Final 2016 Summer Bucket List Update

We had a fabulous summer! I finally feel like I had just the right balance of camp, travel, and free time with the kiddos (although I think they actually would have liked more camp). We actually didn't knock that many more items off our Summer Bucket List this last month--mostly because we had a lot of DIY projects left and we were either traveling or out and about in DC because we've been doing work on the house. But 73 things for the whole season isn't too shabby (last year we hit 55 and 46 the year before that). Here's how we finished it up!

61. - 62. 2 New Museums -- we went to lots of new museums this summer, but the two I'm counting are the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art and the National History Museum of Ireland.

63. New Archaeological Site -- we visited a prehistoric ring fort on our drive around the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland.

64. Summer Workbooks -- I did a much better job this summer of keeping the kids on task with workbooks. We didn't completely finish them, but they did a lot of good work and we're continuing on with them during the school year. We tried several different kinds, but I liked the Summer Math Review series (you can find them for all subjects and all grades and the kids loved these) and the Summer Bridge Activities series, which cover a range of subjects. Kane also loves the Star Wars workbooks.

65. Summer Reading Program at Library -- we dropped off on this a little bit, but did a great job at the beginning of the summer participating in our public library's reading program. It was at least another motivator for reading!

66. Take a Family Photo -- having other family with us on vacation this summer meant we got the opportunity to take lots of family photos. And sometimes I still took them myself and snuck in.

67. New Popsicles -- we had a huge fruit picking haul in August and I had to find all sorts of creative recipes for tomatoes, peaches, and raspberries. The kids loved these Creamy Peach + Honey Popsicles.

68. Berry Picking -- we crushed picking at Larriland this year.

69. Research a Country -- we had grand plans for researching Ireland and Scotland. Everyone in the family was assigned a few topics and we were supposed to research and report. It didn't happen, but the kids still did a good job of researching a few topics each at the library before our trip.

70. Go to a Festival -- we are almost always in New Jersey at the end of August, but were around this year to deal with our house. Which meant we got to go to lots of local festivals that we'd normally miss. The DC State Fair was one of my faves!

71. New Sensory Recipe -- Cam and I made aloe dough to deal with a little sunburn. It was cool, but it didn't last very long.

72. Go Bowling -- the kids and I spent a fun morning at Pinstripes in Georgetown, but for some reason I can't find a photo there. So instead here's a pick of the two yahoos on Theodore Roosevelt Island the day before.

73. Aerial Forest Park -- Cam went to a rock climbing birthday party at the end of the summer and became an extreme sports addict. We went the very next day as a fam to Sandy Spring Adventure Park to do the aerial forest ropes courses. Kane is afraid of heights, but did a fairly good job for most of them. He bowed out when it got really tricky, but Cam forged ahead unfazed. We are in trouble. (But it was also awesome to watch her).