Vacation update

It's been a lot longer than I intended (again!) but here we are. HELLO AGAIN! Miss me? Ha!

We are still planning our family vacation for the summer. It's gone from a road trip down south to Florida and WDW to just heading east to PA - well, southeast for us ;).

After researching and taking our time, really thinking about our choices and budget, Jas and I both felt we can get more bang for our buck as well as a more relaxing, enjoyable vacation skipping WDW this year. J is still pretty young and I'm not sure waiting in line with 3 boys at one of the biggest, busiest amusement parks (I know, it's more than an "amusement park" but for lack of a better description) during the hottest and busiest season is an ideal situation for us. That's not to say we won't decide to go there down the road, maybe even during the school year, or something like that. Maybe we can even make it a trip with his parents, siblings, and niece, also!

Right now, on the table, is a little over a week spent in PA.

Decisions yet to be made 100%:
Hotel or cabin.

The hotel would include a king size bed and sofa-bed (J would be in the pack and play), a pool, and complimentary breakfast. We would have to eat out for lunch and/or dinner for 9 days, which is obviously not cheap for 5 people. Fast food is definitely not our favorite thing to eat but would most likely be our fall-back most days. There is a mini-fridge available but it's unlikely we would buy things to pack lunches due to the inconvenience of not having a fully-equipped kitchen.

The cabin would be a "deluxe" and include a kitchen, queen bed, sleeping loft for the older boys, and a pool. We would have the option to cook all of our own meals, including packing lunches and snacks. This option is more expensive up-front, but the savings on food could potentially be tremendous, as we would cook dinner most nights there. Also it's a cabin at a campground, so it's separate housing, quiet, and has a playground, pool, etc for any downtime we might want to take.

*Update!!* We found a lovely hotel that has suites and includes a king-size bed, sleeper sofa, sitting area w/tv, and a full kitchen! Full-size fridge, stovetop, microwave and it sounds like it has dishes, utensils and at least a pot and pan. Plus free breakfast and an INDOOR pool! So if it's raining or cool, we can still enjoy a few hours of swimming. The cost? Less than the campground if we stay 8 nights - the cabin is only available for 8 of the 9 nights we are planning - and if we stay the full 9 nights, it's only about $30 more than the cabin is for 8! That's the option we are going with.

On the itinerary:

Hershey Park for 1 (or 2 days?)
Dutch Wonderland for 1 day
Gettysburg
Lancaster
Philadelphia

There are so many things and places to go see in those 3 locales, and as a history lover myself, I'm intrigued! As soon as I mentioned Philadelphia, the older boys asked about seeing the Liberty Bell. Of course, that's not the only thing we would go see but that's top on their list.

Gettysburg is very high on my list, as I just recently learned my 3rd great grandfather on my paternal grandmother's side (Let's see if I can make that any more confusing, LOL. My dad's mom's great grandfather. That's important to my extended family, such as my aunts, as to which of their parents' ancestor it was.) fought in the Battle of Gettysburg, as well as several others. He did not die there, but was injured in the Civil War, as well as had the measles and pneumonia, all of which contributed to his death a few years later. When he died, he left behind a young widow and 8 young children, the youngest only a couple of years old and my direct ancestor! Ancestry.com has been amazing.

If you've been to or lived in any of these places or nearby, do you have any MUST DO activities? Or is there anywhere you would avoid like the plague, either because it's too costly/not worth the money, boring, super-crowded or whatever other reason?

June will be here quicker than we realize, and as we wait for the last day of school so we can leave for our trip, I hope that we have lots of ideas. I even ordered the free guides for Philly, Lancaster County and Gettysburg, so we can look at the calendar of events, in case there is anything super interesting going on during our time there.

Fun week, indeed!

For our mini-vacation this year, we went to Michigan Adventure again, due to Ethan winning 2 free tickets to the park.

Having spent a week in Muskegon last summer, spending a day at Michigan Adventure and doing some other things, we decided to take just 3 days this time around.

Jason found a KOA campground that had a "park model" cabin/camper for us to rent about 45 minutes from the park, in Allendale.

Tuesday morning, after a quick breakfast and loading the car up, we started our drive across the state. The older boys had their DSI's to play video games for most of the ride and the toddler slept about half of it. We stopped at Burger King for lunch and to get out of the car for awhile about half-way there.

