Things to Do/Places to Go - Summer Bucket List/ Countdown to Our Summer Roadtrip

My kids FINALLY have their last day of school this Friday - approximately a month later than most school districts.



During the school year, with all three kids gone for almost seven hours a day, I established a (sort of) routine to my days and I'm a little nervous that I'll become a disorganized, cranky mom when "my" daytime hours become "our" daytime hours.

So I created an activity list for the first two weeks of summer vacation (we'll be out of town the third week).

I'm often overly ambitious when I create lists of any sort, so I tried to keep this year's pretty mellow - leaving room for a lot of lazy days at the pool, but still assuring that we all wake up with something to look forward to.

Each activity will be a surprise for the kids - just like the Countdown to Christmas, they'll open a special envelope every morning.

This is my first year trying something like this, so we'll see how it works. Has anyone else succeeded at something similar?

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Day 1 (Sat) - Host a sleepover with your cousins

Day 2 (Sun) - Make lemonade (yes, with real lemons because F loves real lemon lemonade)

Day 3 (Mon) - Spend a day at the beach (Flag Ponds)

Day 4 (Tues) - Go to a movie

Day 5 (Wed) - Make popsicles

Day 6 (Thurs) - If you go to an art museum with me (the Hirschhorn), I'll take you to Menchies for ice cream

Day 7 (Fri) - Spend a morning at the zoo OR hiking at Potomac Overlook Park
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Day 8 (Sat) - Make ice cream (if Dad can find the ice cream maker :)

Day 9 (Sun) - Family picnic at Rocky Run

Day 10 (Mon) - Tie-Dye t-shirts

Day 11 (Tues) - Watch a movie in the planetarium at the Air & Space museum OR an Imax film at the Natural History Museum

Day 12 (Wed) - Lunch with Dan downtown

Day 13 (Thurs) - Go to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival

Day 14 (Fri) - Meet Dan after work for a picnic at Hains Point or Yards Park

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Day 15 (Sat) - Host a sleepover to say goodbye to your friends

Day 16 (Sun) - Leave for Asheville, NC; give kids the Book of Questions for the car ride

Things to Do - Cherish This Day & Grateful List (May 2016)

As I've mentioned previously, May really wasn't a great month (SO. MUCH. RAIN.). But there were a few highlights . . .

Have a great weekend (we still have ONE MORE WEEK left of school) and don't forget to check out this week's awesome on Cherish This Day!

ARTS
* Watching The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Season 2 on Netflix.
* Attending Collected Stories (the play) with Lola at Four Mile Run theater
* Attending Edward Sharpe's concert at Wolftrap with Colleen
* Attending Josh Ritter's concert in Charlottesville with Dan
* Reading Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook

FOOD
* Dan buying me Sugar Shack donuts and tons of Honest Tea for Mothers' Day

PLACES
* F's fourth grade trip to Williamsburg, even in the rainy, cold we still had a (somewhat) good time.

STUFF
* Clean Reserve Discovery Layering set (fragrance kit)
* My new (much needed) red Hunter boots
* My new Boden dress
* CC Cream/Foundation from Mary Kay

ETC.
* Coming home to Liz's happy hour after three hours standing in the rain at Colonial Williamsburg
* Three great report cards (straight As for P and F; T doesn't receive grades yet but had wonderful comments)
* Lots of OT, kickboxing, and yoga
* Shine workshop with Cathi at Journey Yoga
* F's spring concert (she participated in: chorus, music makers, bucket brigade, and the flute)
* T and his friends making the fort into a police station - complete with a kitchen, jail, and shooting range
* A gorgeous outdoor moms' wine night at Megan's in-between rain storms
* Second shooting a wedding with Brandon Hunter
* P - "I don't understand how T's a leader among his group of friends. Who would want to follow T?"

VACATION (Our 4th annual trip to the Outer Banks, NC for the week after Memorial Day)
* Date night in Charlottesville on the way to Nags Head (my in-laws watched the kids) - Josh Ritter in concert and sangria outside!
* Gorgeous weather on days 1 and 2, even though storms were all around us (they just skipped over Nags Head)
* T FINALLY loving the pool (and never wanting to get out)
* "The world needs ditch diggers too" - wow can our boys make a major hole
* Chris's mixtape
* Playing in the waves with the kids
* Janet's sangria on the beach
* Watching Isla and Luke's best friendship (the youngest kids need to stick together)
* Dan finally realizing that Happy is a great dog

Things to Watch - Five Family TV Shows on Netflix Streaming

I don't know about everyone else, but we have a hard time finding shows to watch together.

