2020 Family Summer Bucket List + FREE Printable

2020 has turned into quite a year!  There is still some unknown for the upcoming days, weeks and even months, but our family didn't want the coronavirus to stop us from having some summer fun!  So the kids and I sat down earlier this week and made our annual Summer Bucket List!

Create your own Summer Bucket List with my FREE Printable

As a to-do list fan I love the bullet notes and calendar space so you can think how to schedule everything 😉

For the last couple of years we have used this template and we found the best success with it.  It helped us narrow down our ideas, and it also helped us plan out and think through our activities monthly.  Our Summer Bucket Lists over the years (2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013) have not only created a lot of great memories, but several have even become family traditions.

So let's dig into this year's list a bit further!  To start with we will go to the calendar activities.  Sadly due to regulations and closures we aren't sure how some of our favorite annual activities will pan out like our library's summer reading program, our County Fair, our community's VBS and even the Iowa State Fair.  But three things we know we can and will be doing are: our annual Iowa Ice Cream Roadtrip, we have yurts booked in Clear Lake, and we will go somewhere on a Summer Family Vacation.  Going on a Summer Family Vacation has been a priority for us for the last seven year and we aren't going to let that change this year!  Originally we had wanted to explore Michigan but due to unknowns we are leaning towards staying closer to home and making sure there is a lot of outdoor activities we can do wherever we decide to go.  So if you haven any suggestions in Iowa or Minnesota let me know in the comments section!

Now, moving on to our bullet items.  We didn't even look at our COVID-19 Bucket List but I noticed a couple repeats.  I guess that means the kids really want to do it!  The first item is to go to or build a Tree House.  The kids have wanted my husband to build them a tree house for the last few years but we haven't found a kit or plan that we like, so the kids said just going to a tree house would work too!  So I'm thinking about going to a tree house like playground once parks are open again or trying to find a tree house we can stay in for our family vacation!  Any suggestions are more than welcomed!

Next is to go Camping.  Our kids have been asking about going camping since March so I wasn't surprised it was added to our Summer Bucket List.  We have a tent that the kids are eager to put up outside at our home once it is warm enough but I'm thinking renting a camper would be fun for a weekend.  We also are looking forward to yurting again this summer with friends.  And of course camping wouldn't be complete without checking off another item from their bucket list: eat s'mores!

Every summer we invite all of the cousins up to our house for VBS week.  But with plans on hold for our community's VBS as of now, the kids still wanted to make sure that all of our their cousins get to visit.

The next item I was very happy that they included on the list was read books!  We are planning on making reading a regular part of summer.  We love grabbing a big stack of books and reading outside, having a read-a-thon, or reading a book together as a family.

The kids love going on an adventure around our farm but they are excited to go somewhere and explore beyond our acreage.  We are planning on visiting area county and state parks, as well as going with my grandma to the Bridges of Madison County.  I think traveling to different parks will be a big part of our summer and going on many adventures!

The last item is something that I added to the list - research our family tree.  All of our children have family middle names so I wanted them to all learn about their namesakes.  So during our time home from school we got a head start on this project by asking different family members to answer questions about those family members.  That then led to us creating a family tree.  We have been talking with different family members to gather information through the kids great-great-grandparents so far and hope to continue to build upon and add more details throughout the summer.

What is on your summer bucket list?  Do you have any recommendations to help us complete ours?