30 Days of Summer - Post #30 - Summer Bucket List 2018 Update

Well, we're three days away from the first day of fall and this is my final post in Jean's, over at So Not Organized, and my '30 Days of Summer' blog series. I do hope that you all have enjoyed reading our posts as much as we've enjoyed writing them. I do think that this exercise has helped me find the beauty in, what is usually, an unbearable season for me. Thanks, Jean! I've enjoyed our time together and look forward to working with you again in the future! Blessings, my friend! 💗

PLEASE NOTE: I am posting this post in full as it was written with 

completed items marked with a line through them and notes made in bold type 

where appropriate. Have added a lot of pictures, too!😊

Sunflowers Blooming Outside Our Back Door

Once again, the summer season is upon us and, as always, it promises to be a busy one. I have been thinking about some of the things that I'd like to do this summer and some of the things that I hope to accomplish over the course of it. I know that, in reality, I probably won't get to all of them, but having a list will certainly help me to focus on the season and remind me to enjoy it to the fullest! 

"...ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand" 

(Luke 21:30).

My Summer Bucket List 2018

1. Write my summer bucket list
2. Welcome another new granddaughter into the family 👶

Miss Hannah Nicole - 6/26/18 - 9 lbs 7 oz. - 20" long

3. Focus on building strong relationships with family members and friends 

(This probably wasn't a good thing to put on a bucket list because it's pretty abstract. I do feel that I have tried to stay focused and have moved forward in some areas, while not so much in others. This certainly isn't something that can be held up to a yard stick and measured or simply crossed off of a 'to-do' list and be done with. It is something that will have to be nurtured on a daily basis over the course of a life-time without losing focus.)

4. Finish the unit that I'm currently on in Rhema and start the final unit before graduation 
5. Take a vacation 

(Passed this one up. You can read more about that in 30 Days of Summer - Post #26 - Summer Vacations...or the Lack Thereof by clicking HERE.)

6. Eat watermelon 🍉
7. Celebrate Independence Day by attending an area city fireworks display 🎆

(We did celebrate Independence Day, but we did not attend an area city fireworks display this year. There was just too much going on and we were too tired to make the extra 40 to 100+ mile round-trip to do it this year.)

8. Attend an outdoor concert

(My friend, Dorothy, couldn't make it up for her birthday in June, as planned, so, on July 26th we met in Springfield and celebrated both of our birthdays (hers late; mine early) and what a day we had! Bass Pro, lunch at Hemmingway's, Wonders of Wildlife (which was totally awesome!) and the National Aquarium (we got to pet the stingrays and some of them were so sweet)! Then, that evening, we attended the Peter Frampton concert at the Ozark Empire Fair. What a great way to spend a birthday outing with one of my oldest and dearest friends!)

Dorothy and I @ the Peter Frampton concert - 7/26/28
We've been friends since we were 10-years-old.

9. Hike a new trail

(Hiked the nature trail at the Mildred B. Cooper Memorial Chapel in Bella Vista, Arkansas as part of my birthday outing.)

10. Enjoy fresh produce and herbs out of our own garden 🌱

(This was a great year for zucchini, green peppers, banana peppers, onions, cucumbers, and herbs...all of which we use a lot of.)

11. Celebrate summer birthdays with the grandlittles (and there are a BUNCH of them!) 🎂

(For details on this one click here: 30 Days of Summer - Post #29 - Summer Birthdays.)

12. Find creative ways to use up items on-hand (food, craft supplies, paper products, etc.)

(Whether it be food, health and beauty products, household cleansers, or whatever, we have consistently worked toward using up the last little bits of stuff before opening new bottles, cans, jars, tubes, packages, etc. and have reused, repurposed, and recycled when possible. I think we've done well with this this summer and want to continue moving forward in this area throughout the coming months.)

13. Attend Project Learning Tree 🌳
14. Visit friends at Truman Lake

(We didn't make it there, but they made it here. It was a short visit, but it counts...right?)