My kids could spend hours zoning out to Disney sitcoms (Liv & Maddie, Jessie, Kickin' It), but I find them trite. Plus the content is full of stereotypes about "cool" kids and dorks (everyone is so self-mocking, but yet so beautiful). And the laugh track gets to me.

But my kids are WAY too young for most of the shows we watch (Bloodline, the League, Master of None, etc.).

So these are the five shows we've found that work for everyone (more or less).



1. Brain Games - I hate to use the word trippy in a kids' post, but I can't think of another adjective. Our brains are complex and they fool with us all the time. Plus, this show has a lot of quizzes and challenges that keep everyone entertained.




2. Once Upon a Time - I must admit, I lost interest after awhile, but the kids binge watched this like crazy. And I know a lot of families who insist this is the best thing to watch together on TV.




3. Malcom in the Middle - This is our go-to lately, especially since we live in a house with three kids. Everyone has a character with which to empathize. Several of the plots make me think, "wow, my life is a sitcom."




4. Parks & Recreation - So this one is a little iffy, the content is adult-based and some of the subject matter is a little risqué. But my kids love laughing at Andy. And Leslie Knope makes a great role model.




5. The Great British Baking Show - We haven't watched this yet, but several of my friends can't stop raving about it.



[Disclaimer- I receive compensation for posting about Netflix, but I decide what I want to write about and what I want to say.]

Places to Go (Vacation) - Rain Boots & Ponchos in Colonial Williamsburg (Williamsburg, VA)

Virginia students learn state history in fourth grade. A LOT of state history. Which, as a Chicago native, is still a little odd to me, as I don't remember ever learning much about Illinois history. But when in Rome . . .

Anyways, the school year ends with an overnight trip to Williamsburg's historic triangle area (Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown Settlement, and Yorktown), which is a huge deal when you're 10 years old (who am i kidding? isn't a free vacation always a huge deal, no matter what your age?).

As you probably know by now, I love historic reenactment settlements (to see photos of our past trips to Williamsburg click here and scroll down) so I couldn't wait to chaperone. Unfortunately, the weather was terrible - unseasonably cold and rainy, almost all the kids spent the next few weeks with colds and flu.

But, nevertheless, there was something wonderful about seeing this group of students together. Our zip code is the most diverse in America, thus my children attend a Title 1/Blue Ribbon grade school with kids from all over the globe.

The diversity among the chaperones alone ws crazy impressive - they included parents born in: Afghanistan, Georgia (the country, not the state), Bolivia, Ethiopia, India, and Peru.

Anyways, not to overcheese myself, but I feel truly blessed when I see the community surrounding my children, including a school full of first-generation 10 year olds who now know more about US/east cost history than I do.





Militia training at Yorktown. At the age of 13, one of the chaperones lost his leg fighting Russian soldiers in Afghanistan. And now, at the age of 10, his son fights imaginary British soldiers in southern Virginia.



Hotel room dance party.







Apparently even if temperatures dip below 55 degrees, kids can't resist a heated pool.



Whereas parents CAN resist a heated pool in the rain.



Right before the pajama party fashion show. I love F's "Don't Start Wars" t-shirt, sadly, she she only wears it as a PJ top.



On Friday morning, we woke to rainy skies and even colder weather for our day at Colonial Williamsburg.





After years of teaching kids not to cover their faces in plastic bags, this happened. Oh well, even the thinnest poncho in the world is better than nothing.



It was so cold that I layered all the clothes I had packed for two days (see my PJ shirt under my sweatshirt?) and, luckily, I found T's abandoned winter hat in the backseat of my car, so I had something to keep my head warm.





On the upside, we practically had the place to ourselves.















Self-portrait in the wig store. Apparently George Washington never wore a wig (yes, all that white fluff was real hair) and was quite proud of it, who knew?



At least some mammals were wetter than us.

Things to Do - Cherish This Day & Random Links

Happy Friday everyone! I'm so excited to spend my weekend at the Awesome Workshop!

Whatever you're doing, make sure to have fun. And don't forget to click on over to Cherish This Day to see this week's amazing!

RANDOM LINKS:

* This mail-order bookclub looks tempting (link via Bleubird). Even if I don't buy a subscription, I think I'll follow their book suggestions.

* 4 women with different incomes talk about the lives they can afford.

* This might be my new dream vacation.

* I want a set of the Women [Playing] Cards.

* WSJ's summer book preview. SO MANY OPTIONS!

* After reading this article, I really want a sphero!

* We saw this band live Tuesday night and now I can't stop listening!

* These gorgeous photos make me want to vacation in England.

* I want to watch the Durrells!

* Virginia's hidden beaches.

* Doesn't this sound like a great date night or moms' night?