Summer Bucket List Days 29-35

*The captions are taken directly from my original Instagram posts.

Day 29: Another whirlwind of a day...Golf and swimming this morning, lunch, AREA 51 with Tinsley and Jameson, and tonight we visited Kaelyn. Eli and I were exhausted by the end of the day, but we're glad we got to see all of his cousins today and have fun! #thewilsonssummer2016

Day 29: I was asked tonight by Caleb and Kailey (my youngest brother and sis-in-law) to be Kaelyn's godmother. I'm not going to lie; I got all weepy about it and heartily agreed. I'm so thankful for this sweet angel and I can't wait to watch her grow up. I'm blessed to be her "Manna" and her Godmother 😊 #proudaunt#proudgodmother

Day 30: It was a golf playing, pool swimming, playground swinging, splash pad splashing, fort building, and having fun with cousins kind of day. #thewilsonssummer2016

Day 31: And that's a wrap for LSU Golf Camp! Eli had a blast this week and begged to go back next week as well. I can't say enough good things about the coaches, the facilities, the instruction, the activities, everything. Eli loved it all! He even won in the putting and driving competition in his group today! After a full week of golf camp, we were ready to be home and see Josh :) We ate at Newk's and then hit the road. It was a wonderful week full of fun!

#thewilsonssummer2016

Day 32: Saturday at home...Family movie, grocery shopping, grilling, baseball, washing cars and most importantly...SNOBALLS from @thesnoco. We needed a restful day at home and today was perfect :) #thewilsonssummer2016

Day 33: Four wheeler riding to a fishing pond and spending about 3 hours catching more fish than we ever could have imagined. Watching Eli catch fish after fish was so much fun, especially when he reeled in the only big bass of the night! What a fun summer evening! #thewilsonssummer2016

Day 34: The highlight of our day was certainly making homemade ice cream. Yum-O!! Magformers and Snap Circuits have also been huge hits around our house lately. Eli amazes me daily with what he's able to build and create with both of these :) #thewilsonssummer2016

Day 35: Magic Show at the library this morning, which prompted Eli to check out 4 magic books 😳 I can confidently say he's not going to be the next David Copperfield, but he did perform two magic tricks successfully for his dad when he arrived home for work 👏🏼 After lunch we spent our afternoon at the bowling alley with our friends The Atkins. It was a great summer day! #thewilsonssummer2016

Summer Bucket List Days 1-7

Each summer Eli and I make a Summer Bucket List of all the things we want to do while we're on summer break. Most of things we list aren't elaborate or even expensive but they give us purpose while we're home for 2 months. Each night he crosses off the things we did on our list that day until we're all finished. We count up how many days we're out for summer vacation and then try to list something for each day. This summer I chronicled our adventures on Instagram and I loved looking back at all the collages I made of the summer fun we had. 

The night before summer break started Eli and I sat down with our markers and made 

Our Summer Fun List for the summer. It was as long as our refrigerator! 

Day 1: We visited The Sno Co., a local snowball stand that sells THE BEST

snowballs around! 

Day 2: We rode our bikes to the library to do some reading and 

then came home and spent some time by the swimming pool. 

Barkley even joined us for some fun. 

Day 3: We took Barkley for a walk, played basketball, got ice cream at the 

coffeeshop downtown, bought some new books from the local bookstore, met Grandpa E for dinner, and had frozen yogurt for dessert! Whew! Day 3 was a BUSY day!

Day 4: We went back to the coffeeshop with Grandpa E (his favorite place when he visits) and then shopped a little downtown. Eli found this How to Build Paper Airplanes book and Grandpa E bought it for him. 

Day 5: We went fishing that morning at our local pond. For lunch we took Grandpa E to the Malt Shop and then came home to do some swimming. 

Day 6: (Memorial Day) Grandpa E had to leave but before he left he and Eli did some science together. Eli loves doing science experiments with him!

Day 7: We met Zue-Zue for lunch at Johnny's and then went bowling with the Atkins family.

Yay for the program "Kids Bowl Free"! We all had a blast! Eli asked Cooper to come home with us and these boys spent the afternoon swimming in the pool.

Our Week with Tinsley-Day Six

Friday was our last official day with Tinsley. We decided that we would do fun things around the house that morning and then go bowling after Tinsley's nap. For our morning fun we pulled out Eli's sticky mosaics that I had stashed away for a rainy day. These were perfect for Tinsley to do because she is still learning her shapes and colors. It was great practice for her! 

Of course, putting sticky foam shapes on your face it lots of fun, too!

Here is Tinsley's completed airplane. She was so proud that she was going to have something to give to her mommy when she went home. 

Eli and Tinsley both did a great job on their sticky mosaic.

We ate lunch, Tinsley and Eli napped, and when they woke up it was time for bowling. I had two little kids who were very excited about going bowling. 

They played two games and that was the perfect amount. They both had a blast and I'm so glad we were able to go.

That afternoon Grammy came to spend the night with us because Tinsley was going to go back home with her Saturday morning. Our week with this sweet girl had come to an end. We had such a wonderful time! I truly hope that we'll be able to get her for at least a week every summer. Eli and Tinsley play so well together and truly LOVE each other a lot. It's precious to watch them take care of each other. We're going to miss having her around on a daily basis. I can't wait to see her and have her over again! We love our sweet Tinsley and we're so glad she came to stay with us! 

Eli's 6th Birthday Party

The day after Halloween was Eli's party for his 6th birthday. (Yes, apparently I like to keep myself SUPER BUSY!) We came in from Halloween and I immediately changed gears from Halloween mode to Birthday mode. I finished his cake and cupcakes and then got everything ready for the next morning. Rather than have his party at our house this year, we went to the local bowling alley. That was such a great idea (Thanks, Josh, for suggesting it!) The kids were able to bowl and have lots of fun and since I didn't have to prepare any food I got to enjoy the party as well :) Eli wanted a Buzz Lightyear party so I ran with the Space theme. I think everything turned out really cute and fun! Josh wanted me to dial the decorations back a little this year and I think I did well. Eli specifically asked for decorations so I couldn't just cut them out completely...maybe next year ;)

Eli's rocket ship cake I made.

Space Alien cupcakes

The kids had such a great time bowling! Even the little kids were able to enjoy it and have fun.

After the kids finished bowling, it was time for hot dogs, drinks, and cake.

So happy to be turning 6!

I love watching his face every year when we sing Happy Birthday.

Making his birthday wish. I can't believe my baby is 6!

Eli had fun passing out the alien cupcakes to all his friends. 

Another birthday party down...

Can we all just stop and agree that my nephew is the cutest?

It was such a fun birthday party! I can't believe that 6 years have passed by in the blink of an eye. Eli is growing up into such a sweet little boy. I can't wait to see how much he grows this year!