The Baynhams

When the sun came out this weekend we all felt the adrenaline rush of excitement from the warm weather and the endless possibilities of a new Summer on it's way.

As we drove to the beach the kids talked over one another and competed with my singing along to Good Charlotte on the radio. They were stating their list of requests for the things they wanted to do as the weather warms up. In my happy sunny mood I was nodding yes to them all but then started to lose count of the things I was agreeing to so I grabbed a scrap of paper and started scribbling. I could hardly keep up with the ideas. Here are some of them in no particular order...

1. Go fishing.
2. Go to Manly in Sydney on a ferry.
3. Play beach rugby. (Without  Byron dislocating a shoulder)
4. Make home-made raspberry ice cream from Granny's recipe book.
5. Swim in the pool (Too easy?!)
6. Swim in the sea (Ditto!)
7. Go to the Drive-in cinema (never been to one before)
8. Have a night-time swim
9. Make the kids cook us dinner one evening without help (As seen on Shalom in the home)
10. Drink Champagne like it's my birthday! (Chorus of Good Charlotte on the radio!)
11. Hire a local tennis court for a family game of tennis. (Have been promising to do this for years)
12. Go camping overnight as a family.  (Even if it is in the backyard) 
13. Go to the iMax theatre in Sydney's Darling Harbour to watch a 3D movie.
14. Make a home-made curry from scratch (Mr B)
15. Wear a bikini for the first time since having kids (Me not Mr B!)
16. Go on a bush-walk.
17. Learn how to Skateboard (Sian)
18. Have a picnic breakfast overlooking the sea at sunrise.
19. Have a meal overlooking the sea at sunset. 
20. Roast marshmallows over a camp-fire. (Or over a candle if there is a fire ban like in most Aussie summers!)
21. Bounce on the trampoline with the hose-pipe. 
22. Let the kids use the camera so I can be in more of the photos and not always taking them.
23. Have friends do a sleepover in our house (Like you don't do that every school holidays kids!)
24. Have a beach body-boarding day (Think there will be a few of these)
25. Grow our own small veggie garden (Even just tomatoes would be an achievement)
26. Have pancakes for breakfast
27. Do cartwheels on the beach. 
28. Have fun making (and drinking) cocktails using the glasses I got from my mum two years ago....
29. Go to Dippin Dots ice cream shop (Yes, kids, you are going to nag till we cross this one off the list)
30. Hire a boat for the day 
31. Order a special number plate so we can legally use our bike rack and go cycling further a field than our area.
32. Cycle the Fernleigh cycle track in Newcastle
33. Try to go on a couple of  "Date nights" with Mr B
34. Jump off a rock (Gareth)
35. End the summer school holidays with a family meal at the local Japanese Teppanyaki restaurant.

I wonder how many we will actually achieve? It will be fun to cross them off the list as we do them. Some are easy and free and some will take a bit more planning and a bit of money. Hopefully we will never have a day when the kids say they are bored. If so I'll get them to read their list and find something that they can cross off.

Have you any ideas of things we should add on?