Our Summer Bucket List

Every summer I sit down with the girls and we write down our goals for the summer. Some are simple things like “make our own popsicles” or have a ” backyard sprinkler party with friends”  and some require a little bit more planning. Tim and I are constantly setting family goals and we are trying to get them both in a habit of setting goals and getting the work done to make them happen.  It’s all “work hard- play hard” around here.  Making a bucket list  is a fun way to encourage planning and to teach them to start living a goal-orientated life even at a young age.  I also try to get them to think of free or low cost options so our summer budget isn’t stretch to the max.  Then after we write everything out we hang it on the fridge and they both fight over who gets to cross each item off after we complete it. Close enough, right? So here it is, Violet and Maeve’s 2016 Summer Fun list.

2016- Summer Bucket List for my Edmonton Kids

• Hike MacTaggart Sanctuary  (we already do it near weekly, but the kids still put it on the list, it’s that nice. Blog post here)
• Participate in John Janzen’s drop in programs  (blog post here)
• Try out a new spray park in a different part of the city. 10 times. (the 10 times part was added in by one particular 4 year old)
• Have a weeknight picnic and rent a paddle boat at Hawrelak Park
• Camp in Jasper at Whistlers Campground in our vintage 1972 Boler (see a brief description of Whistlers HERE)
• Go to 104st Farmers Market early on a Saturday morning
• Bring our own popcorn to an outdoor movie just down the street from our home with Terwillegar Twilight Movie nights
• Take part in the Summer Day Camp “Nature Agents” at our local YMCA
• Bike ride for a slurpee on a sunny afternoon
• Celebrate Canada Day with the annual free pancake breakfast and Fireworks- (this list will make your Canada Day planning easier).
• Eat our favourites at the Heritage Festival  (pupusas, thai curries, mango on a stick, coconut rice, and those mini pancakes from the Holland booth are all yearly traditions-  it’s 38 days away, but who’s counting;) )  
• Camp at Crimson Lake and enjoy the beautiful beach there (blog post coming soon, or you can see it listed on my top campground post, here)
• Eat as many fresh raspberries off our backyard bushes as possible (and then head out to Roy’s Raspberries U-pick when we run out!)
• Hike Wagner Natural Area just outside the city (blog post coming soon)
• Hit up a couple outdoor pools in the city, including our favourite, the Queen Alexandra Pool, with in and out privileges to the spray park and Kinsmen “bear” park located next door.
• Make our own popsicles trying as many different new flavour combinations as possible with help from this Buzz Feed blog post.
• Spend a rainy day at the movie theatre watching Finding Dory.
• Have a sprinkler Party with friends- we’re making our own giant slip ‘n slide with plastic drop sheets from Home Depot.
• Make the trip back out to Whitecourt for an afternoon of tubing on Free waterslides (blog post here)
• Camp in Kananaskis and hike the incredible kid-friendly trails of Bolton Creek (thanks to my friend, Tanya, for this awesome blog post with all her recommendations)
• Go to a free Buffalo interpretive program at Elk Island National Park (blog post here)
• Paint our fence (okay, so Tim may have added that one in, but I’m confident we can make it fun, right?)
• Visit several different Alberta “living” Museums with our  steal-of-a-deal annual pass– including the Icelandic Stephansson House out near Markerville. And any visit to Markerville  isn’t complete without a visit to the old fashion creamery too!
• Spend a night camping at Red Lodge Park and float down the Little Red River on tubes, perfect for ages 3-10. (more info here)
• Take the train downtown and watch the K-Days parade from the curb.
• Head to TWOS and watch their newest Imax film, Secret Ocean in 3D, which will be perfect for my snorkelling-obsessed 6 year old on a chilly summer day.
• Take a day trip Blackfalds’ Abbey Centre again- outdoor waterslides, hot tubs, kids pools, a kids train and spray park, a indoor playground… all under 2 hours from the city. With a family day pass costing a fraction of the cost of a single ticket into Wild Rapids, it’s the perfect place for outdoor waterslides on a budget . We went last year with a group of friends and discovered it’s best for ages 3-10.  There’s food onsite but we opted to eat lunch at a local resturant and then head back to the giant indoor playground for round two of fun.
• Go to Jurassic Forest with friends Grayson and Owen
• Take part in the City of Edmonton’s Nature Nights. We have a couple on the calendar, including July 20 and August 3 and would LOVE to meet you there!

Happy Summer!