A quick trip for some groceries and then we made it to the cabin to unpack the car. Swimming came next, in the campground's pool. Even Jackson joined in the fun! The boys played on the playground and swings, and we walked around a bit.

Jason cooked us up some cheeseburgers on the charcoal grill - the boys each had a regular, but we splurged for him and I and got black and blue burgers, seasoned with loads of black pepper and stuffed with blue cheese! Seriously tasty!

After dinner came a bit more "exploring" and an attempt at fishing. It started getting dark and Jackson was getting sleepy, so we went back to the cabin for the night. While I got Jack down for bed, Jason took the boys outside to have a campfire, complete with s'mores and a scary story. Poor Alex wasn't too fond of the scary story, so Jason stopped early and came in. After all the boys were sound asleep, Jason and I sat outside for a little while.

Jackson actually slept from about 9:30 till 5:30am! That rarely happens!

Wednesday, we went to the amusement park and had so much fun. Ethan went on a roller coaster first thing with Jason, and I took Alex to ride a couple of rides by himself, while Jack and I watched him. Jack loved watching all the cool rides. After quite a few rides, we grabbed a quick lunch over by the water park, and all changed into our swimwear.

The water park was my favorite part. All three boys got to do something fun in there, including the wave pool, and for the older boys, water slides!

We did have a big scare at one point. Before we even entered the park, we went over what the boys should do if we should get separated or lost. I took Jackson in the tidal wave pool with the older boys and Jason waited outside off to the side. I decided to take Jackson out after a few minutes so we could warm up and I guess Alex saw me and followed me. I didn't realize it though and because he was a little ways behind me, he didn't see which direction I went. He walked around for a bit looking for me and Jason, while we were standing off to the side, talking and looking in the giant tidal wave pool, filled with so many people, trying to catch a glimpse of each of them. We saw E, but no Alex anywhere. Trying not to panic we walked toward the front and continued to look, thinking he was just lost in the sea of kids in the water. After about 10 minutes and still no Alex, I started walking toward the front of the water park to see if he had maybe wandered to the bathroom or for a life-vest (he mentioned maybe wanting one) and as I turned to start going around the corner, I saw him with a security guard, with a scared look on his face. Pushing Jackson in the stroller, I walked as quickly as I could to meet him and wrapped him in my arms, asking where he'd gone! I was almost in tears, and thanked the security guard, who told me he had gone to the first aid station and asked for help. I'm so glad we told the boys who to go to and what to say. I never, ever want to feel that way again. I really don't think Alex does either!

It was time to leave the water park then and ride some more rides, followed by a bbq dinner, more rides and finally time to go home. Jason mentioned stopping for some ice cream on our way back to the cabin, so we were on a mission to find some soft-serve. We found a little place called Whippi Dip between Muskegon and Allendale and sat outside in the warm summer breeze, as it got darker and enjoyed some yummy ice cream.

We had to check out by 11am on Thursday, so we packed up all of our things and got on the road. We decided against fast food for lunch and found a little hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant in Howell called Mexicali Allie's. It was pretty good and the boys all ate their cheese quesadillas, E ate his rice and Alex ate his refried beans. I decided on a ground beef taco, a bean tostada, beans and rice while Jason chose a chunk beef burrito, ground beef taco, beans and rice. Jackson ate a bite of beans but didn't really dig them, which surprised me, because he loves them on tacos at home!

Once we arrived home around 3, we were greeted with a "Welcome Home" chalk sign from Julie and the B's!! Well, actually two, the first on the driveway by the garage door and the second on the sidewalk/patio area by our back porch! That was really cute and sweet. At the last minute, on Monday evening, (because I forgot to find someone to watch the dog and none of our neighbors were around to ask) I sent Julie a text asking if she'd let the dog out a few times and feed and water him each day for us while we were gone. And because she's an awesome friend and my hero, she agreed!

THANKS AGAIN JULIE AND BOYS FOR HELPING US OUT! IT WAS SO NICE OF YOU AND YOUR FRIENDSHIP MEANS THE WORLD TO US!!!

Side note here: Make sure to follow Julie's new blog as she branches out from here and hopefully we will both grow our readership! 

