Summer Days Driftin' Away

Yes, I know, summer isn't even here yet.  But as you well know, we are stationed at "Fort Snow" and we don't often see a plethora of warm days during the year.  We have to make the most of those few short weeks that we see the thermometer peep above 60.  While it's still in the low 40's here today, I'm well into preparing for the summer.  In fact, I think I spend most blistering winter days indoors, dreaming about my summer plans.  If you haven't figured it out yet, I'm not much of a winter person.  But summer is around the corner and while it is short lived here in NY, it is beautiful up here.  The summers never get too hot, often peaking around the mid 80's.  There's always a nice breeze and plenty of seasonal activities.  The drive-ins, putt-putt, go-karts, and golf courses finally open for the season.  Best of all, baseball season begins!  We love going to see the minor league team play here.  The team isn't huge (unlike our team back home), so the stadium is rarely packed, my son can usually talk to and get an autograph from the players, and the food isn't overpriced.  There's also a free program my son signs up for every year that gives him a free drink, hot dog, and ice cream at every game.  And best of all, because we are military, we get seats for next to nothing, sometimes free! 

Every summer, we pretty much plan out the same 4 or 5 activities and find ourselves doing those repeatedly without any other ideas.  Well, I was pretty happy to find all these "100 things to do this summer" lists on Pinterest.  I immediately made plans to print and check off everything on the list this summer.  After posting the first list I found on the fridge, I took a closer examination and discovered a few problems.  1) There's a 100 things on this list!  There's certainly not 100 days in the summer, I don't see how we could get to 100 of them.  2) Some of these activities will never happen. For example, one thing mentioned a planetarium.  I have no clue where the nearest planetarium is...but if I did, I assure you we'd already be there.  There's not many places like that any where near this small town.  3) Some of them where not age appropriate for my 4 year old.  One activity on the list was origami.  Well, I don't know about your child's coordination, but I assure you, this wouldn't be happening in my house...it would end in a paper wad and frustration.  4) Some of the things I just didn't understand or care to do...like a lizard shop or a peculiar p party? 

I found a few other lists, but ya know if you want something done right, you just gotta do it yourself.  My list was compiled of activities we could- a. do as a family, b. were age appropriate for my son, and c. were available to us.  My list only consists of 50 activities, rather than 100 so we can be sure to knock off all of them this summer.  I also included several indoor activities for those cold and/or rainy days/nights. 

First thing I did was edit my list in photoshop and made it all pretty of course.  Next I printed it and put it on the fridge for a common reference spot.  (Btw, I have future plans of framing it behind glass and using a dry erase marker to mark through completed tasks.) Finally, I emailed it to myself for a quick iphone reference when we find ourselves out and about on the weekends seeking an activity.  *Side Note* I also do this with my grocery lists...I keep a general list saved in my computer and make changes as needed, then email the saved file to my phone before I head to the commissary.

But back to the subject.  (Sorry, I'm the queen of tangents and side notes) <--See what I just did there!  Okay, well, without further ado, I present my official Family Summer Bucket list. Feel free to use it for your own summer-to-do list.  Just don't claim it as your own creation, that would hurt my feelings. :/ 

Summer Vacation in a Box

This week's box is pretty self-explanatory.  In our five years together, my husband and I have never taken a summer vacation, it's one of those downfalls to being a military family.  He's either deployed, PCSing, or we just don't have the time.  We never had a honeymoon for this very reason.  We always talk about that vacation we plan on taking someday but to date, it's never worked out.  So this week's care package is the best I can do, it's our dream summer vacation in a box.  It includes a palm tree, pineapple shaped cookies (and watermelon cookies because they were cute), some crab shaped crackers, milkshake poptarts (because as I discussed in a previous blog, he requested poptarts in all future care packages),  some tropical snacks, Weekend at Bernies II (my favorite movie, set in my dream location-the USVI, which I someday hope to visit with the hubs...but that's a future blog post)... and a few summer toys.  I topped it all off with a big ray of sunshine :)  Happy Summer Vacation honey!  Maybe one day we can actually enjoy a vacation together.

What to do when there's nothing to do, part 2

I am a boutique photographer and my favorite sessions are newborn sessions.  I LOOOVE little baby sessions.  Newborns are the best models, God has already granted them adorableness so all I have to do is capture that in my lens.  It's like taking a picture of a sunset over the ocean, you really can't screw it up...though believe me, there are some "photographers" out there who have the ability to do so.  Anyhow, because I love baby photography I love baby props.  Not the Olan Mills studio kind of props, I'm referring to boutique props like pettiskirts, tutus, bowls, baskets, blankets...all with a rustic, antique, or homemade feel.  My favorite prop is crocheted hats.  Sadly, hats can get fairly pricey, they go for about $20-$35 on etsy.  So one day I decided I'd try to make my own.  About an year ago You-Tubed some how to videos and after about 5 hours I gave up.  However, since my husband is deployed now I find myself with a lot of spare time on my hands.  So I visited You-Tube again and within 3 days I was crocheting my hands off.  It's not something I'd dedicate my life to, but it gives me something to do when there's nothing else going on.  And since I accidently over-budgeted and put all of our money in savings this month (I'm not taking it back out either), I'm kinda stuck at the house until we get paid again.  So since I can't mail any packages this week (for a lack of moo-la) there's no point in baking and decorating cookies or boxes, so I've pulled the ole yarn out of the cabinet.  Here's a taste of what I've been up to this week...