Summer Goals

Summer is quickly coming and I keep switching between nervous with all three kids home every day to excited to have all three home all the time. This is the last summer before Ashton starts school. While I know we'll have every summer home with the kids, it still makes it bittersweet to see the end of all kids in our home. I've prayed and wished away the years for this to come and now that it is so close, I am sad. As a family, we've been working on our summer bucket list so here are our ideas.

1. Ashton to learn addition, subtraction, and reading. She does pretty well with adding and subtracting but I'd love to improve on it by involving numbers 11-20. We have started teaching her to read. With dual immersion, they highly recommend that she enter kindergarten able to read in English as they only teach reading in Spanish. She loves doing the daily activities to learn to read so I see it going very well this summer. She also wants to learn how to tie shoes. I need to work on being patient enough to teach her. Ashton will also continue with piano through the summer and I anticipate that going well.
2. Tanner to learn to write some letters and shapes. He still prefers to just scribble everywhere. He knows his numbers very well but his letters need to improve. I also want him to be able to dress himself by the end of summer. With three kids, it's often easier to dress him myself so we can go but I think this summer will be a good time to slow down and have him do it himself.
3. Go the beach! We haven't been to the beach closest to us yet since moving so I hope to spend some time there. It's nerve-wracking to bring the 3 kids myself so this will have to be a whole family outing when Joseph's schedule allows it.
4. Complete temple ordinances for my grandparents. Now that I don't have a nursing baby, I can get to the temple more often. I have a few ordinances left on my grandmothers and I'd love to get those completed by the end of summer.
5. Live it up in Gatlinburg! We are beyond excited for our trip to our first national park this summer. As a family, we hope to see as many national parks as possible while our children are home. Our first one will be the Great Smoky National Park.
6. Plant a garden. This was on Ashton's list. She misses our garden beds from our old house and at times, so do I. While we won't do raised beds, I think we'll do some large planter boxes.
7. Swimming at the pool. I'm hoping to take the kids swimming at our HOA pool at least once a week and then again as a family during the weekends.
8. Complete some house projects like replacing all our gold door knobs, staining outside furniture, painting some more rooms, etc.
9. Move Tanner and Ashton together in a bedroom and move Gemma to a crib upstairs. This won't happen until mid-August right before school starts.
10. Build a massive fort inside.
11. Visit all the local splashpads.
12. Make a slip and slide in the backyard when it's not a rainy week.
13. Go hiking. Not quite sure where yet but maybe Brazos Bend State Park.
14. We'll all do the summer reading program at the library again I'm sure. With that, I hope to read a chapter book/week with Ashton.
15. Visit the Lone Star Flight Museum. They do a cool reading/story time once a week and I haven't ventured there yet. I know Tanner will love going.
16. Visit the space center as much as we can. Since we got a membership, I hope to go there when it's super hot outside.
17. Visit Schlitterbahn or another waterpark in Galveston. We haven't been to Galveston with the kids so this is definitely on our list of a few day trips there once Joseph's work schedule goes back to normal.
18. Visit the Houston Dog Show. We did this many years ago before kids and really enjoyed it. If Joseph can get a day off, I'd love to all go.
19. Visit some new parks. Once Gemma drops her morning nap, I'm hoping we could get going in the morning before the heat sets in and check out some parks that are a little farther away from our home.
20. Be outside as much as possible. I know for many people, Texas summers are not "outside weather." I try my best to deal with the sweating and the heat and just enjoy it. I'm going to sweat no matter what so I am going to TRY to find the joy in the heat. I'll stock the freezer with popsicles to make it better. I really want to try to be outside at least three hours a day when possible. I have read a blog with a goal of 1000 hours outside each year. This averages out to be 2.75 hours/day. Right now, we probably spend 2ish hours a day outside so I'm trying to increase this. Some days are easier than others (rain vs. sun) but I can still be more willing.