Our Summer Bucket List + a Giveaway! #KFCBucketList

When I think about hotter temperatures and longer nights, I can’t help but reminisce about the magic last summer.  I was gearing up to go back to work at the end of July after just over a year of maternity leave and I was having a hard time wrapping my head around not being able to spend as much time with my kids, as I had been accustomed to.

The last couple weeks before I was due back on the job, we took full advantage of the hot, sunny weather. We took multiple trips to the beach, parks, water parks – you name it!  Hubby met us for lunch at a couple of times and we also had playdates with Lil J’s little buddies.  I just remember having the most amazing time with the two littles and, of course, I didn’t want it to ever end.  The memories are so fresh and vivid that I can’t bring myself to delete the pictures from my phone, and I constantly post them on #throwbackthursdays posts on Instagram.  A bit obsessive, maybe?

With summer quickly approaching, I’m trying to think of different ways to keep the kids occupied on the weekends, while still making it fun for hubby and myself.  The age ranges of our kids {14, almost 5 and almost 2} makes it challenging to find age appropriate activities, but I’m a firm believer that spending quality time together is extremely important for our family.  So, I decided to ask the older two kids, separately, what was on their wish list for the summer and we came up with our very own summer bucket list:

1.  The beach – multiple trips to the beach are a must according to Lil J and Miss S. I can’t argue with that!

2.  Mini vacation – Definitely close to the top of my list is a trip to either Whistler, the Okanagan, Bellevue, Washington or Portland, Oregon. There’s nothing like a quick getaway to relax and refresh!

3.  Big vacation – One of our long-term goals is to take a big family vacation to either Jamaica or Hawaii. I really want my kids to embrace their Jamaican culture, so hopefully a trip to Jamaica is in the cards soon.

4.  Granville Island Water Park, swimming and ice skating – We love our local gem at Granville Island and find ourselves there many times during the summer months. Lil J is also keen on swimming and ice skating, and asked me to add it to our bucket list.

5.  Trips to the park – What better way to get a kid tired? All kidding aside, the park is a great way to keep the kids active and get the family outdoors.

                                          

Why did I ask the kids separately, you might ask?  I wanted to see how their bucket list ideas differentiated from each other but, surprisingly {and not surprisingly}, despite their age difference, their bucket lists pretty much mirrored each other!  Plus everything on their list was also on mine and hubby will just have to tag along!

{KFC Bucket List}

Have you heard about the KFC Bucket List contest?  Between May 12 – June 15, 2014, visit any KFC Canada location and with the purchase of any bucket or combo, you’ll receive a game card that gives you a 1 in 3 chance of winning one of the following:

• 3 – Grand Prizes of $10,000 to build your own dream vacation
• 5 - $5,000 Earth to Echo Adventures
• 40 - $300 Try That Prizes
• Over 3 million Shutterfly prizes
• Over 1 million food prizes 

If that’s not all, every bucket or combo also has an instant peel and reveal food prize, as well as a PIN that you enter online to reveal your prize.  And guess what? Every PIN is a winner!  Head over to your nearest KFC location now and take advantage of their special 12 piece bucket for only $14.99!

{Win It!}

We have the opportunity to host a giveaway for one of our lucky readers to win a Shutterfly prize pack, which includes a Shutterfly calendar, 15 free cards and a collage print. Note that you may enter across all participating blogs but you are only allowed to win once per household.  Giveaway is open to Canadian residents only until Monday, May 19, 2014.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I am part of the KFC Bucket List Blogger Campaign and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.