SUMMER BUCKET LIST // DISPLAY YOUR LIST

Last week we finalized our summer bucket list and this weekend I finally got it up on the wall. It really just makes it feel like summer is almost here. But, seriously, my kids have like a month left of school which is insane to me. My boys were so excited to see it up on the wall when they woke up this morning that they made me to see how many days they have left in school. Usually the bucket list up means less than 9 days of school left. Whomp, whomp. 18 days of school left. As I’ve mentioned before, we usually start crossing things off our list Memorial Day weekend, but we started a week early this year. We didn’t even officially have the list on the wall, but the weather and the free weekend were the perfect combination to go have some adventures.

Your physical list could be anything. It could be post-its, notebook pages, a poster you had printed, or a piece of printed paper with a checklist. The important part is that it’s out and visible. This makes it easier to keep at the forefront of your mind when you’ve got some free time plus your kids definitely won’t let you forget what still needs to be done. It also builds excitement as kiddos see adventures being checked off. This year I went pretty simple style-wise and I sized them about 4×7 inches. The height was just because it’s what I liked best but the width is because I’m planning on printing photos of each of our adventures. These 5×7 photos will go beneath the words of the corresponding adventure. We’ve always used pictures as a way to gauge if an adventure is completed. The biggest advantage, though, is that the kids talk about the adventures that we’ve had all summer long when the see the photos. They tell guests about them, they show them to our friends back home on Skype, and they bring them up at meal times. I’m an advocate of getting photos off your computer and into the hands of your family and this is one more way to do this. At the end of summer, I laminate the pictures and the cards (or some years they have been the adventure and picture on the same page) and then bind them together with book rings. It’s an easy way to keep the summer memories out all year without having them up on your wall anymore. The kids usually take turns bringing them to school in the fall when they have to bring in something to show what they did over summer vacation.

I laminated our adventure list this year before I hung it because I didn’t want the corners to curl because of the humidity. I used masking tape to adhere them to the walls. I’ve always used Scotch masking tape and have never had a problem removing it at the end of the summer. There has never been any residue or peeling of paint. I wipe the wall down with alcohol before taping to clean it and get any oil off the walls. Test a small area of your painted wall with the alcohol before spraying the whole thing down. It’s never been an issue for us but I’d hate for it to be an issue for you.

Are you displaying your bucket list this year? Tell me how in the comments or tag #mmhsummerbucketlist on Instagram with a photo.