you've never lived until you've...

I am a tour guide. Each day my babies hear language they don't really understand, and witness events and objects that are completely foreign. Everything is new. In the past I have taught them colors, introduced them to letters and numbers. Taken them outside to name the bugs, the sky, the trees. Why though? So they can recite the names of things back to me?

Ever so much more than that! I get to teach them to live!

This summer's tour list:

*experience a sunrise

*walk to a gas station to pick out a favorite candy

*make a sand castle and then stomp on it

*build a soap-box car and race down a hill

*roast a hot-dog over a fire

*watch a live play

*put on a puppet show

*have a major dance party, with decorations and everything

*star gaze (I'm taking an astronomy class, so I'll be an especially clever guide)

*eat a really messy dinner with no utensils

*build a catapult and shoot things

*swim in a real lake, not a man-made one

*make crepes for daddy and serve him breakfast in bed

*build a really sweet fort

*hike a trail

*make a slip-n-slide out of a shower curtain and use dish detergent to slide faster

*shadow puppets late at night

*go roller skating

*make a gift for a friend and doorbell ditch

*ride a horse or pony

*have a yellow day where we wear only yellow, and eat only yellow food

*visit daddy at school and bring him a picnic

*paint our faces

*plant seeds in cups and water them until they are beautiful plants

*dig a giant hole

*make fruit smoothies

*rent a projector and make our own drive in, since the one here doesn't operate

*go on a treasure hunt

*canoeing

*catch a tadpole, kiss it for good luck and set it free

*squirt-gun fight

*make bird-masks and wings with feathers and pretend to fly

*record our voices and play them back and laugh at how silly we sound

*go a day without shoes

*eat cotton candy

*spend a whole day in our pajamas watching movies together

*watch daddy's softball game and eat nachos with everything

*see a parade

*climb a tree

*have a mud fight

Today we went for a little drive.

We visited an old favorite place.

The stacked sprinkler pipes out in the field.

Then we visited a new place.

A random church parking lot. I wouldn't consider it a new favorite, but if every place we went was a grand discovery, they wouldn't be so special anymore.

What does your summer live list include? Send me a link to your list and I will post it!