Ah, summertime.

For those of you who don’t know, I’m mostly at “SAHM” – stay at home mom. I say mostly because I have a couple of freelance jobs that I’m lucky enough to really enjoy from my own home/on my own time schedule.

As a stay at home mom, I get to do a lot of what I want during school days while my kids are off learning and preparing to take over the world with brilliant ideas fostered by their teachers. But during the summer, they are mine all mine!

Quite frankly, I don’t want their brains to rot over the summer. It would be oh-so-easy to let them fall into video games, tv shows, and the like. They are at the age where they would quietly do so and I’d be happy because hey, it’s quiet.

BUT NO! We need activities! We need thinking! We need creativity!

The last day of school was last Wednesday.

After racing across the school to summer finish line, they came into the house to find our summer bucket list waiting. And what does every bucket list need? A bucket, of course.

I brainstormed with retired Chick, Bec, about what should be on our list to guide them in their picks. I wanted them to be fun but also achievable and not too far out in left field.

Their picks were creative and thankfully, every single one is something that we can do sometimes over this summer. No saying no!

Of course, now that we’ve written them down, they want to do all of them. Immediately. But that’s not what the summer bucket list is about. It’s about spreading the ideas out over the summer and being engaged throughout the long hot months.

But some are meant to happen right away!

My older son requested for his project that we make a garden (which also fits in nicely with a Boy Scout requirement) and my younger son requested to see his 1st grade teachers, Mrs. Tees and Ms. Harris over the summer. They are two of his our most favorite human beings.

Now, if you aren’t from my immediate circle of friends, you probably don’t know this; These two requests actually go hand in hand.

Ms. Sonya Harris was a driving force behind the Bullock Children’s Garden and we’ve spent a good majority in the garden at my son’s school since its inception. She is our garden guru and also an amazing friend to our family. Two days after the end of school, she was at our doorstep, ready to visit with us and discuss our home garden!

(Never fret, Mrs. Tees will be making her appearance later on this summer!)

After Gabe got over the fact that HIS TEACHER WAS STANDING IN HIS HOUSE, he gave her the grand tour. We’ve only been in our new house a little over a month but we’ve discovered the new yard has a welcome surprise!

We have a mint patch in our yard from the previous owners!

Our flower beds are perfect for planting and we have a lot of yard space for our garden. One of the things that Sonya was quick to point out is that while gardens need tending they are also a lot easier than many people imagine.

Since she IS a our teacher/friend, it only made sense that she assign us homework. There was no groaning after she said the word, either! She asked each of them to make a list of what they would like to plant in our garden.

This summer is going to be absolutely awesome and I know that the home garden will play a large part in our planning and activities! As we go along, I’ll be sure to keep you all posted on our plans as well as other events that come to fruition thanks to our bucket list.

Check out this awesome video from last summer in our community garden and you’ll see a couple of familiar faces!

What do you have on your summer bucket list? Have you planted a garden? What do you think we should we plant in our garden?