After we settled back in here at home, unpacking and ordering pizza for dinner, Jason suggested go-karts and/or mini-golf. I thought that sounded like a fantastic idea. When we got to C.J. Barrymore's, we had to see if the boys were tall enough to ride the "faster" go-karts. E is plenty tall enough and Alex is borderline. However, the lady at the counter asked how old he was, and when we said 8, she told us "Sorry, he has to be at least 10 AND 54" tall to ride those ones". After buying E's ticket and mini-golf tickets for all of us except Jackson - he had to be a spectator in the stroller as he's still a tiny bit too young to play :( but he didn't mind, he laughed at all of us - we went over to the turbo track to find NO ONE else in line. E was going to be out there all by himself! Jason ran back in and bought a ticket for himself and they raced each other while we looked on. 

Mini-golf was fun, we chose the "green" course, and I did really well the first 5 or 6 holes, hitting it in with 2 strokes (par was 3 for every hole), then I kind of stunk for a while and then believe it or not, I, somehow, got 3 - yes, THREE! - holes-in-one! I don't even think JASON did that, lol. But Jason came in way under, winning the game. I had 63, E had 68 and Alex had 69.  

Jackson slept all night AGAIN! I'm loving the fact that he's sleeping anywhere from 7-10 hours a night now, although I know it could change at any moment. I'm relishing in the fact that I'm getting some good sleep myself now, except of course when my own body decides it doesn't need sleep, but I'm really, truly tired...

Yesterday (Friday), we are still technically on vacation, as Jason took the day off of work and the boys are not starting school for over a week. However, it sure didn't feel like a fun day. After having used up quite a few things before we left - milk, bread, peanut butter, eggs, you know the staples - I had no choice but to go grocery shopping, hopefully before lunch. Since I try and go "big grocery shopping" every other week and just get a few things that would go bad if I bought too much, and it happened to be shopping week, it took a little longer to plan the menu and grocery list out. Jack-Jack and I left after 11am and didn't get home till after 2! He was so well-behaved and patient in the two stores. We ended up going to Meijer for most things, and Costco for meat (they have organic chicken and ground beef for a good price), eggs - again organic, 2 dozen, great price - and a few other things. I even got 4 loaves of organic whole wheat bread for $11.38. I know it sounds kind of expensive, but even Aunt Millie's at Meijer is almost $3/loaf and it's not organic, but is my second choice. Meijer organic is about $4, I think? Regardless, we got everything, snacked on some samples and a slice of Costco pizza (eh, not my favorite) and came home. Jason took the older 2 out while we were gone, after lunch, to get new rotors for the front brakes on our van and to sell a buddy's riding gear. When we got home and got the van unloaded, they weren't home yet. We decided on leftovers or sandwiches for dinner. Jason was supposed to have his class last night, and still needs to find his 2 books, so he took off early, only to find the campus bookstore closes at 2pm. He stayed up there, went to class, his professor was a no-show so they all submitted attendance paperwork, and he took the long way home - meaning he rode his Harley around for a little while.

Today was a beach day. We decided on Lake St. Clair Metropark as there's a beach, playground, splash zone/sprayground and for an extra fee, a pool with water slides. We skipped the pool and slides and opted for free. I packed up some sandwiches, fruit, tortilla chips/cheese puffs, juice boxes and other picnic snacks for us, while Jason gathered our towels and beach gear. After everyone was dressed for swimming, we drove over and enjoyed 4 hours there! It was such a beautiful day, the water felt great, and the boys all got along. E even made a new friend that he and Alex played with in the water for a bit. Jackson went swimming - well sort of - and played happily in the sand. We ate our lunch and Jason and the older boys went back in the water. I took Jack to change his swim diaper and wash the sand off of his little bottom and change my own clothes, and then we met the 3 of them in the splash zone. After about 15 minutes (they were over there for about 20 before we even managed to make it back over that way, lol), we decided to call it a day.

Now that we are home, Jackson is taking a nice nap, E and Alex are playing video games, and Jason is off at the tattoo parlor getting more work done to his right arm. It's really nice looking so far, but he wants more added to it. While they are all occupied, I'm taking some "me" time and writing, finally!! Although, now I should probably go make some dinner for my little loves, because I know Jack will be awake soon and it's already 5:30!! Where did the day go?

Oh yeah, and tomorrow, we get to go hang out with JULIE and her little men! So excited. It's going to be an afternoon filled with visiting a metropark, geocaching - hopefully we will have better luck than before - and a cookout with friends.

I have a ton of pictures from our vacation, so I may make a slide show from them and share them that way. Still trying to figure out my photo software on this computer and I received it as a gift in December! Oh well.

