I didn’t use to be a huge fan of making bucket lists for our family, mostly because I don’t like to remove the elements of flexibility and spontaneity in our adventures. That said though, over the past 12 months I’ve rather enjoyed considering them as an optional way of planning our time ahead. Last year Chief got involved with the idea too and wrote his own bucket list for the summer. This year I’m going to evolve my planning system, give a bucket list for the year ahead a go, and see where we get to!
Our boys have never left the country, and although there’s so much to see and do here the idea of travelling abroad on an aeroplane is hugely appealing to them (less so to me – I can think of plenty of wonderful holiday options which don’t involve shepherding three boys through an airport!).
We went camping twice last year and the boys absolutely loved it! I think this year we might travel slightly further afield and take in some different sights, hopefully combined with seeing family who live a little further away too.
This has been on our radar for a little while now but we’ve still not made it to one. In fact, our boys have never experienced roller skates so I think this would be really good fun to do.
We have a lovely front garden where we are and whilst the small heathers in the borders are very pretty, I would like to add a tree out at the front. Rather than do this singlehandedly I am keen to involve the boys in planning and choosing the tree, as well as digging the hole for it. I love the idea that they can watch it grow over the years too!
Last year my husband took Chief away for the weekend. They had a lovely time in Snowdon, visiting Electric Mountain and going to a RSPB nature reserve. This year I would love it if we could repeat the experience but three times over, taking each of the boys away individually to do something that they would like to do and give them some very positive and focussed time.
Last year we successfully grew six tomato plants on our balcony. They absolutely loved the sun trap and we got a great haul of delicious cherry tomatoes! This year I would like to expand what we grow and make it into more of a feature with a few different herbs and vegetables.
We enjoy our Calendar of Goodwill that we complete each December, but for 2018 I want to continue it throughout the year. I’d like for the boys to remember that little acts of kindness can make such a difference to people.
Another gardening item! We started work on our back garden last year and we’ve already made a big difference to the space that we have. There is more work to be done though, with stones to be picked up and grass to be sown. I’d also like to work a little more on our wildlife corner with our wild flowers and think a little more about how we can create a real haven for our garden visitors.
My husband and I both enjoy sailing although it must be the best part of twenty years since we last went! We would like to take the boys on a boat this year though, and it’s something that they are really keen to do too.
Shop at a farmers’ market.
Even though we have a local farmers’ market we have yet to experience shopping at it as a family and taking produce home to turn into a meal. I think this would be a really nice activity to do one weekend.
Chief and Munch have both asked if they can stay up to look at the stars one night. Whilst it is still dark fairly early I think that this should be a straight forward wish to grant before the clocks change. We don’t have very many street lights where we are either so I hope that they will be thrilled to spot various constellations.
Chief loves playing golf although we don’t take him as often as we should do (another item for the bucket list perhaps). One way to combine this as a family activity though would be to all go on a crazy golf course. They are so much fun, and I think that by the summer even The Loud One will enjoy trying it out!
We did this last year during our 30 Days Wild adventures and absolutely loved it! It would be great to make this a regular feature of our weekends or holidays.
I thoroughly enjoy learning foreign languages and would like to pass this enthusiasm on to my boys. They are learning a little bit of French at school and this year I would like to support them further with that.
I have an entire list of places that are within an hour of where we live but we haven’t visited before. There are over 50 so this bucket list item will keep us very busy!
That’s it…for now! Do check back in later this year to see how we get on with our list. I’d love to hear if you have a bucket list and what is on it…?