Well summer is over.  Maybe not by the calendar, but in my book summer ends on Labor Day weekend.  That was my goal for finishing our summer bucket list.  It was a long and fun summer and we killed our bucket list.  Only a few things didn't get accomplished this summer.  It happens.  You got to shoot for the moon in all things though, right?

So here is how we did...

-Go strawberry picking - COMPLETED.
-Go to Deanna Rose Farmstead - COMPLETED.

-Complete the summer reading program through the library

First off.  Let me just say that I LOVE our town and the library we have here.  Their summer reading program was immensely better than those from my childhood.  The girls (and I!) finished our summer reading early but didn't make it to the library again until a few weeks before the program was done.  The girls got the cutest little certificates, play dough, a book to take home, coupons for free cookies, free bowling and coupons for discounts at the local germ farm (aka the indoor playground).  They even sent a book home with Emily girl.  So mission accomplished!

-See a movie at Memorial Stadium - COMPLETED.
-Swim lessons

We wrapped up swim lessons in August.  When we started the summer Grace would not even put her face in the water.  Now she puts her face in the water willingly and kicks all over the place.  By the end of summer her instructor (we went through our country club and their lifeguards take on swim lessons for extra hours) even had her jumping off of the diving board.  She may not be 100% in the swim department but I definitely feel like she is way more comfortable now then she was at the beginning of summer.

-Gymnastics 

Just wanted to share this little gem from her last gymnastics class of the session.  I can't rave enough about the gymnastics program through the Lawrence Parks and Recreation department.  I am still trying to find a way to squeeze gymnastics in for her this next session.  We will have to see though!

-Picnic at the lake - COMPLETED.

-Go to the fair

We drove 5 hours to go to mama's favorite fair with Aunt Erin!  Everything is home grown, family friendly and CHEAP.  We rode the train, the merry go round and all the kiddie rides.  Played some games and toured all the animals.  It is worth it to make the drive every year. 

-Go to the zoo

We didn't just go to one zoo, we went to three DIFFERENT ones.  We started by going to the Topeka zoo with some of our local friends.  It was a super nice day so it was PACKED.  We fed some birds, and cried a lot.  But we survived and made it out in time to get Cracker Barrel.  Find you some friends that will hit up Cracker Barrel with you y'all.

Then we hit up the Salina zoo with my best friend and her family.  Rob was even able to make the trip out with us for this one.  It was a slightly warmer day.  But we saw everyone, everything and bonded over crazy children and somehow surviving.

Finally we met Allison and her family in Manhattan to go to the zoo there.  It was a disaster of a hot day that followed a much cooler day so we were expecting it to not be too terrible.  Darn Kansas got us.  It was so gross.  But in the end, any time spent with our friends is a win win.  And my kids slept GREAT that night. 

-Spend an afternoon at Wonderscope - after getting hand, foot and mouth last summer we have avoided most indoor play areas.  Unfortunately, Wonderscope is included in the indoor play area criteria.

-Run through the sprinkler

While it was not necessarily running and I have no proof.  We spent many afternoons playing keep away from dad's new sprinkler system while he was in the process of installing and adjusting everything.  So I am going to count it y'all.

-Build a fort and watch a movie in it

It was not really the fort my mind envisioned but the girls set out one afternoon to pull every last blanket out and cover our coffee table then proceed to lay inside and giggle.  This ended up happening many afternoons this summer.  Maybe sometime soon I will pull out the sheets and really show them how to make a fort.

-Take sister pictures of my girls

Yes! One Saturday, Rob had something going on so we ventured out to the small sunflower field just south of town.  I got only one picture that was worth anything because Brooke was not having it, it was hot and the sun was very very bright.  But you know what, one is all you need to document this time in their life.

-Have lunch with Grandma - COMPLETED.

-Learn the alphabet - we worked a lot more on our counting than the alphabet this summer.  We counted EVERYTHING you guys.  So while we didn't learn the alphabet, we did tackle another learning aspect.

-Teach Grace to write her own name

She still needs a bit of guidance getting started but she can identify the letters in her name and write them out.  In preschool she will learn to write all uppercase letters this school year, which had I known that, we would have focused on that first. Oh well!

-Practice Grace's speech diligently

Our summer was full of speech practice.  I briefly touched on our speech adventures in the back to school post.  We did the summer session through the school system.  Worked one on one with a speech therapist the rest of the summer. And practiced, practiced, practiced at home.  This summer we saw so much improvement in the speech department, so I am very thankful for that!

-Learn the difference between left and right - this is still a work in progress.  I ask her almost daily as she is putting her shoes on or writing which hand she is using and it hasn't quite clicked yet.  Hopefully soon!

-Potty train Brooklyn - we started sitting on the big girl potty but with Emily being attached at the boob, it is going to be really hard to actually potty train Brooke for awhile.  My goal is to have her potty trained by next summer.  But like with Grace, I am not putting any pressure on it.  It just has to be done in order for her to start preschool next fall.  So we shall see.  It is totally doable.

-Attend Vacation Bible School - COMPLETED.

-Go to the farmers' market

That same day we hit up the sunflower field, we also made it over to the farmers' market for big ole brownies and cinnamon rolls.  I did't realize how large the farmers market here in town is, so it was nice surprise to see all that was offered.  Have I mentioned we absolutely love our town lately?

So there you have it.  The last of our summer bucket list.  It was packed full and so much fun in a lot of ways.  I am not at all a summer person, but it was nice this year to have a bunch of activities to keep us busy but not overcomplicate our whole summer either.

(Sorry for the low quality cell phone pictures that most of these are.  But I'm a mom of three!  I don't have time for the big camera, all the time.  Ha ha.)

How was your summer?!