Well, with Labor Day, we are calling it the official end of summer. I haven't done a weekly recap recently because we haven't been doing a ton of things off the bucket list and when we have been doing fun things, they have been mostly unrelated so I blogged those things instead.
If anyone is interested, those blogs were:
I figured though that with the end of summer, we could handle one more final bucket list update so when I want to go back and read all about it again one day, it would be easy enough. So... here goes!
Here is our final bucket list. As you can see, a few things didn't get done again this year. The first was the Tavares Splash Pad. Honestly, we spent so much time at the pool and beach this summer that we didn't really miss this one. Also, it wasn't like it is around the corner. It isn't far... but it isn't a hop, skip, and a jump away. So, we just didn't get around to it. We also didn't make it to Lucky Monkey. We wanted to do this around Kenzie's birthday as we did last year but she had VBS the week leading up to her birthday so we couldn't make it work. We also didn't make it to Deleon Springs to eat at the Old Sugar Mill. We were sad about that one, but it never worked out. We initially had plans to do it as a final hurrah on Labor Day weekend and we were going to go on Monday but Will has not been napping lately and seemed a bit out of sorts. Almost like Kenzie's allergies issues. Combined with being overtired, he wasn't feeling up to much of anything on Sunday most of the day, except the playground at Wekiwa Springs but we decided it would be better to save that activity for some time in the fall. Luckily, the restaurant renewed their lease as it was somewhat touch and go over the summer so we will have a chance to do just that. Hopefully in a few weeks. Also, as it relates to that, we didn't get around to going fishing. It's been hot so we haven't been really into it and we thought we would do it at Deleon Springs. But... since we cancelled that trip, fishing went with it. Oh well. It's something we can do in the fall. Especially as it gets cooler. And that's about it. Not too shabby.
Okay, so one thing you might notice is that we amended the library. We changed it to just be go to the downtown library. We like visiting there sometimes because the children's section is so much larger than at our own branch. However, we never could make story time work because of the timing. However, we attended story time almost every week all summer long (as we do all year long) at our local branch so we weren't super broken up about missing story time down there. It is all the same story tellers anyway because they rotate through branches so it was unlikely we would see someone new anyway. Instead, we just went down on evening and walked around the children's section to pick some books. We were super excited that they had an entire shelving unit of Level 1 early reader type books. We are loving these right now as Kenzie is learning sight words since we can read them with her and have her read every sight word we come to. We have a ton at our own home but there are always more. We picked up a bunch of those as Will likes listening to them too along with a couple other books that the kids picked out. Then the kids played on the computers for a bit before we had to head out because the library was closing.
That visit led into completing another bucket list item. We then walked around Lake Eola to Anthony's in Thornton Park to have dinner. This is a pizza place that we really enjoy just a block from Lake Eola. Bonus: They will kid cut a slice of pizza which helps me out tremendously. Their slices are huge so even Kenzie wants her pizza cut there. Plus, it is really good pizza and the garlic rolls are yummy. We were able to eat outside because under their awning it was really nice. There was a breeze because rain was threatening to come in (though it never did). The kids enjoyed it a lot. They were pretty hungry because we had been doing a lot of walking at that point. Walking around the entire lake (though we cut off part because Steven dropped us off at the library and then went to his office to park in case we were too slow walking and didn't make it before they closed) is about a mile, I think. Steven got an extra walk in because he had to park the car and then walk to the library to meet us. Either way, it was a good distance to walk to dinner so the kids were pretty hungry. After we ate, we headed back to the car around the other side of the lake. The kids were super excited along the way to see a bunch more swans which are something of an iconic thing around Lake Eola. A few years ago, some were stolen and there was this big thing about getting them back. The city (or whomever owns them) did get them, and the thief was charged. My favorite are the black swans. So pretty. There were also a ton of ducks and there was even a huge group of ducklings hanging around in an area where a man was feeding them seeds. It was pretty exciting for the kiddos.
Another bucket list item was checked off when we went to Wekiwa Springs State Park for a hike and picnic. We didn't actually hike as it was crazy hot but instead let the kids play on the playground and found a picnic table nearby so Steven could grill hot dogs and sausages while I watched the kids. They were all over that playground. The favorite of the day was probably the swing though. Will hasn't let me get him anywhere near a swing in probably a year but he was all for it and argued about getting out. Kenzie is still working on learning to pump her legs to actually go anywhere so she kept wanting to be pushed. She also likes to swing on her tummy like she is flying. When the food was done, we all chowed down before letting the kids play a bit longer. When we left, we drove to the back of the park to see if we could find any deer but we didn't see any. This was actually a left over bucket list item from last summer. We never did it because it was always so hot. We almost didn't do it again this year because the heat has been brutal but we decided to just go for it. I'm glad we did too because it was a really fun evening. We are excited for some cooler weather so we can do this kind of thing more often.
