Hi, I’m Nicole, aka ThinkerMommy. My husband, Nick, and I have been together for 9 years, married for 4. (And no, I will never stop counting the unmarried years, haha. Our anniversary this June will be the big 5/10!) We have a 3-year-old daughter nicknamed O and an 8 month old son nicknamed Number 2 (but we’re really trying to get something better to stick).

Since you don’t know me yet: I love being creative, Pinterest sucks away hours of my life, I’ve been hoarding Family Fun, Crochet Today and other crafty magazines for as long as I can remember, and I’ve got about 5 million bookmarks on my laptop. But, I’m also the type of person that needs sticky notes in every room just to remember to take my vitamins. Too often I read an article and say, “We should totally do that!” and then completely forget about it. Or, after the kids are asleep, I think to myself, “Oh man, we should have done X fun thing today!” but, of course, it’s too late. So, we decided to join The Summer Bucket List Challenge to help ensure we’re not missing out on those special little things that create memories and make childhood magical. Plus, there are honestly no cons; it’s all-inclusive, pure fun. But I still have a few other reasons why I like the Bucket List Challenge anyway:

1. Literally writing out and displaying our Bucket List in the living room, where we’ll walk past the list multiple times a day, makes it impossible not think about which activity you could make time for (and for visually oriented people like me it’s even better).
2. Since the Summer Bucket List Challenge is public, that makes everyone online my new accountability partners.
3. I’m addicted to photo books and The Bucket List will make a great one!
4. Did I mention I’m also an obsessive list maker?

Last year I joined excitedly, but ended up not participating much because Number 2 arrived and the season turned out to be an overwhelming blur of preparing, caring and adjusting – more so than I ever imagined it would be. But, now that we’ve had time to get used to our new family dynamic and Number 2 is a little older and less demanding, we are SO READY!

This year’s Challenge begins on May 20 and lasts until Labor Day, Sept 2. That gives us exactly 3 months and 13 days to create some serious summer memories. Now 13 has always held a special place in our family – it’s the day Nick and I decided to get married and we always try to do something small and special whenever a 13th falls on a Friday. So… I’m pretty sure this is some sort of cosmic sign that we’re destined to have The Best Summer Ever thanks to our Bucket List!

What to do with 15 weeks, 105 days or 2,520 hours of potential fun? In order to make sure our list wasn’t overwhelming, my husband and I voted on 2 activities per week (or 30 total), with the option to add more (which we quickly did). We also decided we should add in some Adult Only dates too because we’re terrible at making them happen and because happy parents = a happy family.  This year we’re going to document the things we cross off our List with lots of pictures. You can also follow me at my blog, ThinkerMommy.com. So, (drumroll, please) here is our 2013 Summer Bucket List:

1. Go on a scavenger hunt
2. Get ice cream from an ice cream truck (must be playing music)
3. Ride bikes
4. Go berry picking
5. Go grocery shopping with O’s own cart and list
6. Visit a farmer’s market
7. Attend a baseball game
8. Go swimming (first time!)
9. Take advantage of BOA’s Free Museum Day
10. Watch fireworks
11. Play with water balloons
12. Visit Sandy Hook beach (if re-opened)
13. Go bowling (first time!)
14. Visit the local zoo
15. Make gak
16. Trip to Boston
17. Use sidewalk chalk
18. Visit the Camden Aquarium
19. Have a picnic
20. Visit the Central Park Zoo
21. Airbrushing
22. Trip to California (first airplane!)
23. Make stained glass with tissue paper
24. ADULTS: Zip-line date
25. ADULTS: Miniature Golf
26. Bike on Governor’s Island
27. Find a new fun park
28. Play with bubbles
29. Make popcicles (first time!)
30. Ride a carnival coaster
31. Have a one color meal
32. ADULTS: Go to the movies
33. Go on a firefly walk
34. Visit Sesame Street Place

Last summer was plenty of fun. Our little fella, the Kid, was one and he was toddling around well enough to play in the fountain at our city park and enjoy a good ice cream cone. We discovered the joy of summer band concerts and the pool, and he was even a little bit interested in fireworks on the 4th of July. Nonetheless, now that the Kid’s a year older, I think this upcoming summer is going to be even better. Like, so fun that my Sweet Husband and I can’t stop talking about it. One of us will say, “We need to remember to do such-and-such with the Kid this summer….” And then, both lighting up, we’ll chime off together, “Ahhhh! This summer is going to be so much fun!”

