2024 Fall Bucket List

I’ve come to thoroughly enjoy the transition of summer to fall. There is a tangible crispness to the air and I love the way the fog settles as the sun slowly begins to rise in the morning. My morning coffee is even more cozy and I have a deep love for all my warm sweaters and cozy blankets.

I love making these bucket lists as they help me embrace the seasons of life right where I am and really helps me focus on the enjoyment that can be held. Below is our fall bucket list this year. I also included a free printable for you at the end of this post in case you would like to create your own!

Food & Drink

  • Chili bread bowl night
  • Bake a pumpkin pie
  • Bake banana bread (banana bread is always more cozy in fall!)
  • Make peach cobbler
  • Bake pumpkin cookies

Out & About

  • Go on a fall scavenger hunt
  • Go Trick or Treating
  • Check out books at the library
  • Visit a pumpkin patch
  • Buy a new fall candle

Creative

  • Decorate for fall
  • Carve pumpkins
  • Make a fall decoration
  • Make a thankful tree
  • Organize a room or closet

Rain or Shine

  • Go puddle jumping
  • Have a game night
  • Paper airplane contest
  • Donate to a food bank
  • Fall movie night

For those who want to create your own, you can print a blank list by clicking below.

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I hope you all are having a wonderful fall season so far. I would love to know what you have added to your fall list!

Much Love,

Cami

Beach Vacation 2024

We went on our first vacation as a little family of four! We usually go with friends (which we love!), but we wanted a chance to experience a little vacation with just the 4 of us. It was such a special time and I love the memories we made!

If you’ve been following along for a while, you might remember that we went to Seaside a few years ago and posted about it here: Beach Vacation 2020. Seaside is so kid friendly that we wanted to go back, and this time with our little Londyn!

Day 1: Hotel Check-In, The Beach, & Pool

We stayed at the Salt Line Hotel in Seaside, OR and loved it!!

We made it in to Seaside around 4:30 in the afternoon. The hotel was so great and texted updates letting us know our room was ready even before check-in! I had booked a couple months in advance and it was so nice not to have to worry that they lost our reservation.

Check-in was quick and easy and they had refreshing lemon water in the lobby.

Our room was so cute!

After check-in we went straight for the beach! It felt so good to be back!

After taking a walk on the beach it was about time for dinner so we walked through town and stopped at Fultano’s Pizza! We used to live in Cannon Beach and Fultano’s was our favorite pizza place, so this was a must. It did not disappoint!

After dinner we decided to head back to the hotel to let the kids enjoy the pool! Swimming in the hotel pool was always one of my favorite things when I was little. It was fun making these memories with my own kids now. :)

Of course I had to jump in the hot tub for a bit!

After the pool, we got all cleaned up and watched a little bit of Bluey before turning out the lights.

The first day of vacation is almost always my favorite!

Day 2: Aquarium, Beach, Arcade & S’mores!

We packed a lot into this day! We only had one full day there so we made it count! We started the day off with breakfast at the hotel and then off for some fun souvenirs shopping.

After some shopping it was time for us to head to the aquarium!

Sharks & Starfish!

Sleepy Octopus!

When we were finished at the aquarium it was lunch time and we decided on Mo’s Seafood & Chowder.

We loved the view and enjoyed the fresh ocean breeze!

They have the cutest plates!

I got clam chowder in their Cannon Bowl. So good!

Londyn was definitely needing a nap by the time we were finished with lunch, so we headed back to the hotel with our treasures and took a little rest.

While Londyn was still napping Gryffin and I slipped out to get some one-on-one beach time!

We had a lot of fun playing together with our beach ball (note to self, bring a football or frisby next time. The wind really liked to take off with it!) Mikey and Londyn eventually met us and chased the waves with us for a little bit too. :)

Next we headed back into town and hit up the arcade!

We finished our evening in town stopping at Pig N’Pacacke for dinner.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel and picked up a S’mores kit! It was such a cute little cozy time together. We loved it!

After we roasted our marshmallows and finished s’mores we were just in time to watch the sunset. We walked the short distance and climbed a sand dune to watch the sun sink into the ocean.

Watching the sunset was the best way to end our evening!

Day 3: Beach & Home

Going to the beach was all we wanted to do on our last day. We chased the waves again and Londyn loved playing in the sand. We wished we could have stayed just one more day!

After soaking in what time we had left it was time to say goodbye.

Until next time Seaside. Thanks for the memories!

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Stay tuned for the next “Currently” post and a fall bucket list!