And with those final two things, we are saying a bittersweet goodbye to summer. We love summer in this house. All things beach, water, and sand. But we are ready to usher in Fall with football, barbecues, picnics, and more family fun.
Here is our final bucket list. As you can see, a few things didn't get done again this year. The first was the Tavares Splash Pad. Honestly, we spent so much time at the pool and beach this summer that we didn't really miss this one. Also, it wasn't like it is around the corner. It isn't far... but it isn't a hop, skip, and a jump away. So, we just didn't get around to it. We also didn't make it to Lucky Monkey. We wanted to do this around Kenzie's birthday as we did last year but she had VBS the week leading up to her birthday so we couldn't make it work. We also didn't make it to Deleon Springs to eat at the Old Sugar Mill. We were sad about that one, but it never worked out. We initially had plans to do it as a final hurrah on Labor Day weekend and we were going to go on Monday but Will has not been napping lately and seemed a bit out of sorts. Almost like Kenzie's allergies issues. Combined with being overtired, he wasn't feeling up to much of anything on Sunday most of the day, except the playground at Wekiwa Springs but we decided it would be better to save that activity for some time in the fall. Luckily, the restaurant renewed their lease as it was somewhat touch and go over the summer so we will have a chance to do just that. Hopefully in a few weeks. Also, as it relates to that, we didn't get around to going fishing. It's been hot so we haven't been really into it and we thought we would do it at Deleon Springs. But... since we cancelled that trip, fishing went with it. Oh well. It's something we can do in the fall. Especially as it gets cooler. And that's about it. Not too shabby.
Okay, so one thing you might notice is that we amended the library. We changed it to just be go to the downtown library. We like visiting there sometimes because the children's section is so much larger than at our own branch. However, we never could make story time work because of the timing. However, we attended story time almost every week all summer long (as we do all year long) at our local branch so we weren't super broken up about missing story time down there. It is all the same story tellers anyway because they rotate through branches so it was unlikely we would see someone new anyway. Instead, we just went down on evening and walked around the children's section to pick some books. We were super excited that they had an entire shelving unit of Level 1 early reader type books. We are loving these right now as Kenzie is learning sight words since we can read them with her and have her read every sight word we come to. We have a ton at our own home but there are always more. We picked up a bunch of those as Will likes listening to them too along with a couple other books that the kids picked out. Then the kids played on the computers for a bit before we had to head out because the library was closing.
That visit led into completing another bucket list item. We then walked around Lake Eola to Anthony's in Thornton Park to have dinner. This is a pizza place that we really enjoy just a block from Lake Eola. Bonus: They will kid cut a slice of pizza which helps me out tremendously. Their slices are huge so even Kenzie wants her pizza cut there. Plus, it is really good pizza and the garlic rolls are yummy. We were able to eat outside because under their awning it was really nice. There was a breeze because rain was threatening to come in (though it never did). The kids enjoyed it a lot. They were pretty hungry because we had been doing a lot of walking at that point. Walking around the entire lake (though we cut off part because Steven dropped us off at the library and then went to his office to park in case we were too slow walking and didn't make it before they closed) is about a mile, I think. Steven got an extra walk in because he had to park the car and then walk to the library to meet us. Either way, it was a good distance to walk to dinner so the kids were pretty hungry. After we ate, we headed back to the car around the other side of the lake. The kids were super excited along the way to see a bunch more swans which are something of an iconic thing around Lake Eola. A few years ago, some were stolen and there was this big thing about getting them back. The city (or whomever owns them) did get them, and the thief was charged. My favorite are the black swans. So pretty. There were also a ton of ducks and there was even a huge group of ducklings hanging around in an area where a man was feeding them seeds. It was pretty exciting for the kiddos.
Another bucket list item was checked off when we went to Wekiwa Springs State Park for a hike and picnic. We didn't actually hike as it was crazy hot but instead let the kids play on the playground and found a picnic table nearby so Steven could grill hot dogs and sausages while I watched the kids. They were all over that playground. The favorite of the day was probably the swing though. Will hasn't let me get him anywhere near a swing in probably a year but he was all for it and argued about getting out. Kenzie is still working on learning to pump her legs to actually go anywhere so she kept wanting to be pushed. She also likes to swing on her tummy like she is flying. When the food was done, we all chowed down before letting the kids play a bit longer. When we left, we drove to the back of the park to see if we could find any deer but we didn't see any. This was actually a left over bucket list item from last summer. We never did it because it was always so hot. We almost didn't do it again this year because the heat has been brutal but we decided to just go for it. I'm glad we did too because it was a really fun evening. We are excited for some cooler weather so we can do this kind of thing more often.
And with those final two things, we are saying a bittersweet goodbye to summer. We love summer in this house. All things beach, water, and sand. But we are ready to usher in Fall with football, barbecues, picnics, and more family fun.
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