Family Fun List 2018

It is a new year... and so we have a new family fun list. Last year's post about our family fun list explains the background, but the short version is that every year we each pick three things we want to do together as a family for fun. Then we try to do them all. We never make it all the way through the list, so the person with the most items missed gets to suggest a bonus item for the next year's list. 

Before I share this year's list, let's look at how we did in 2017:

• Make a LEGO city (Petunia) - DONE, in January
• Walk around our neighborhood looking at Christmas lights (Pumpkin) - DONE, in December (obviously)
• Go to Mexico (Mr. Snarky) - DONE, we went to Tecate in October. We had fun, and the kids did a great job speaking Spanish.
• Try a new restaurant (me) - DONE, we tried out a local fried chicken place that everyone raves about called, The Crack Shack. The food was good, and we had fun.
• Invite [one of her friends and her family] to our local pizza place for dinner (Petunia) - Oops. Not done. I just didn't get it scheduled. We're going to try to do this soon, but have decided that future family fun list items cannot rely on scheduling time with another family. That's just too hard!
• Go to a botanical garden (Pumpkin) - Done, in September.
• Go to Dave and Buster's (Mr. Snarky) - Done, and OMG that was sensory overload for me. So much noise! So many lights. GAH.
• Go to Legoland (Me) - DONE, we went on Super Bowl Sunday, as is our wont.
• Have an art competition, with [my sister] to judge (Petunia) - DONE, at the last minute, in Arizona. We made caterpillars out of cardboard tubes. Mr. Snarky won.
• Paint our own ceramics at the paint-your-own ceramics place in Liberty Station (Pumpkin) - DONE, and we all had fun.
• Go on a hike up a mountain (Mr. Snarky) - DONE, also in Arizona. We walked up Tempe Butte. Mr. Snarky wanted a more mountain-y mountain, but my asthma wasn't great and the kids were skeptical, so this is what he got.
• Take a bike ride along the river (Me) - DONE.
• Bonus: Art, Cuddles, and Doughnuts Day (It is our own holiday that the kids just invented. They saw a TV show in which the characters tried to invent a holiday... and this was their idea.) - Not done. We blame the lack of rainy days.

Here's some tweets from our fun list outings:

Here is the family art project:

Family art project! pic.twitter.com/pCPzOnNn4C

— Wandering Scientist (@wandsci) December 28, 2017

On our trip to the Botanical Garden, we saw a corpse flower:

Saw a corpse flower earlier today! Was past the super stinky phase, though. pic.twitter.com/AywKXuWtUR

— Wandering Scientist (@wandsci) September 25, 2017

After our bike ride by the river, we pedaled over to Quivera Basin and had some french fries and enjoyed the view:

Waystation on a lazy bike ride. Am not good enough to take pics while I ride or I'd have some great bird pics. Lots out on the river today! pic.twitter.com/K6M3W1YYVT

— Wandering Scientist (@wandsci) September 4, 2017

An here's proof we went to Tecate:

We walked across the border.

Here's what we plan to do this year:

• Go to a trampoline place with a foam pit (Petunia)
• Art, Cuddles, and Doughnuts Day (Pumpkin... here's hoping we get a rainy weekend day!)
• Got to a movie in a theater (Mr. Snarky... this is a big deal because neither Pumpkin nor I are big movie goers)
• Beach day (Me... actually, I'm hoping for several, but this will ensure I plan at least one good one!)
• Family sewing day (Petunia... I do not own a sewing machine, so I guess we'll all be hand-stitching)
• Go to [a local indoor rock climbing place] (Pumpkin)
• Go to [a water park near my parent's house] (Mr. Snarky)
• Try a new restaurant (Me)
• Have a picnic at a park (Petunia)
• Walk around the neighborhood looking at Christmas lights (Pumpkin)
• Hike at least 400 ft of elevation (Mr. Snarky... someone learned his lesson about not being specific, I guess.)
• Go to a special event at Balboa Park (Me... there are lots to choose from, but the current front runner is either the Diwali festival or the international food festival. Or maybe we'll get to both!)
• Bonus: Go to a kids' museum

Will this year be the year we get to everything on the list? Check back in next January to find out!