Much love to you all,

Cami

2024 Summer Bucket List – Recap!

Wow, this summer went by SO fast!! I’m still a bit in shock that we have finished the first couple weeks of “back-to-school” already. I wanted to do a bit of a recap and see how we did on our Summer Bucket List! I did not manage to get pictures of everything but I enjoyed soaking in all these moments…

Here’s how we did!

Food & Drink

I love that the molds we have look like watermelons; they’re so cute! I used raspberry lemonade juice. these were so delicious and refreshing on a hot day! It was a big hit with the kids too. :)

Or according to our son, summer tea! I believe I used 6 teabags and set in the sun for about 2.5 – 3 hours. It was perfect with a slice of lemon!

I will never win an award for food photography, BUT, it was so good! I cheated and used store bought cherry pie filling, however I did make the pie crust from scratch! I will definitely be adding this to the list every year.

There is something just so refreshing when eating fresh fruit outdoors. We bought a blueberry plant last year that grew a total of 3 blueberries last summer. I left it outside all winter long and I thought for sure I killed it, but look at it!! I was so relieved I didn’t kill it. Not only that but it grew lots of blueberries this year! It was fun to eat from our own little plant. :)

No picture, but we did share an ice cream cone while at the fair. It was good but I feel like this should have been a mini event all on it’s own.

We marinated chicken with Italian dressing and barbecued it up. We also had corn on the cob and pasta salad to go with it. I didn’t get a picture but my stomach is growling thinking about it!

We’ll have to add this to our Fall Bucket List!

Out & About

We always have such a good time at the zoo! Our little girl’s favorite was the “kitty” (last year it was ducks, haha). My husband’s parents came to visit and going to the zoo was the highlight of our trip!

I was hoping to go to the Newport, Oregon aquarium, but we made it to the Seaside aquarium! We got splashed by the seals, saw a cool octopus, saw stingrays, and got to touch some cool starfish! It was a big hit with the littles!

We came home with some yummy pastries and homemade tamales! We only went once but it was fun to check it out. Also, our daughter kept going to every sign and pretending to read what it said, it was pretty cute. ; )

Oh man, I’m a bit sad on this one. They put in a brand new park in our town and we still have yet to go. It remains on our list though!

We went to our local county fair and it was great! We got to pet a lot of animals and someone even let me feed their little cow! The family section was really fun and they even had little water tables for all the littles to play and cool off with. It was great!

We finished our very first summer reading program! No picture to show but we were proud of it!

Honestly I should do a whole post dedicated to this next year! We found some pretty flower pots, cute little rain boots for Londyn, miscellaneous toys, and some craft stuff for Gryffin. My best find were these lamps for our guest room! You can’t beat 2 for $10 and they work great! It was a lot of fun as you just never know what you’re going to find!

Fun in the Sun

Half point only because I didn’t join in on this one. I pulled the water balloons out when the neighbor kids came over and they all had a blast!

Was not feeling up for it this year. We’ll try again another time!

This was one of our main activities early this summer in our backyard! No picture to show but we had a lot of fun!

Our backyard is huge and weeds have really gone crazy. We did manage to have bark chips put in on the side of the house though! We’ve been trying to maintain the rest, but it’s a lot of work!

We really didn’t do too much with our water toys this year, but we did enjoy it occasionally.

I bought flowers, but I didn’t end up planting them. The area I would like to plant flowers isn’t quite ready. We’ll try again next year!

I’m actually sad I didn’t do this with Gryffin because he likes doing it so much. This will go on our fall list though!

Rain or Shine

Okay this is almost a complete fail in this area! I managed to at least get a half point on one item!

A little sad on this one. There was hardly any rain this summer, and when it did rain it just wasn’t great timing to do this. I’m adding it to our Fall Bucket List though!

Honestly, I didn’t do a good job thinking about this one! I will be adding it to the Fall Bucket List! I think it will be more special to them now that school has started anyway. :)

I did manage to buy one! It’s so pretty I’ve been thinking of keeping it for a scrapbook. You know….when I get to scrapbooking some day….

We didn’t play a new one but we did play one we already have! The kids love this one! It’s especially great for toddlers who are learning their colors and are beginning to count.

This is getting a bit sad because it’s been on my summer list for literally years. I keep adding it though because one of these days I’m determined to make it happen.

Oh man, I talked about doing this with Gryffin, but we didn’t get to it! It’s going on our fall list!

I helped Gryffin put this together (so easy and it just snaps together!) and he painted it. So cute!

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I hope you all had a wonderful summer! Here’s to a happy fall season!