7 Quick Takes ;) - July 5, 2013

--- 1 ---
Just the 3 of us!

Yesterday was the 4th of July. Independence Day. We didn't have our 2 older boys with us, so it was just Jason, Jackson and I. After a light lunch, we went to Great Lakes Crossing and walked around for a couple of hours. Jack LOVED the animals at Bass Pro Shops. He was pointing at them and trying to name them. Even the fish were just the most amazing thing to him! We decided to have dinner at Toby Keith's I <3 this bar and grill. It was pretty good. I ended up ordering a half-rack of St. Louis style ribs, baked beans and sweet potato tots.

We didn't go see fireworks last night, but we sure did hear them. Our dog is a scaredy-cat and spent the whole night whimpering and whining. I can't wait till people are done shooting them off... 
Actually since Monday, we've just been kind of not doing a whole lot. Jason has had class most evenings, so Jack and I have been spending time together.

--- 2 ---
Technology growing pains...

While at the mall, we passed the Verizon Wireless store. My Droid X2 has been acting up for the last couple of months. Missing texts, not dialing, dropping calls, the screen freezing up, having to do a hard reset by removing the battery. It has gotten quite irritating. I'd already gone over once to the store nearest to our house, but the customer service rep was less than helpful (kind but unable to offer me a replacement). So when Jason suggested stopping in to this store, I wasn't exactly enthusiastic. However, the very nice lady looked up our information and found that not only do we have insurance, but also the extended warranty, meaning they would replace my phone with something NEWER, of equal or better value! For FREE! And it won't change our plan or "renew" our contract so we won't lose our current unlimited data. I should be getting my brand new Droid RAZR M on either Monday or Tuesday! It looks pretty sweet. Smaller phone, but all screen, so it's actually a bigger screen, lighter, faster, 4G, and I won't lose my apps. I'm pretty thrilled to say the least.

--- 3 ---
From me to you! 

I want to let people know that if you get a message from me on Facebook, I'm not spamming you, nor am I just trying to bug you or sell to you. I'm genuinely reaching out to help others. My thought is this: If I don't reach out to so-and-so and they DO want help reaching their goals, I'll never know, nor will they know I want to help them. If I do reach out, and they don't need or want help, at least they know I care, and if they ever need support, that I'm there. Also maybe they know somebody that wants or needs assistance. So please don't mind my messages. If it's not of interest to you, a quick no thanks would be grand, but if you forget or don't have a minute, I understand. Just know that it's not to bother you or because I think you are in particular need of something. I figure all of us could use some support at sometime or another. :) Thanks for your understanding!!!

--- 4 ---
It's all relative

You don't realize how much you are alike (and different at the same time!) until you spend a lot of time with family members. This past weekend, after dropping the older boys off, I picked my mom up and we drove down to Columbus. We stayed at my sister Heather's house for the weekend, and while it was fun, it did get a little, ahem, tense? sometimes. Really it was over silly stuff, and most of it was myself overreacting. I do want to apologize though, again. Love you!! We threw her a bridal shower, and even though no family from out of town came in (...), we still had a good time and made the most of it. Jackson had a blast running around with all the "little" girls that were there. They ranged from 4-12, I think? Oh my gosh, he was so funny. Back at the house, he'd chase the dogs, yelling "dog" or "gigi" (one of Heather and Matt's pups names). Jack loved that they were almost all smaller than him.

--- 5 --- 
Shoe important!
 

Looking for boots for the wedding party proved fruitful. We found a pair all of us girls liked, though a different color we originally talked about. We did have to go online to order them (planning to do so this weekend actually) and found a better deal too! I promised I would share a picture if it was alright with the bride-to-be and she obliged :)

Justin Boots Red Torino

On top of finding those, yesterday proved fruitful too. I found a new pair of tennis shoes for exercise, walking and hopefully, eventually, running! They are Asics, very cute, comfortable and not terribly expensive. I guess, after reading the description on the site linked below, they are technically trail-running shoes, but whatever ;)

Asics GEL-Venture 3

I'm still on the lookout for a good pair of tennis shoes for everyday wear to replace my 4 year old Sketchers shape-ups that I love but are worn out... I did find a pair of Sketchers D'Lites that I like, but wanted to price them elsewhere before I got them. These look and feel good, and even though they are actually considered "athletic training shoes", I could wear them everyday, with jeans or whatever.

