Posts Tagged ‘Summer bucket list’

P1 LOVES lemonade….fresh squeezed, homemade, by her!  So when we were creating our Summer Bucket List it is no surprise that she wanted to “Make Lemonade”.

What you will need:

• 2 large lemons
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• water
• jar or bottle

We have this great little hand juicer that I got at Ikea for a couple $$ and the kids have fun squeezing their lemons (or oranges) for their juice.

While the kids are having fun making a mess, put the sugar in the jar

 And when they’re done, add the fresh lemon juice.  Stir in the sugar until it’s desolved.

Fill the rest of the jar up with cold water and enjoy!

YUMMMM!

One of the items we added to our Summer Bucket List a little late was to “Go to the Farmers Market”.  Last Sunday, that is exactly what we did!  I have to say, the North San Diego Farmers Market was a little smaller than I had hoped.  It is really somewhere you could just swing by and pick up your produce for the week not really a “make a day of it” kind of market.  But, it is located on a historic farmstead (which just happens to be dirctly behind a golf center~oh today’s world) and you can tour the farmhouse.  It was 90* last Sunday so we didn’t, but I’d like to go back  and check it out!

The P’s LOVE fruit especially berries so they were happy with their purchases of Strawberries and a Berry/Eugenia mix.

The only other fruit we found there last week was citrus so we didn’t buy any.  The woman there informed us that they are very local farmers (San Diego County only, unlike bigger markets that bring in produce from all over SoCal) and that each week varies.  She assured me that this week there would be plums and other stone fruits.

Want to visit?

The North San Diego Farmers Market is open on Sundays from 11-4pm at the Sikes Adobe Farmstead 12655 Sunset Drive, Escondido, CA 92025.  They do accept credit/debit cards but you must get “Market Money” from the booth at the front and there is a $1 charge for every $20 you get from them.  In my opinion it’s better just to bring some cash.

If you are looking for a Farmer’s Market in your area check out: Eat Local Grown for a map of local gowers and Farmers Markets

The P’s have never been to the fair so when Peyton was invited to perform with her dance studio we jumped on the chance to take the whole family (well, most of the family….thank you USMC for stealing Wunderdad from us while he was on leave) and cross another item off our Summer Bucket List.

I was really pleased with the ‘Family Friendly’ quality of the San Diego County Fair.  Aside from the massive crowds, which alone can give a mama a massive coronary, the people working the fair were very pleasant.  Seriously, it seems like they were mostly high school kids and senior citizens, quite a far cry from the typical ‘carnies’ you envision.  And the crowd itself was mainly families and teenagers.  We were there on a Wednesday afternoon so I don’t know if the demographics change a little on the weekends or at night.

The performance was a success and afterwards the P’s took a spin through KiddieLand.

Having little ones I really appreciated this area of rides and games that was specifically for kids!  The rides took an average 3-4 tickets as compared to 4-6, and the P’s had a great time on the ’roller coaster’.

We were lucky enough to come home with a new family member too!  Meet Goldy the Goldfish.  At the goldfish game it is $2 for 15 tries or $5 will guarantee you a fish in a tank.  Guess which one we did!

For Pixi’s enjoyment we perused the Agri-Fair (She loves her “A-mee-mows”) where we saw cows, piggies, sheep, chickens, and lots of  ”Bunnneeee!”s.  (pictured)

A trip to the fair wouldn’t be complete without some sort of treat so we finished off our day with a Snow Cone (cotton candy flavor)!  I didn’t get a treat (although for surviving 5 hours and a dance performance at the county fair, solo with 3 P’s I should be awarded a medal) so I may need to go back just to have some funnel cake.

Planning on visiting the San Diego County Fair?

• The SDfair runs through July 4th
• Adult admission is $13, Children 6-12 $7 (Tuesdays they are FREE), and 5 and under are FREE

This wasn’t on our original bucket list but was something that our MAG (Marine Air Group~ aka a group of squadrons) put together for the kids.  We did a full tour of the Firehouse on base and had a wonderufl time.  It was totally entertaining and very educational!

Even little Pixi got in on the action climbing into the Big Red Engine for a photo op!  The kids toured the kitchen, sleep quarters, conference room, and living room.  They got to check out the inside of the trucks and learned what just about every piece of equipment is used for!  They also learned about the ambulance and all of it’s equipment.

The final part of the tour was a Firefighter demonstration.  This is by far my favorite part.  Not only is all of their gear pretty cool but it is SO important for children, especially the little ones, to be comfortable with them.  This firefighter put on all of his gear, icluding his oxygen tank and mask and crawled around on his hands and knees (just as he would in a fire) talking to them.  Great experience for the kids to know what Firefighters look and sound like should they be coming to help them in the event of a fire, and to not be afraid and run away.

Another great day with another great adventure!