Much Love,

Cami

2024 Summer Bucket List

Happy Friday! Today I’m sharing our summer bucket list. I can’t believe we have just 3 weeks left before school starts! We’ve done a few fun things by now this summer but I’m excited to see how much we can check off our list before the end of the month!

Here’s our list this year! We have some oldies but goodies on here which is turning into tradition, but we added some new things too!

Food & Drink

  • Make lemonade popsicles
  • Make sun tea
  • Bake a pie
  • Eat fresh fruit outside
  • Go out for ice cream
  • Have a BBQ
  • Make peach cobbler

Out & About

  • Go to the zoo
  • Go to the aquarium
  • Go to a farmers market
  • Visit a new park
  • Go to the fair
  • Go to the library
  • Go garage sale-ing

Fun in the Sun

  • Have a water balloon fight
  • Have a picnic
  • Play Frisby
  • Clean up our backyard
  • Run through the sprinklers
  • Plant flowers
  • Go on a nature scavenger hunt

Rain or Shine

  • Go puddle jumping
  • Week night movie night
  • Mail a postcard
  • Play a new board game
  • Make a summer scrapbook
  • Do a photo challenge
  • Make a summer craft

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So there you have it! I’m looking forward to doing a recap at the end of the summer to share all the highlights and details! I hope you are all doing well! I would love to know – what’s on your summer bucket list?

Much Love,

Cami

Currently – July 2024

Hello!!! I’m still here!  Due to the chaos of life I unfortunately had slipped away from blogging again. Behind the scenes I have made several attempts at a comeback, but life has a way of throwing a lot punches. BUT I am finally here! My try, try again, approach is finally paying off.

To catch up since my last post (refresher – I was in the middle of job hunting this past October), after 9 job applications, 4 no responses, and 7 interviews later, I finally landed the job I was praying for!  It’s amazing to see the answers to my prayers on so many different levels!  God took care of each and every one of my worries, concerns, hopes, and dreams. Anywhere from finding a job locally (most jobs I was looking at were about 30 minutes away in a difference city), to finding a place that would understand and work with my family’s needs, to finding somewhere that would provide growth opportunities, and more.  I just couldn’t be more grateful.

After starting the job we were soon in the thick of the holiday season, a big learning curve with work, and what seems like never ending cold and flu bugs within our household. Changes and life events have continued to roll in and I continue to learn how to “go with the flow” and take the time I need to adjust.  Thank you to anyone who is actually still here!

Jumping right in, here is what we are currently up to! 

Currently Watching

The Olympics!

I am pretty much hooked on the ladies gymnastics and have been ever since I was a little girl. They have all done amazing!! It’s been a lot of fun to watch.

Currently Reading

Oooh I have a lot to update on this section! My reading life has finally picked up! I’m not going into detail on these but hopefully I will get better at book reporting on future posts. I’m starting with the book I am currently reading but also listing all the books I’ve read since my last blog post too.

Currently Reading “Eragon” by Christopher Paolini

So this is a curve ball from the types of books I typically read, but I was looking for something different and this checked that box. I am a little over half way right now and it’s been nice to escape into a fantasy world for a little bit.

“The Nightingale” by Kristin Hannah

This is a historical fiction book based in France during WWII. This book was intense and so, so good! With that said, I’m also really sensitive and I had to put this one down at times because it was just so much. 

“The In-Between” By Hadley Vlahos

Wow, what an eye opening read! Hadley is a hospice nurse and shares stories and life lessons she’s learned along the way. Her stories have changed my perspective when thinking about those nearing the end of life and how I feel it about it regarding my own life as well. I hope she continues to write more!

Ok…this one is still here. I took a loooong hiatus on this one. I can only read so many personal development books at one time, but as back-to-school season is nearing I am feeling more ready to pick it up again.

Currently Making/Baking

Healthy Choice, Grilled Chicken Marinara for the win!

It’s been easier these days for grab-and-go meals for my work lunch and this one is I feel good about. It couldn’t be easier, I just pop it into the microwave at work for 4.5 minutes and stir it all up. I’m looking forward to trying some of their other meals.

Current Favorite

My window plants!

I don’t usually have the best luck keeping house plants alive, but look at these guys! They’ve made it a whole year! I got the spider plant from a grand opening at a plant nursery when it was just a small little sprig…I still can’t believe how big it’s gotten! I caught myself eyeing another plant at the store the other day and I might just have to cave and get another one.

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It feels good to be back. I hope you all are doing well and are having a wonderful Summer!

Much love,

Cami