I'm not much of a shoe or fashion person, but since I'm losing weight now, I need to start slowly replacing my clothes with things that fit. I may need a fashion advisor... anybody want the job? LOL.

--- 6 ---
Finding myself in my hobbies is a chore in itself

I got married pretty young and never really developed a sense of "self", so to speak. I didn't really have any hobbies or at least I didn't really grow them? As I build this blog, and grow as a person, I want to find new things to do. Photographing things has been fun, but I always seem to put it away and never learn more, or I forget my camera and miss out on opportune shots!

I have tried learning to knit, and while I did successfully make a hat, I just don't seem to take the time to work on my projects!

Excuse after excuse, really. I have got to stop that.

--- 7 ---
Kicking the Summer Bucket List starts...

NOW! Well actually tomorrow. Well, technically, it already did a few weeks ago, BUT we only did a few simple, already scheduled things. Now it's time to hit it and hit it HARD! Ethan and Alex will be excited to get moving on it and start doing some of the fun things we have listed. I think first thing we should cross off is making homemade donuts. A couple of weeks ago, we found a BabyCakes donut maker on clearance at Meijer and snagged it. Sunday morning would be a great day to do this :) I will try to remember to snap some pics of the process and the aftermath! I'm thinking using our whole wheat pancake batter recipe, just a bit thicker might work? Any thoughts? I'd like to make them a healthy version. They are basically baked, not fried, and we have tons of King Arthur's white whole wheat flour, and fresh berries we could add. We'll see how they turn out!

Thanks for reading!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Summer Bucket List - It's gonna "B" fun!!

*Guest post from Julie - well not really guest post, because she is technically a contributor/writer on this blog, BUT we are having issues right now getting her added on so she can access the page and write her own posts! So therefore, I - Crystal - am sharing this for her :) * (<--- hey, I figured out something new! I can highlight things! LOL.)

 Julie and the "B's" Summer Bucket List!

1) Visit a lighthouse 6/19
2) Play card games 8/12
3) Play in the rain 7/28
4) Watch fireworks 7/20
5) Watermelon eating contest 7/16
6) Blow bubbles 7/26
7) Make s'mores 6/30
Write & mail a letter to a friend/family member 7/8
9) Read a book as a family (a little every night) in process
10) Go to the beach 7/6
11) Go to Tons O' Trucks 6/1
12) Have a family picnic on a blanket 6/27
13) Go swimming 7/6
14) Plant a plant  /18
15) make a bird feeder 7/30
16) Play sardines or hide n' seek
17) Visit a splash pad 7/5
18) Visit a new Zoo 7/12
19) Stay in a hotel 7/11
20) Get an origami book and create some 6/8
21) Go to a nature center 6/9
22) Play board games 7/29
23) Have a garage sale 8/8-8/10
24) Dance party 6/27
25) Walk for a cause (Autism Awareness) 6/15
26) Build a sandcastle 7/6
27) Go to the movies 6/28
28) Boys cook dinner 7/8
29) Make cookies 6/28
30) Go to a new playground/park 6/1
31) Play tag 7/28
32) Play twister
33) Corn on the cob eating contest 8/16
34) Go for a bike ride 7/5
35) Go to River Raisin National Battlefield 7/13
36) Reverse meals day (breakfast=dinner, dinner=breakfast) 8/17
37) Make a mural with sidewalk chalk 6/8
38) Go bowling 6/27
39) Camping in the backyard 8/9
40) All day in PJ's 8/12
41) Ice cream from the ice cream truck 7/4
42) Home Depot's kid's craft 7/6
43) Have an "Unbirthday" party 6/27
44) Scavenger hunt 8/11
45) Make popsicles 6/8
48) Have a bonfire 7/20
49) Catch fireflies 7/26
50) Watch a sun set 8/25
51) Build a Lego city
52) Create & play a new board game
53) Go to a fair/carnival 8/15
54) Go fishing
55) Play video games mom vs. kids
56) Go to the library
57) Play charades 7/10
58) Watermelon seed spitting contest 7/16
59) Play a game of kickball 8/16
60) Write a story together 8/9
61) Have a water balloon fight/toss 8/26
62) Cookout/BBQ with friends 8/25
63) Visit 3 Metro parks 7/5
64) Play mini golf
65) Bury the boys in the sand 7/6
66) Put puzzles together as a family 8/12
67) Make a soda fountain
68) Dinner by candlelight 7/8
69) Go for a boat ride 7/21
70) Go strawberry picking 6/18
71) Fly paper airplanes 8/2
72) Melted crayon art
73) Pie eating contest 7/10
74) Have our faces painted 7/20
75) Play Pictionary
76) Go on a treasure hunt/ Geocaching 6/29
77) Go skating
78) Paint rocks 7/21
79) Go to the Dairy Queen 7/18
80) Roast hot dogs on a stick 6/30
81) Go to a water park 7/11
82) Visit a farm 6/18
83) Run through the sprinkler
84) Visit the fire department
85) Try photography (everyone gets their own disposable camera) 8/25
86) Play croquet 7/5
87) Go out to breakfast in our PJ'S 7/9
88) Visit the Detroit Zoo 7/31
89) Make sundae 7/21
90) Make our own mini beanbags
91) Volunteer
92) Build a birdhouse
93) Walk a nature trail 7/21
94) Teach the boys to play Chinese Jump rope 6/6
95) Create & run an obstacle course
96) Make "Sponge bombs" and play toss with them 7/9
97) Race in a foot race 6/1
98) Stay up late watching movies 7/24
99) Dress up and put on a play/skit 8/14
100) Make root beer floats 8/2
101) Cool Summer Hair Cuts 6/4
102) Complete a whole coloring book in process
103) Make a Summer Bucket List scrapbook (include pictures and journaling)
~Julie