Watching the last, late-spring snow melt, we’ve hardly been able to wait. Vacations and visits to the snow cone shack we grew up spending our allowances at….camping trips and charity runs and new adventures to try together….at the beginning of the season the summer seems so limitless. But, even though we’re already making plans, with jobs and other responsibilities these beautiful days have a way of flying by. In the press of life, it’s so easy to forget those good intentions, and before you know it it’s Labor Day and another summer has slipped away.

To prevent that, I give you the 2013 Carver-Allmond Summer Bucket List! It’s a mix of simple, ’round-town and great-big-adventure…and—Ahhhh!—it’s going to be so much fun!

1. Spread out our blanket and clap along to the tunes at as many Wednesday night summer band concerts in the park as we can.
2. Dip our toes in the Pacific Ocean and collect a piece of jade from “Jade Cove” in Big Sur.
3. Introduce the Kid to Tropical Sno.
4. Take a swim in Grandpa’s pool.
5. Finally borrow our friends’ canoe and see if we can paddle as a family.
6. Make homemade ice cream using Grandma-Great’s recipe.
7. Go camping with Manga and Panga at Roaring River.
8. Run the “Red Dog 10K” again as a family, with the Kid riding along in his stroller as our coach.
9. Make an entire meal from food grown in our own backyard.
10. Visit the Kansas City Aquarium.

Make sure you follow our Summer Bucket List Inspiration board and hop on Pinterest tonight for all the fun!

I’ve got some awesome guest pinners who will be pinning with me tonight!

Ellie Petrov – Creative Geekery Blog
Michelle Wear – Table for Five
Casey Chancellor-Ray – Phreckle Face Photography Blog
Megan Hemphill – Prairie & Co
Anna-Leigh McClelland – My Lens is Ruby Red
Jennifer Hurlburt – Jennifer Witt | the Blog
Eden Hensley – The Road to the Good Life
Amy Lee – The Connection We Share

Every New Year I choose a word that will define my year, be my mantra, so to speak. Its a word that often has been a struggle in the past and something that I want to really focus on in the present and future. This year it is INTENTIONAL – choosing to direct my energy, my focus, my time to those things that matter most to me! To be thoughtful and deliberate in the decisions I make.

Last year, I took on Project 366 – a personal project documenting my family on a daily basis… something that shamefully had been neglected in the busy-ness of work and life. It was a step towards being intentional with my photography and with my kids. The benefits of it were obviously images of my family and my life that I would have otherwise not taken, but it was also the time intentionally spent with them each day. And I’ve missed it greatly!

Enter the Happy Family Movement! This year, our family is going to join in on their Summer 2013 Bucket List Challenge. Summer comes and goes so quickly and I really feel that intentionally thinking and planning fun family times will only make our holidays that much better! I don’t want to hear the words “I’m bored”, I don’t want to wish for September to come, I don’t want to be that parent that sings along to that Staples commercial with “It’s the most wonderful time of the year!” when the kids go back to school, I don’t want to waste our few months of sunshine and warmth, and I really don’t want my children to feel that their parents only know how to work and not play. Instead, we are going to have fun! We’re going to laugh and explore, share new and old experiences, we’re going to have a rockin’ 2013 summer!

Why don’t you and your family join us? Sign up for the Summer Bucket List Challenge here! I will be blogging all of our adventures so would love for you to follow along! With 35 items in our bucket we’ll be aiming to do a couple a week (and hopefully some other awesome adventures not listed!).

Our Summer 2013 Bucket List: (in no particular order!)

play hopscotch
plant a garden
go to a splash park
build a rocket ship
play tennis
go to the zoo
make pickles
swim in an outdoor swimming pool
watch fireworks
go puddle jumping
visit the dinosaurs in Drumhellar
go BMX-ing
write and make a movie
have ice-cream from an ice-cream truck
ride a gondola
got to a festival
set up a lemonade stand
pick berries
go to a movie
make pizza
go for a walk in Fish Creek
go to a baseball game
finger paint
go for an art walk downtown
catch frogs
go to Heritage park
hike Johnsons Canyon
go on a weiner roast
have a water fight
go for gelato
fly a kite
go to an amusement park
visit Discovery Canyon in Red Deer
build a fort
go to a lake

It was FINALLY time we got outdoors with them as a family and document the way they love, right now. Lots of jowling, silly noises, and lots of laughter. It’s wonderful to be able to watch people grow and change, and stop time for a bit so they always have a window back to the way life was…little Benjamin is growing up so fast. The way Carey and Austin cherish their time with him makes me happy.

Want us to photograph YOUR happy family?! We’ve released our travel schedule through October. Click over to see our travel schedule and book your session today!