Dogs, Grandparenting, Lifestyle, Simplicity

What’s on your Summer Bucket List?

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The thing about summer is that it’s so fleeting. It comes up so fast and before you know it, the leaves are changing and the temps are dropping. Boats are put away for the season and kids are getting back to school.

Here in Minnesconsin, it is just now starting to feel like a proper summer. We have had so much rain it’s ridiculous. And if it wasn’t raining, it was in the high 90’s. As a result, we’ve been spending more time indoors than we had hoped to.

Today, however, it’s in the mid-70’s with nary a cloud in the sky. Mr. NOA and I are planning to take a cruise on our pontoon once he’s done with his workday.

I have a history of being that person with lots of grand ideas about cramming as much fun into the summer season as possible. I’m determined that this summer, with our newest grandson about to be born (daughter is being induced on Friday!), things will be less frenzied than summers past.

There’s no big travel plans on the horizon, save for a few days visiting my side of the family in northern Minnesota. We are, for the most part, staying put.

But staying put doesn’t mean fun isn’t going to be had. The fun, however, will be localized and simple.

Things like making homemade ice cream with the fancy machine my awesome SIL got me for Christmas. As many pontoon rides as possible. ‘Smores over the campfire. Putting ice cubes in the kiddy pool for Radar and our kid’s two dogs to play in on a hot day. Drinking wine on the patio at our local winery. Seeing a summer blockbuster movie in the theater. Playing croquet in the yard with our 11-year-old grandson. Gardening and further beautifying our outdoor space. Getting out in our kayaks.

And of course, rocking that baby.

I’ve created a Spotify playlist for our pontoon excursions this summer. It’s filled with “yacht rock” style music, mostly from the 70’s and 80’s. I’ll be adding this one as soon as I hit the publish button on this post.

Please share what’s on your summer bucket list in the comments!

10 thoughts on “What’s on your Summer Bucket List?”

  1. Your bucket list sounds like fun. And shouldn’t summer be all about fun? I like your ice cubes in the kiddie pool for the dogs and playing croquet would be fun. Of course you can count me in on the wine on the patio, too. 🍷

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    1. Yes, summer should be all about fun! I saw a video online of dogs playing in a kiddie pool with ice cubes and I thought “I’ve got to do that!”. I’ll video it and maybe share it on my blog. Wine on a patio in the summer is pure bliss!

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  3. I was just in Minnesota on Saturday for my niece’s wedding held at the Carpenter Nature Center. (32 miles southeast of Minneapolis.) It was a hot and muggy day, but still beautiful. That was after spending a week in South Dakota with our 13-month-old grandson. I loved it all, but I’m still glad to be back in the 65-degree cooler weather of northern California.

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  5. So much rain here in MD, too! Though surely we must be operating on different systems. Luckily, we managed a picture-perfect July 4th with family and friends. I was actually cool after sunset, which felt wonderful! My dad is on Lake Erie, so my sister and I will head there to visit with him, next month, make sure he’s doing well (he’s 85), and enjoy some lake life for a week. But we will mostly stick closer to home this summer–it seems as our teens get older this will be the norm, with summer jobs and friends to hold them here. Happy Summer to you, and enjoy that grand baby–how wonderful!

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