Crossing off the bucket list and having a blast

The boys and the bucket list :)

 By the way, when we got home, the whole display had fallen, so we have to figure out something else...

This weekend, we went down to Toledo (#1 on our list) to see both my parents and Jason's family. The boys had an absolute blast!!

 

 At my mom and dad's on Saturday, we had a small birthday celebration for Alex, and had homemade cookie cake and homemade ice cream! So yummy! Mom and I took the boys for a walk and we all just visited for a few hours. We spent the night at Jason's parents and spent Sunday over there just being outside and hanging out. Ethan and Alex played on the playset, went swimming for a little while and just ran around. Saturday night, before bed, the older 2 learned to ride the mini-bike! They got quite good at it, and Alex likes to go FAAAAAST! We got to see Jason's sister, Madison and her bf, Rob. Jason's brother Jeff came over with our niece, Jocey and she played with the boys for a while. The 4 kids and I took a little walk.

 My father-in-law, Joe, and Jason decided to tie a kite on the mini-bike and the boys got it going pretty good and it was flying. Pretty cool :) (thinking of counting that as #11 ;) )

For the most part, our weekend was really nice. We got home late last night, and were up early this morning for Alex's cub scout parade for Memorial Day.

#51 - done!

Tomorrow is going to be a long day, with Jack having his (minor) surgery tomorrow, and we didn't go bowling over the weekend, so I'm thinking since Jas has class Wednesday, I may take the boys bowling sometime after dinner - the kidsbowlfree.com coupon we have for our local bowling alley is good on Wednesday from 6-9pm.


Check out The Happy Family Movement for more bucket list ideas and info!

Summer Bucket List 2013 - Hamer Style ;)

If you follow us over on FaceBook or Twitter, you saw me post earlier this week about a summer bucket list and The Happy Family Movement!

I've been putting ours together with a little input from the boys, Jas and even our cub scouts Fun for the Family book! We have 100 fun things we are planning to do over the summer, starting THIS weekend!

Without further ado:

Our Summer Bucket List 2013 - Hamer Style!
(in no particular order)

1. Visit Toledo 5/25-5/26
2. Play charades
3. Make ice cream sandwiches
4. Read-a-thon - read aloud book(s) with everybody taking turns (cub scouts 3P) Didn't really take turns reading, but mom read aloud from a chapter book. We never did finish it :(
5. Cookout with friends
6. Dance party
7. Go to Jungle Java
8. Technology-free day - Boys pick activity for the day
9. Pajama and movie day with snacks
10. Catch frogs
11. Fly a kite
12. Obstacle course (cub scouts 5L)
13. Puppet Show
14. Play cornhole
15. Money games - Monopoly/PayDay (cub scouts 2K)
16. Watermelon seed spitting contest
17. Celebrate the Date (cub scouts 1B) - Moving to a Fall activity :)
18. Go to the beach
19. Heritage party (cub scouts 1I) - Fall activity, due to planning :)
20. Story Creator - write a story by taking turns adding to it (cub scouts 3R)
21. Tour Morley Candy 
22. Go to the library weekly - after school is out only made it once so far, but we did get a ton of books :)
23. Make homemade sorbet 
24. Go fishing
25. Catch fireflies
26. Make "recycled robots" 
27. Make your own pizzas
28. Picture scavenger hunt - use pinterest for inspiration on lists/ideas, can be nature, or in a city, even around the house!!
29. Make - or paint - suncatchers 
30. Drive in movies - Field of Dreams Drive-in or Ford Drive-In (Find one near you here) 
31. Lemonade stand - here's some cute printables 
32. Have a garage sale
33. Make tie-dye shirts
34. J's baptism - hopefully first Sunday in July!! (also satisfies "church visit" cub scouts activity 3B) - moved to later in the year
35. Water "sponge-bomb" fight 
36. Try a new restaurant 6/2
    