***Most City Fire Departments hold tours during Fire Prevention Week each year so keep a look out for information on those!  Always a great experience for the kids.***

We crossed off another one from the Summer bucket list today; Visit a Museum.  And I can’t wait to go do it again!  The P’s LOVE museums but after living in DC a couple of years ago and making our way through the Smithsonian’s we haven’t visited any here in San Diego.  That all changed today when we went down to Balboa Park for their Resident Free Tuesday!

Each Tuesday of the month they host FREE entrance to certain museums.  Today we were able to visit the San Diego History Center and the Veterans Memorial Museum.  We can’t wait to go back and check out the Science Center, Natural History Museum, Air and Space Museum and SO many more!  Not to mention, just walking around the park is a great day…it’s Beautiful!

Resident Free Tuesday’s Schedule:

First Tuesday Reuben H. Fleet Science Center Centro Cultural de la Raza San Diego Model Railroad Museum San Diego Natural History Museum (Not valid for Titanic exhibition or 3D films)

Second Tuesday Museum of Photographic Arts San Diego History Center Veterans’ Museum and Memorial Center

Third Tuesday San Diego Art Institute Mingei International Museum San Diego Museum of Art San Diego Museum of Man Japanese Friendship Garden
Fourth Tuesday San Diego Air & Space Museum (Not valid for special exhibitions) San Diego Automotive Museum (Last admission 3:45pm) San Diego Hall of Champions SELECT House of Pacific Relations International Cottages
Fifth Tuesday Normal museum prices in effect. The Timken Museum of Art is always free.

Have you visited any of these museums?  I’d love for you to leave a comment and let me know which one’s your favorite!

Our Summer Bucket list is in full swing.  The kids are having a blast and have been surprisingly VERY well behaved!  Today we did a quick lunch and visit to the San Diego Zoo, which also happens to be item #1 on our Summer Bucket list.

We’ve been Zoo members, which also includes membership to the Zoo Safari Park, since my oldest was about 15 months and it never gets old!  With two parks that are very large we love to go and spend a couple of hours, always seeing something new.  The children’s zoo, complete with a petting corral and play structure is always a huge hit with the P’s too!

It’s been years since we went to the Summer Nighttime Zoo and we are really looking forward to it this year! The Nighttime Zoo starts June 23rd and runs until September 3rd, from 2pm-9pm.  The San Diego Zoo is a great place for an evening outing with the kids to enjoy some great entertainment!

If you are a local resident I highly recommend purchasing a year membership.  With Adult single day passes being $42, an $88 membership (or $109 for two people in the same household) quickly pays for itself!  Also, Active Duty Military are always FREE!

Woot!  School is out and we have one heck of a Bucket list for this summer!  This was my first year with two of my P’s in school (sort of, P2 only went two days a week) and I have missed my daily adventures with them so we are doing it up this summer!

To make it officially a ‘Bucket’ list I found this cute little bucket in the Target Dollar section (if you haven’t figured out by now, I love me some Target and I love me some dollar deals!).  We wrote each item from our list on wooden craft sticks with colored markers. (I plan on doing something with the sticks after we complete each item, but more on that later).  I like this idea because it makes it easy to add more to our list later.

So….what are planning this summer?  Here’s our list of 50 fun summer activities!  (I have to say some may not be happening, there was a little bit of over immagination/wishful thinking going on when the P’s were brainstorming).

1.   Go to the Zoo
2.   Go to the Wild Animal Park
3.   Go to Seaworld
4.   Play in a splashpad
5.   Have a picnic
6.   Fly a kite
7.   Go swimming
8.   Go to the beach
9.   Camping
10.   Roast Marshmallows
11.   Have a play date
12.   Go to the fair
13.   Take a Road Trip
14.   Join a summer reading program
15.   Read 100 books
16.   Build a sandcastle
17.   Go to a Baseball game
18.   Play with flashlights outside (flashlight tag)
19.   Have a waterballoon fight
20.   Visit the tidepools
21.   Family bike ride
22.   Try a new park
23.   Go to the library
24.   Visit a museum
25.   Look at the boats
26.   Visit Coronado Island
27.   Watch fireworks
28.   Eat a snowcone
29.   Ride our scooters
30.   Go to the movies
31.   Have a BBQ
32.   Take a walk to look at flowers
33.   Watch the sunset on the beach
34.   Go to a waterpark
35.   Play putt putt golf
36.   Collect Seashells
37.   Bird Watching
38.   Feed the Ducks
39.   Make S’mores
40.   Go on a treasure hunt
41.   Go for a hike
42.   Have a dance party
43.   Make ice cream
44.   Take a boat ride on the sea (P2′s request…one of the one’s I think may not happen)
45.   Go for a train ride
46.   Make lemonade
47.   Climb on rocks
48.   Climb trees
49.   Check out some airplanes
50.   Have a bubble party

So what are your plans for the Summer?  Did you make a bucket list?  I’d love to hear what you have planned and maybe get a few more ideas for our list!

*****We’ve added more!*****

1. Go to a farmer’s market
2. Have a Family Game night
3. Visit a Historical Site
4. Visit a Farm
5. Dig in the dirt/make mud pies