101 Things To Do This Summer - Part I

Yep.  That's what the girls and I are working on this year.  And this weekend we managed to check off a few of them already.

First; here's the list so far:

1. go fishing 
2. go fishing at night
3. go swimming
4. go camping 
5. pick veggies at a you-pick farm
6. pick fruit at a you-pick farm
7. go to a fair / carnival 
8. go watch the Washington Nationals play (Scheduled for August 11th)
9. ride go-carts
10. build and plant a garden box
11. go bowling
12. spend the entire day in DC
13. tour a historic site 
14. go to the Aquarium
15. ride the Metro train
16. go to Dinosaur Land
17. go on a picnic
18. see a covered bridge
19. catch fireflies
20. dance in the rain
21. visit the Natural Bridge
22. play with Butterfleies at the Natural Bridge
23. visit a candy factory
24. go to the beach
25. see a horse race live
26. climb a lighthouse
27. go skating
28. go ice skating
29. visit a botanical garden
30. ride a zip-line
31. play on a playground
32. ride a merry-go-round
33. ride a carousal
34. see the Columbia Space Shuttle
35. ride a horse
36. go hiking
37. visit Luray Caverns
38. go to a movie theater
39. play at a swim park - Signal Hill
40. go to the national zoo
41. go to a petting zoo
42. camp out in our own backyard / living room 
43. go to a live music concert
44. see a waterfall
45. pick blueberries
46. milk a cow
47. pick lavender
48. play miniature golf
49. to the Air and Space Museum
50. go to a bounce house
51. visit a nature center / state park
52. paint pottery
53. bake cookies
54. take a paddle boat ride
55. ride bikes
56. see a parade
57. watch fireworks
58. visit a monument
59. star gazing 
60. view stars from a telescope
61. build a bonfire
62. see a movie at a drive-in theater
63. make a tent city with sheets
64. run a race
65. ride a roller coaster
66. visit an amusement park
67. walk a large mall
68. visit the Great Bubba (great-grandmother)
69. do a pinterest project
70. cover the entire driveway with chalk art
71. roast smores
72. join the summer reading program
73. have a tea party
74. do leaf rubbing
75. visit a farmers market
76. volunteer
77. eat in Old Town
78. do a scavenger hunt
79. run an obstacle course
80. bead some jewelry
81. wash a car / bicycle
82. have a sleepover
83. have a water balloon fight
84. do a science experiment
85. put together a puzzle
86. visit Josh, Evie, and Elle
87. visit nana and papa
88. build a sand castle
89. make / design a tee shirt
90. spa day - hair and nails
91. browse a flea market
92. review pre-k / 1st grade lessons
93. preview K/2nd grade lessons
94. put up a trophy shelf in the girls rooms
95. do a pageant
96. do a book report every week
97. make snow cones
98. craft class at Michael's Art store
99. join the Girl Scouts
100. play soccer 
101. fill a time capsule

Whew !!! That's a lot to do and I'm not sure we'll do it all but we sure are going to give it our best shot.  

This past weekend we managed to mark a few things off our fun list.  First - Camping.  We loaded up the gear and the family, even Oscar (our beautiful Husky / Beagle mix dog) and jotted down to Christopher Run Campground for two nights/three days of camping adventures.  Got there Friday afternoon and managed to secure an early check-in.  Sweet.  Since it was our first camping trip as a family we weren't sure what to expect from our preparedness or from the camp site but both were pretty great.  Our particular site was close enough to the water to enjoy it but not so close we had to worry about the girls running down there without us.  And, as is always important with little ones, the bathrooms were well within walking distance but far enough away we didn't have the latrine smell to contend with.  We lucked out and got what was probably only one of few deep sites as we had plenty of room for our camp fire to be far away from the tent and we didn't feel crowded in the least.  Even set up the canopy over the cooking/eating area, which came in handy on Sunday (will explain later).  

Once the tent and site was set up the girls and I took Oscar for a walk.  Nothing too long but enough to know where we were on the site and where other facilities were located.  Dinner was the expected hamburgers but we have fried potatoes to go with and they were yummy.  Of course hubs didn't last much longer than that so off to bed he went while the girls and I continued to enjoy the sights and sounds of camping.  We even got an unexpected surprise when we were visited by fireflies.  Of course this meant we just had to try catching them, which I did.  I say "I" because for some reason I was afraid the girls would squash them so I did all the catching for them.  We put the fireflies in an empty bottle and watched the lightshow.  After a while the girls were getting tired and we decided it was time to let our little friends go free.  Then it was off to bed for all.

 The campsite with fire pit way, way in the back.  

Night one was horrible on my legs - the cot wouldn't stretch out properly so my fabric wasn't as tight as it should have been, causing the cot to be about six inches shorter than it should have been.  Several times during the night I woke up to a tingling feeling in my toes only to discover my entire let was asleep.  And my hip didn't fair much better but it wasn't killing me.  I just figured making some minor adjustments would take care of that.  

Ok, gotta go get the camping gear put away and the laundry started.  Be back later with Part II.