Summer Bucket Lists

“...summer, after all, is a time when wonderful things can happen to quiet people. for those few months, you’re not required to be who everyone thinks you are, and that cut-grass smell in the air and the chance to dive into the deep end of a pool gives you a courage you don’t have the rest of the year. you can be grateful and easy, with no eyes on you, and no past. summer just opens the door and lets you out.”

-Deb Caletti 

August’s Summer Bucket List

*Swim in the lake—a lot

*Practice juggling daily

*Play baseball

*Have water balloon/gun fights

*Practice martial arts

*Exercise more often

*More Ukelele lessons with Dad

*Play tag (sponge tag, flashlight tag)

*Camp out at least once

*Have friends over for a “Water Day”

*Do more stop-motion animation

*Do science, everyday

*Write some stories

*Write a song

*Practice reading

*Work on Cub Scout activities

And also

*Look for pamphlets describing my new adventure story series, which will include adventure, romance, and danger…

Aidan’s Summer Bucket List

*I would like to form a club with Bud and me

*I would like to build cool things like gadgets and objects for underwater exploration

*I would like to exercise more in order to build up skills

*I would like to become more flexible by doing yoga regularly

*I would like to think about getting some new pets

*I would like to learn magic

*I would like us to have an outdoor Olympics

*I would like to make a comic strip

*I would like to make a trip to Kansas City, Missouri to visit all of the fountains

*I would like to go to Six Flags over Mid-America

*I would like to go bowling

*I would like to go swimming

*I would like to work on Webelos Activity Badges

*I would like to learn more about cooking

Oh my goodness these boys never cease to surprise me.  Give them a blank piece of paper and a few months of wide open space and they go places you would never have imagined.  Both boys were bemoaning their fates...that they had so much that they wanted to do and not enough time to do it in (*news flash boys: it only gets more so!).  I suggested that they just take some time and get it all out of their heads so that they weren't bearing the weight of it all the time.  I know, for myself, that if I get all my thoughts and expectations out of the black hole of my mind and down onto something more grounded, like a piece of paper, then I am much more apt to actually accomplish one or two of my goals.  

So, now that they are free from the burden of carrying around all these incredibly awesome ideas, they can get down to the business of being fully present.  We'll let you know how it goes.

“All in all, it was a never-to-be-forgotten summer — one of those summers which come seldom into any life, but leave a rich heritage of beautiful memories in their going — one of those summers which, in a fortunate combination of delightful weather, delightful friends and delightful doing, come as near to perfection as anything can come in this world.” 

-L.M. Montgomery