We didn’t tick much off the Summer Bucket List this week. A combination of tired children, exhausted parents and clashing work shifts has meant that we’ve had limited time together as a family, and when we have been together no-one has really had the inclination to do very much.

At first I felt a bit anxious about this – worried that we weren’t going to get everything done and that there would be nothing to really talk about in this week’s post.  Then I came to my senses and realised that those thoughts were defeating the very point of the challenge. Yes, it will be great if we can tick everything off the list, but if we don’t… well, that’s fine too!

The Summer Bucket List Challenge is about making memories together and having a #happyfamilysummer.  Sometimes that means going out for the day or doing something that we’ve planned in advance.  And sometimes it just means hanging out together at home and having fun based on whatever we happen to find to entertain ourselves with.

There have been a couple of days where that has meant watching a DVD or two in between doing all the normal everyday stuff that still needs to be done even though it’s the summer holidays, like food shopping and housework and emails.  And there have been other days where the TV hasn’t been on at all and we’ve been imaginative and used what we have to create our own fun.  Sometimes the unplanned stuff can be the most fun of all…

An empty cardboard box provided hours of entertainment – first it was decorated with drawings and writing, then holes were poked into it to make different patterns, and finally, it got transformed into a robot.  I let the girls make their own wraps to eat for dinner one day, which they were super-excited about.  I said yes when Lola asked to play hairdressers with me and ended up with about twenty-five clips in my hair! And Lola tried on her new uniform for when she starts school in September – she was delighted and I was tearful at seeing my littlest baby all grown up.

One afternoon we went to play games on Milford Common – bowls, football and sticky tennis:

We spent a fun couple of hours at the local bowling alley and arcade:

And we headed to Gentleshaw Wildlife Sanctuary this afternoon: