Summer List - Reading, Cows, and Grilled Pizza

We have made a little more progress on our summer list in the past couple of weeks!  Here's what we've been up to in the past couple of weeks.

Barnes and Noble Reading Program

Drew did the Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program this summer.  He had to read eight books and then record the books' titles and authors.  Then he had to recommend each book to someone he knows and tell why that person would enjoy the book.

Once Drew finished his list, we took it to a Barnes and Noble store and turned it in.  He got to select a free book (there was an end cap of books for him to choose from).

 Drew and Maddie both enjoyed browsing through the children's section,

 and Maddie enjoyed the trains.

 Drew picked out a Lego Ninjago book.

Chick-fil-a Cow Appreciation Day

We had planned be in South Carolina, where there are Chick-fil-a's everywhere, for Cow Appreciation Day this year, but we ended up changing our vacation plans, so we had very few options if we still wanted to participate.  We could drive an hour to Toledo, or we could go about half an hour away to the Oakland University food court - Michigan's only Chick-fil-a, like we did last year.  We decided to go to Oakland University again.  I liked the idea of not fighting a crowd, and it was a shorter drive.

 There weren't any other cows again this year, and the workers were happy to see us.  Maddie started pulling off her spots as soon as we got in line, but they let us each get a full meal for free anyway.

 My little cows.

 Maddie loved the lemonade, and towards the end, she finally tried some nuggets.  Drew loved everything, and he was a great help as we navigated the line with a stroller and a tray.

Visit a Dairy Farm

We followed up our Chick-fil-a lunch with a trip to the dairy farm, to continue with the cow theme.  We started out by looking at the adult cows.

 Drew petted one, and it tried to lick him!

 We made a very quick stop at the pig pen.  The pigs smelled absolutely horrible!

Our favorites were the calves!

 Maddie kept going back and forth between calves, petting them and saying, "Cute, Mommy!"

 We walked back past the big cows on our way to the shop.

 We bought some ice cream and enjoyed it at a picnic table.

 Maddie got a chocolate mustache!

Grill Pizza and S'mores

We had a fun dinner one night last week - grilled pizza and s'mores.  We grilled the dough first, then added our sauce and toppings.

 After we ate our pizza, we went back outside and made s'mores.  We toasted our marshmallows over the grill.

 Drew convinced me to buy some giant marshmallows at Aldi a few weeks ago.  They made some very gooey s'mores!

 Maddie just ate her marshmallow plain.

Garden Box

We have some vegetables growing in our garden box now!  Our first jalapeno pepper is growing.

  Our tomato plants have gotten quite tall!

 We have some tomatoes growing too!

Here's how our summer list looks now.  We are starting to make a dent in it!  We rescheduled our vacation to South Carolina, and since we will now be out of town during choir camp, Drew will not be able to participate in that camp, so I've crossed it off our list.  I was able to make dental appointments for Jim, Drew, and me for August, so that project is scheduled, but not completed yet.

Hawkins Family Summer List
1.  Drew - Barnes and Noble summer reading program
2.  Make homemade ice cream
3.  Grill pizza and s'mores
4.  Go to the sprinkler park
5.  Have a garage sale
6.  Make a strawberry pie
7.  Go to the library
8.  Get Sonic shakes in our jammies (They are half-price after 8:00 pm!)
9.  Have a picnic
10.  Go putt-putting
11.  Go to Metro Beach
12.  Go to the Lego store
13.  Paint our bedroom
14.  Go to the dairy farm
15.  Drew - learn to ride a bike
16.  Drew - go to choir camp - We will be on vacation, so Drew will not be doing choir camp.
17.  Drew and Jim - go to a Home Depot craft morning
18.  Make kabobs
19.  Keep up with our garden box - so far, so good!
20.  Go to the dentist - We have appointments for August!
21.  Organize the bedrooms - Drew, Maddie, Us
22.  Go to a baseball game
23.  Maddie - try potty training
24.  Go to Dress Like a Cow Day at Chick-Fil-a
25.  Go bowling