Here we are...wreaking havoc in Casey's while going for our traditional Icee! 😆

15. Go stargazing 🌟

(On Sunday evening, August 12 (the night before my birthday) my husband, my cousin, Dave, and I went out to the park and watched the Perseid's meteor shower. That is always a thrill for me! I arrived with the Perseid's back in 1961 and they've always been special to me. It's an event that I look forward to annually. 🌠🌟🌠)

16. Plan and complete summer programs at work:

        a) Hug-A-Herp Day (Reptiles and Amphibians) 🐍🐸🐢

Kaiden Introduces River and Rain to a Baby Painted Turtle

River is Fascinated by the Tiny Turtle and Takes a Closer Look

A Juvenile Northern Yellow-BelliedWater Snake 

        b) Explorer Daycamp 2018 - Who Gives A Hoot? (Owls) 🦉

        c) Let's "Stick" Together Library Program (Sticks)

        d) Sunflowers Library Program (Sunflowers) 🌻

        e) Sunflowers a la Petite Prairie Saturday Programs (Van Gogh) 

17. Enjoy a summer storm

(I can't say that I enjoyed it, but I was sure freaked out by one! The same one that hit Table Rock Lake and capsized the Ride the Ducks boat killing 17 people at Branson. What a crazy storm! And it came out of nowhere! It was the freakiest storm I've ever witnessed!)

18. Celebrate my birthday with a banana split

(Since our birthdays are only four days apart, granddaughter,
Liz, and I enjoyed birthday banana splits together. 🎂)

19. Catch a lightening bug 
20. Do a night hike 🌜
21. Organize our bookshelves
22. Get blinds up on the south-facing windows

(I have them. They're just not up yet. 😭)

23. Make red, white, and blue Jello

(For details click here: 30 Days of Summer - Post #6 - Red, White, and Blue Jello)

24. Go camping with my husband ⛺
25. Build a bonfire 🔥
26. Make S'mores
27. Make a fairy jar

(We've got the supplies for this, but, my youngest daughter and I simply haven't found the time to get together to complete the project. I think we're getting together in late October, so maybe we can do it then. If not then, then November. We'll see.)

28. Take a walk in the rain ☔

(By the time we took our selfie it had stopped raining, but we did, indeed, take a
walk in the rain at the Lester Davis Memorial Forest on a Sunday afternoon.)

29. Make homemade ice cream

(Found the ice cream maker that we wanted online. It reminds me of the ice cream maker that Grandpa and Grandma had when I was a child. The only difference is, you had to hand crank Grandpa and Grandma's and ours is electric. 😉 And ours came with two packages of ice cream mix and two packages of rock salt! I don't think they had mixes when I was growing up. 😄 

30. Go to a movie

(We don't go to the theater too often (maybe once a year...or two or three?) but I did want to see Christopher Robin, so, soon after it came out, John and I went to Pittsburg to see it and it was really cute! I liked it! I love Winnie the Pooh! 💗 Our youngest son had one when he was a baby and he loved sucking on Winnie's nose! 😄 So cute! Now his little daughter plays with it when she's at Nana's house.)

31. Preserve what I can of the summer bounty

(This was a great gardening year for us...especially for zucchini and peppers! We used all we could fresh, plus probably have at least a quarter of our freezer full of frozen squash, green, and sweet banana peppers.)

32. Grill burgers on an outdoor grill 🍔

(Found the little habachi that I wanted online. The grates on it just fits
four burgers and, for just John and I, that's perfect. 🍔)

(Nothing says summer like the taste of a fresh burger right off the grill! 🍔 Yum!)

33. Go through, at least, ten totes of stuff that is packed and put away, throw away, give away, or sell

(I don't know that I've gone through ten totes, but I have gone through some and have done a lot of putting away, throwing away, giving away, and selling, so I'm counting it!) 😆

34. Play in cool water on a hot day

Playing in War Eagle Creek
War Eagle Mill @ Rogers, Arkansas

35. Have a yard sale
36. Visit Grand Gulf State Park 
37. Do a season-long nature-at-night study using Discover Nature at Sundown by Elizabeth P. Lawlor as my guide 

(I didn't cover everything in the book, but did enjoy studying several of the things mentioned throughout...observing the different degrees of nightfall, the sounds and smells of night, owls, frogs, moths, fireflies, bats, and hoppers. I also put together a basic field kit of items that is easy to grab and often needed on after-dark forays.)

38. Collect rocks 
39. Observe insects around an outdoor light at night and sketch them 
40. Feel cool grass beneath my feet 

That's what's on my summer bucket list. What's on yours? 

Until next time...
~Rebecca

P.S. - This post is my final post in the 30 Days of Summer blog series hosted by Jean, over at So Not Organized, and myself. To see all of the posts that I have written in this series (Posts 1 through 30) click HERE where they are listed in numerical order with links to each.

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30 Days of Summer - Post #29 - The Waning Days of Summer