Summer is finally here, and that means days at the pool, popsicles on the porch, and weekends in the mountains!
And meltdowns because I bought the wrong kind of popsicles.
And complaining because somebody’s arms hurt on the hike.
And breaking up the toddler fight club in my playroom.
As a kid, I loved summer, but now as a mother, I feel the need to apologize to my mother! When you’re the parent, there’s a little bit of extra work involved to help make those magical memories.
Never one to back down from a challenge, here are some of the things on our family’s bucket list for the season. Some of these are activities we did last year, and we’re hoping they become family traditions, but others are new ideas that we’re trying out for the first time. For reference, our kids are 8, 5, 5, 4 months, and 4 months, so the list is tailored to kids those ages.
I hope this list helps inspire your own family summer bucket list! I’d love to hear what your families do every summer to get more ideas!
- Go blueberry picking
There was a point in time where I swear we could have had “berries” as a category in our budget, the kids ate them so much! Now that they’re old enough to pick blueberries off of the bush, this has become a summer tradition, and my kids love running around the blueberry patch seeing who can fill up their bucket first.
Where we live, blueberry picking is actually pretty affordable, too. The price per quart ends up being a little cheaper than it is at the grocery stores, and the blueberries are usually better quality.
Plus, this gives me a great excuse to make all of the blueberry recipes in my cookbook! Our favorites are blueberry pancakes, blueberry scones, and blueberry muffins. The kids will also eat these fresh, and whatever we don’t eat or cook with, I just stick in the freezer to use later.
- Go hiking
We are lucky to live within driving distance of the mountains, as well as lots of amazing state parks, so we try to go hiking often over the summer.
Going hiking with my dad was one of my favorite things to do growing up, and some of my best childhood memories are from our time spent on the trail.
My kids are still in the I-can’t-feel-my-arms-are-we-there-yet-I-want-to-be-done phase, but afterwards they always talk about how much fun they had and are asking when we can go again.
The best part about this activity is it’s completely free! Just make sure to bring lots of water!
- Camp for a night or two
The older I get, the more I love camping. I went occasionally as a kid (probably less than ten times), and a few times in college, but now as an adult, I’d love to start going more often.
We are lucky to be able to use my parent’s camping gear (it just sits in their basement otherwise), but things like tents and coolers are actually cheaper than I thought they would be! When I was looking into buying a second tent so our whole family could go tent-camping next summer, I was able to find 6+ person tents for $200 or less.
This summer, though, we will be going camping as a family for the first time in August. Since the twins will be barely six months old, and since I’m still exclusively pumping, we booked a rustic cabin (no electricity or running water) instead of a tent site just to make things a little easier.
We’re staying for two nights, and the plan is to enjoy hiking, roasting hot dogs, eating s’mores, playing board games, telling stories around the campfire, and making memories together as a family!
- Spend as much time at the pool as possible
My parents deciding to put a pool in their backyard just might be the best thing to ever happen to me.
Ok, maybe a slight exaggeration, but if you’ve ever had three kids bouncing off the walls of your house in the summer, you understand how great a day at the pool can be.
Unfortunately, our kids are young enough that the pool isn’t really fun for me. 2 out of 3 of the older kids aren’t completely swimming yet, and not to mention the four-month-olds who can’t get in the water or wear sunscreen.
But as long as there’s another adult with me, the pool is the perfect way to wear everybody out! The kids can swim for hours, we’ll do a poolside lunch, and then head home in time for baths and bedtime. Everyone sleeps extra hard after a long day in the sun.
- Visit a sunflower field
Last year was our first time doing this, and the kids had a blast!
We didn’t even pick a ton of flowers because I didn’t want to spend too much money, but they had fun just running around and exploring the farm. Plus, there were tons of adorable photo ops, which as an overly sentimental mom, I appreciate!
I’m looking forward to going again this year because I know it will be a fairly easy outing with the twins. I can wear one and someone else can wear the other one, and we can make the trip as long or short as we would like.
- Become members of our local library
I haven’t taken my kids to a public library in several years, but when brainstorming ideas for how to spend time this summer, this activity became the obvious winner.
Air conditioning? Check. Little to no crowds? Check. Easy-to-find bathrooms for kids who remember they need to go potty the second we get settled anywhere? Check, check, check!
The libraries here also always have tons of little tables with coloring pages, crayons, and crafts for the kids, so between that and the books, I am sure the kids will love it.
- Sneak away for a date night
My husband and I haven’t gone on a real date since the twins were born, which is understandable. Finding someone to babysit five kids, with two of them being newborns, is a tall order!
But between the newborn trenches, law school, and work, I would be lying if I said the past few months haven’t been extra challenging. I think we could really use a few hours away to unwind, relax, and regroup a bit.
It probably won’t be anything too crazy — most likely just dinner and a stroll around a bookstore — but I love any quality time we get to spend together and am looking forward to it immensely.
- Host dinner parties with friends
I use the term “dinner party” because it sounds more fun than “having friends over for dinner,” but it’s the exact same thing!
For a long time, I hesitated to host because I didn’t feel “ready.”
My dining room wasn’t cute. My kitchen was messy. My house wasn’t aesthetic.
But I realized that by waiting for everything to be perfect — which will never happen — that I was missing out on genuine moments of connection.
No one will remember my backsplash, my dessert plates, or the scent of the candle on the table. But they will remember how we laughed so hard over something my daughter said that we couldn’t breathe, or all of the times “dinner and a treat” turned into “dinner and a treat and a board game and four adults versus five kids for bedtime and more treats.” I’m looking forward to more nights like that this summer!
- Have an at-home movie night
I run a strictly no-screen household, and I rarely bend the rules when school’s out. We don’t even have a TV!
But the one time I’m okay with a little screen time is for a family movie night. We’ll rent a movie from Amazon on my laptop (because again, no TV), pop some popcorn, and turn off all the lights, and the kids think it’s the best thing ever.
It’s a great reminder that you don’t need to go above and beyond to make summer memories with your kids — sometimes, the best memories happen unplanned, at home, when everyone is in pajamas.
- Family “field day”
This will be something new we try this year! We live right near a playground that’s next to a huge field, and since my daughter was bummed to miss her first field day in kindergarten this year, I told her we could do our own “family field day” this summer. There’s going to be water balloons, games of tag, footraces, super soakers, and ice cream, and I’m sure some tears and tantrums, too, but it will be fun!
I’m sure this bucket list will change as the season progresses, but this is what we’re starting with! My priorities when making this list were things that were (1) affordable (2) large-family friendly, and (3) doable and fun for all ages. Stay tuned to see how that goes and send any other ideas my way!
Read more about life with a large family here:
Read more about the boys’ father-son camping trip here:
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