. Since that day there has been an epidemic of skateboards in our neighborhood. Every kid near our little corner of the community has their own board or Ripstix. Which is so fantastic!! All these kids leaving their favorite t.v. shows to come outside and try to learn a sport!

I'm one of those parents that tends to get overly involved in whatever it is their kids are into. So that has meant learning what the tricks were called, what the trick is suppose to look like, and watching many Youtube videos. This also meant trips to the skate park. It's much more fun knowing how to do a trick, no matter how simple it may be (or look to be), when you get tp show off to people who also know the trick. A visit to the skate park holds a different meaning to the boys this year than last year. Last year it was about being silly and having fun. This year, it's more serious business. This year there are things to show off that we have learned for our neighbor, and new challenges they are more willing to try. Joey is more comfortable on this Ripstix than a skateboard, so that is what he brings. It makes me kind of giggle that skaters that do daring tricks and jumps are leery about just riding on Joey's Ripstix.

The boys are still looked at as "little kids" at the park by the older more experienced skaters. We are still working on learning the proper skate park etiquette. A couple of times one or more of my boys had almost been run over by other skaters or bikers. However, many of the older skaters have been very considerate and have offer some tips to the boys. There are some that who would rather not have to share the area with "little kids", and then there is also the issue of convincing the older kids to watch their language while we are there (sometimes they do, some times we have to distance ourselves from them, and there has even been times that we had just left).

We have visited the skate parks four times so far this summer. We have been to three different parks, which all offer different equipment and their own "flaws". The first one we went to is close to home (about 5-10 drive) and we are familiar with it. The downside is that the ramps are metal and have a bit of a bump at the bottom and the whole things sets on cement. The second one is about 10- 15 minutes from home, but is an enclosed park with a playground and basketball nets near by. It sits on asphalt so its smooth riding. The second park doesn't have as much "equipment" as some other parks do. The third park is about a half hour away. It is all slick and waxed, just the way the more experienced skaters prefer it to be. The main problem with the third park is that majority of it is way to advanced for my boys skills.

The 1st park

The 3rd park

The 2nd park

When we visited the third park we quickly realized that it was more than the boys could handle. We met some of neighbors there, as they knew the park well. Our friend suggested we head over to a hill that leads to a small lake/pond. That the boys could skate down the hill. The only part the boys heard about the hill was they could skate down it, then they quit listening. The part they tuned out was there is a sharp turn half way down and to proceed with caution because they would pick up speed on their way down. They all headed towards the hill, Joey was the only one who put on a helmet, because it made him look cool. I hung back for a minute to talk with a friend who opted out of the hike back up the hill. Just as I was heading towards the hill I thought I heard one of my kids cry out, then dismissed it when it was followed by other cries of "Woo-Hoo!". Then I heard it, the screaming cry that meant I need my mom! I took off like only a panicked mom can (they were right you really pick up speed racing down the hill)! Jordan yelled at me on my way to Joey  "You can see bone!", my heart sank. There lay Joey on the ground just before a 90* right turn and there was blood. Between the neighbor and I we manage to carry Joey back up the steep hill where we could better assess his injuries. Thankfully there were no broken bones, but he was really banged up. He had some gruesome scratches on both elbows, his right shoulder, right hip, and his left knee. The bone Jordan thought he saw was just where Joey's knee looked like hamburger. Later we learned that Joey was lucky he wore the helmet, because he cracked a piece just about the ear on the helmet almost all the way through.



As Joey was flying down the hill he was screaming from excitement then he say the sharp turn. He knew he wouldn't be able to take the turn on the Ripstix as you can't turn it he same as you could a skateboard, so he jumped into the grass just before reaching the turn. He was afraid that it he tried to make the turn and didn't, he would crash into the tree that was in the corner of the 90*.

Although his crash was scary for both him and I, I was better once I knew he wasn't permanently damaged. After getting him cleaned up, Joey was bragging about his wipe-out to everyone we saw as he joined use as we walked down the hill to the water. I was very proud of Joey, the next day (before he could even scab over) he was back on his Ripstix.

Skateboards and the Ripstix come out everyday for at least a half hour. While writing this the boys are outside with our neighbor practicing their skills. Jordan just rushed in to have me watch him do an Ollie while the board is moving (and thanks to all the Youtube videos I know what an Ollie is).

Barefeet and A Boat Ride

Saturday we thought would be a better day to go all day barefoot as it wasn't too hot out and didn't have to worry about blistering our feet walking around. The boys were excited about adding this to our summer list, but did find it to be kind of a hindrance. We had planned on spending the day at Papa and Grandma's, which meant we didn't need to be concerned about any glass or other hazards that could be on the ground. We made a point of leaving all shoes and flip flops at home so we wouldn't forget or be tempted to "cheat".  The boys quickly found out that mom actually has a good point when it comes to riding skateboards, the Ripstix, or bikes without shoes. However, they found other things they could still manage to do with bare feet; like helping out their grandparents, playing basketball and just play outside. Like many other children they have a habit of running about outside in their stocking feet, but surprisingly they prefer to have something on their feet. Grandma had asked Joey to accompany her to the video store and he couldn't go because he didn't have shoes on. Jacob had complained a bit about his feet hurting from walking on the cement. It was a fun idea to try, but I think we'll keep our toes covered. 



 

Thursday, we had a day of fun things planned. First stop was to see the Octagon House. I love visiting this house. My drafting teacher had actually lived in the Octagon house and raised his kids there. Once we had a drafting assignment that lead us to the house, we took a class field trip and spread out on the lawn and sketched the house. During our field trip the house was in bad shape on the inside from years of neglect while the historical society waited approval to overtake the care of the property from the current owners (not my teacher). I would love to see the inside the house now that it has been restored to its glory. Unfortunately, due to lack of scheduling we had missed the open house that was during June and the next isn't until November.





While we would have enjoyed a closer look at this historical site, we weren't going to let it get us down. We grabbed lunch on the run and enjoyed a pizza picnic at one of our favorite metro parks. Then it was off for our boat ride. Last summer we had a good laugh while we took turns paddling a row boat, but the boys had their eyes on trying out a paddle boat. Feeling very adventurous we found a lovely purple boat and very clumsily got everyone aboard, only to learn that it was still chained to a line of other boats. We all managed to get back on shore without anyone falling in the water and boarded one that was equally flashy,a sparkly green paddle boat. We started of with Jordan and I doing all the paddling. We found a duck happily swimming near by and ventured over to see how close it would let us get to it. It must have been very use to boaters because we stop a short distance from it and it swam up to investigate us. The boys had convinced me that we should be able to juggle around who was paddling without dropping anyone into the water. After some creative maneuvering we got the younger two up from to give my out of shape legs a rest. Jacob was a little too short and had to scoot to the edge of the seat, but he made it work. Jordan was so goofy, he figured if you ride faster on a bike when you stand up why wouldn't it also work on a boat. (He forgot to account for the change in your balance being on the water.) We paddled happily around in circles for about half an hour before we spotted another mom out on the water with her little ones. Being moms and liking to document that we too were actually on the boats with our kids, we took pictures and text them to  each other. I love the kindness of strangers. Although we had rent the boat for an hour, 45 minutes was enough for us. The boys were doubled over in laughter at my constant concerns that someone (most likely Mom) would end up in the water. I'm very happy to report none of us fell in, actually we didn't even get our shoes wet :)

 




I don't like to leave things unfinished and our visit to the Octagon House felt unfinished to me. I wanted the boys to take away more than a quick look around the grounds. So we headed back, with a plan in place. Once back at the Octagon House (again) I asked Jordan to share a couple sheets of this sketch paper he had brought along to occupy himself. I laid out our picnic blanket, searched the car for hard surfaces and any stray pencils I could find. Right there on the lawn where everyone driving down the main road watched us as they passed; we sketched the house. Everyone did the best they could and really spent their time on their drawing. Well, except for Joey; he rushed through his so he could use one of the two antique sewing machines they had on the porch that were for sale.

Seems we were already on this side of town we stopped by the nature center that was near a skate park we had recently visited. It was a really small center, but it was still interesting to see the critters they housed. Not really sure what the giant tinker toys had to do with nature (because they were made of wood?) but the boys had a blast with them. Jacob really enjoyed walking through a flower garden that was next to the center.