We Always Have Next Summer...

Our Summer Bucket List

A- Adventure Park (We went to one in the Poconos, not the one in Maryland that we planned to go to) Asseteague Island
B- beach, boogie board, block party, Basketball Hall of Fame, bike rides, boat rides, Big Time Rush Concert
C- catch fireflies, climb trees, catch butterflies, catch turtles, collect seashells, corn on the cob, Charleston
D- drive around the country
E- enjoy life
F- Fenway Park, fireworks, fish
G- golf, get along with one another, get a horse
H- have fun, hike, sit in the hammock, honeysuckles, Hyman's Restaurant
I- ice cream
J- Jeff Hawes Basketball Camp, Jeep rides, Jim's beach
K- Kiawah
L- lemonade sale, lobster
M- Montauk, mini-golf, mussels, manhunt, make new friends, Marianne & Charlie's boat
N- Niagara Falls, New York
O- Orioles Game (We go to a game in September)
P- popsicles, Poconos, picnics, project life
Q- Meet the Queen of England
R- read, Rascal Flatt's concert
S- swim, sing a happy song, scrapbook, star gaze, summer olympics, Smoky Mountains
T- Toronto, tubing in the Shenandoah
U- Uncle Brian's
V- Visit Aunt Jackie and Uncle Mark (Jessie visited us in Virginia)
W- watermelon, waves, walk on the beach at night and listen to the waves
X- extreme laziness
Y- Yankee Game
Z- Zinga

The summer is slowly coming to a close and it has been filled with tiny beautiful things...eating popsicles and catching fire flies, swimming with friends and star gazing, Jeep rides and bike rides and boat rides and picnics, hiking to waterfalls and spending time with family, walks on the beach and collecting shells, we cheered at baseball games and sang at concerts, we raised our hands to the sky as we raced down to the ground on roller coasters, we tried new things and discovered new places, we ate watermelon and lobster and baked brownies with cookie dough icing, books were read, fish were caught and we laid in hammocks. Fun was had by all.


I read in a magazine,

"Our lives are the sum
Of each moment and interaction.
Each day we work, eat, laugh, teach, play, read, remember...
And work at it all again the next day.
Within seemingly small moments we find opportunity to build relationships, develop character, find joy
For the price of our time."

At the beginning of the summer we came up with a "Summer Bucket" list as a family. We did not do everything on this list and that's okay. It wasn't a check-off list as much as it was a way to keep us focused to do things together as a family. We did things this summer that weren't even on the list; a surprise visit from my niece Jessie, a hike to a waterfall, and an evening spent at the county fair and seeing our first rodeo. These were not on the list. We did not get to cross them off. But memories were made together and a little bit of joy was found as a family. 

When I look back at what we did this summer whether it was eating popsicles, catching fireflies or having a picnic, none of these are big moments, but sometimes it's the little things that we remember the most.

And those things that we didn't do this summer...well, we always have next summer to meet the Queen of England and to buy a horse. You never know.

Clickety Clackety...It was a GREAT Day

Sunday night, we were sitting at the dinner table trying to make a plan for the week. My niece, Jessie, is visiting from New York so we wanted to plan some fun things. Monday was the only day that we didn't have anything to do, no basketball games to cheer at, no swim meets to attend. We had a few things that were discussed; the Maryland Science Center, taking a drive to the Chesapeake Bay to dig for fossil on the beach at Calvert Cliffs in Maryland but what they kept coming back to was going to Hershey Park. 

We used to go to Hershey Park every year on the way home from our Poconos trip. We drive right past it. It's not out of the way. It's a great park when you have kids of different ages because there really is something for everyone. But a few years ago, we didn't go. I thought we could spend the money doing other fun stuff that we hadn't done before. So on Sunday night, when we were deciding what to do, I had five kids sitting at the dinner table chanting, "Hershey, Hershey..."

When you first enter the park, the kids always measure themselves. I have years of pictures of the kids in front of the signs determining if they were a Reese's, a Hershey, a Twizzler, or a Jolly Rancher.

I thought I had three Twizzlers but Timmy was right there on the line and so he rounded himself up to Jolly Rancher.

I can't believe Shannon is a Jolly Rancher. I have pictures of her at every level.

But this is the picture that made our day not just a good day but a GREAT day. It made all the difference in the world that she was a Hershey and not a Reese's because this meant that she could go on all the big wooden roller coasters. We were a group of six, so everyone had a partner and nobody had to ride by themselves and nobody was left behind. Molly was a big kid and this made for a fun day. 

I love the wooden roller coasters, no upside down, no loop de loops, no dangling feet, just a good old traditional roller coaster. I love the clickety clackety sound as you go up and the anticipation of coming down. Molly was my roller coaster partner for most of the day and her hands were up in the air, outstretched and loving the fact that she was not left behind and that she was a big kid.


The kids also love to look at their pictures when the ride is over. After riding the roller coaster a few times, they know where the cameras are. They know when to "strike a pose." Sometimes they look like they are just riding in the car, straight face, no fear, calm as can be. Sometimes they make funny faces. Sometimes they look right into the camera peace signs up and smiles on their faces. I, on the other hand, always have a look of terror on my face. It doesn't matter that I love to ride the roller coasters. It doesn't matter that I know where the cameras are. It doesn't matter that I try not to have a crazy look on my face. I always do.

The second ride of the day, the flume ride.

We made it to the water park section, but about 4 o'clock, the clouds started to roll in and the whistles blew and the water rides were closed until the storm passed.

Waiting for the rides to open again after the storm with kettle corn and drinks.

Love this picture of Jessie.

After the storm passed, the park cleared out and we were able to go on roller coaster ride after another with no wait. We took a ride on the ferris wheel after our heads were hurting from doing too many coaster rides in a row.

This was in front of the flume, the second ride of the day and the second to last ride of the day about ten hours later. They really don't look like they were at an amusement park all day.

We closed the park down. After one last ride on the Comet before leaving and then a bathroom break and some ice cream for the car ride home, we finally made it to the car. Everyone was sleeping in about 15 minutes. 


The next morning, Molly jumped into my bed, sang a wake up song that I usually sing to her in the morning and suggested a water park for the day's activity. 


Me: Not today, Molly. I think we should just hang out and relax today.


Molly: Oh, come on Mom, live, laugh, love and be happy.  To live a good life you have to have fun. We'll be having fun in the water which will make you laugh and you say you love when we are happy.


The girl had a good argument and even though my head agreed with her, my body just wasn't going anywhere that day.