37. Visit River Raisin National Battlefield - check out free National Park days for a park near you! - Fall activity:)
38. Kids' Workshop at Home Depot June 1st - Lawn Mower Pencil Holder 9am
39. Kids' workshop Home Depot July 6th - Despicable Me 2 surprise craft! 9am  - missed this one due to a trip to their grandparents :)
40.  Banana splits/ice cream sundaes 
41. Play Simon Says
42. Go to Bay-Rama Fishfly Festival missed this one :(
43. Nature Honor - grow a small flower/plant (cub scouts 5J) - moving to spring :)
44. Go apple picking - Fall activity :)
45. Make chalkboard paint and make individual chalkboards for each boy
46. Face paint
47. Go to a Farmer's Market
48. Go bowling - up to every week!! Check out kidsbowlfree.com - 2 free games for each kid, every day at a nearby bowling alley from now till September, plus a family pass available for sale for up to 4 adults (not necessary but if you want to bowl with the kiddos, it's a great deal)! went twice so far but hope to go a time or two more before the end of summer.
49. Star Wars movie marathon - all 6 may end up taking a few days to complete with littlest.
50. Family campout in backyard (cub scouts 3D)
51. Memorial Day parade (and cub scouts potluck after) (cub scouts 3H) 5/27
    
52. Make homemade doughnuts 7/7
53. Backyard Angry Birds - some great inspiration on pinterest
54. Build a city with blocks
55. Make sidewalk chalk/paint and draw all over the driveway Never made the chalk but we did have a cool looking driveway ;)
56. Go to the Detroit Zoo or Toledo Zoo
57. Visit the DIA
58. Picnic
59. "Hamer" family reunion
60. Hide and Seek
61. Go to the playground/park 5/27
62. Treasure Hunt (Geocaching) - tried, but no luck so far
63. Family Game Day/Night (cub scouts 2F)
64. Water gun fight
65. Make S'mores
66. Play Sardines
67. Have a bonfire
68. Go swimming 
69. Take a hike at Stony Creek Metropark or Wolcott Mill Metropark
70. Visit Michigan Adventure 
71. Go to Tons O' Trucks - June 1st 10am-1pm
72. Watch fireworks
73. "House upon a rock" - build a sandcastle (cub scouts 1K)
74. Play mini-golf - Jason took the two older boys :) We did go a second time and Jack enjoyed watching us play.
75. Go on a bike ride (cub scouts 4a)
76. Wash the van/truck together ;)
77. Paint rocks
78. Star-gazing
79. Make a butterfly feeder
80. Watch the sunset
81. Make a name-book (cub scouts 1o)
82. Baseball game - Detroit Tigers or Toledo Mud Hens
83. Ice cream truck
84. Build a fort
85. Family restaurant (cub scouts 2d)
86. Play in the rain
87. Carriage ride - next summer possibly, with Mackinac Island
88. Go to Mackinac Island  - moving to next summer possibly, due to constraints
89. Play a card game
90. Collect shells
91. Fudge from Mackinac - next summer with 87 & 88
92. Neighborhood pixie (cub scouts 4n)
93. Finger paint
94. Make cookies
95. Video game tournament
96. Make mini-marshmallow guns
97. Guess who? (not the board game!) (cub scouts 2h)
98. Make a pool noodle race track and race cars
99. Pillow fight
100. Adventure Time marathon 

Pictures to come later of our bucket list "cards", if blogger will let me upload some pictures!

The boys are excited to do this, so even though they have about 3 weeks of school left, we are starting this weekend with 1, 48, and 51. Talk about a great start to a fun summer!