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6.27.2017

Summer Bucket List (and my screen time philosophy)

School is out and we've already hit up two pools, two ice cream stores, two parks, the Y (complete with time on the rock wall), and the library, of course. Summer reading is in full swing! To that end, this weekend I purchased two tents for fifteen bucks each on Amazon and declared them summer reading nooks.
The rule is that they are for reading, writing, drawing or coloring only. It's basically my attempt at curbing electronics more, since I don't have terribly hard and fast rules about screen time. My philosophy is you can play with your devices if you've checked off the requisite daily tasks: your room is clean, a page from your math workbook is done, you have done some other activity for at least an hour, and it is after lunchtime. The only struggle is with the first two items which, ironically, take the least amount of time. Making them wait for screens until after lunch/other activity for an hour minimum is kind of a gimme, since we leave the house by 9:30 almost every morning to go to the Y for at least an hour or two before lunch. 
Today at the Y
On top of that, we usually go to the pool, beach or park afterward and don't end up at home until at least 3 o'clock. Once they've exhausted themselves out and about for the day like that, I have ZERO problems with them playing even two hours straight on the X Box or Kindles. But, that's just me, you do YOU. And, I gotta keep it real, I have caved to just requiring one hour of non-screen time in the tent prior to allowing the kids to play with devices in them. Oh well, I figure it's another screen free hour I wouldn't have gotten out of 'em otherwise and they are getting more fresh air...

 And to break up the monotony of the daily trip to the Y, pool/park/beach, tent time - here's this year's aspirations:
  • Try one new hiking trail and also do the Big Four hike
  • Go bowling
  • Go to the movies
  • Play mini golf
  • Teach the kids the art of making friendship bracelets
  • Hit up a farmers market
  • Annual summer road trip (we're going to stay for a couple of nights near Mount Rainier this year)
  • Go blueberry picking and make blueberry dump cake
  • Make smores
  • Picnic at a new-to-us park
  • Visit Woodland Park Zoo (and hopefully see new baby giraffe!) as well as Point Defiance Zoo
  • Visit MoPop
  • Visit the Bellevue Art Museum
  • Visit Pike Place and the new waterfront market
  • Try a new restaurant
  • Make frosé
  • Make a new cocktail recipe
  • Take a blog break
As for that last task, I think I'm putting the weekly meal posts on the back burner for the summer. I've been feeling repetitive and I'm making an effort to NOT make an effort in the kitchen this summer! I will still be posting from time to time, definitely monthly and ARC book reviews. 
Yesterday at the pool, ahhhh.
Anything I should add to the bucket list? Do you have a summer to-do list? I'd love to see it in the comments! Happy summer y'all.
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3 comments:

  1. dianaJune 27, 2017 at 5:57 PM

    Picking blueberries is on my summer list too! Although I heard the patch near here has a poison ivy infestation which doesn't bode well for us...

    I like the idea of a blogging break for the summer (although, since we aren't dealing with a school schedule yet here, summer is pretty much the same as the rest of the year, schedule wise) but then I keep writing...maybe once summer means something more than warm weather!

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    1. AndreaJune 27, 2017 at 6:57 PM

      Haha! Yeah, the routines definitely change once they are school age. The irony of summer reading is that I feel like I have LESS time to read, because we are are always on the go go go, even into the evenings.

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  2. aprilJuly 13, 2017 at 5:17 AM

    That wall climb thing looks so fun! Maybe I'll see if there's one here we can try. My bucket list is really just to get through the summer. We had SUCH a busy end of school year and beginning of summer that it's nice not to have a ton of responsibility for a little while. The kids have summer sports camp so they get tons of fun and activity through the day. Dance parties and Video game Frolf at home. Plus it's been raining every single night so there's little time for outdoor activities.

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