Blake Family Blog: Summer Bucket List & Special Days

It's no secret I like lists, so when a mom's group speaker suggested a "summer bucket list" for your family, that had my name written all over it!

Here are some of our bucket list items throughout the summer:

Royals Game

We watched until the 7th inning stretch this year!

Frozen custard at Sheridan's

Date night at Jasper's for caprese salad

We each picked an individual activity to enjoy as well. Tim attended the Paul McCartney concert, I painted a ceramic plate to use on special family days and Brayden requested a visit to daddy's work.

I also really wanted to treat Tim and Brayden each to a special day this month sort of like early birthday celebrations since their actual birthdays are bound to be a little chaotic this year. Tim's special day included a dinner date to Rye for just the two of us, a morning of golf with the guys, swimming with Brayden and cupcakes. Tim's summer has been incredibly busy at home and work, mostly in preparation for the new baby and spending lots of one-on-one time with Brayden. June 1st he celebrated 10 years with the credit union and a promotion to Vice President. Tim is not one to care for titles but it is the many intangible benefits like autonomy, flexible scheduling, unlimited vacation and great management that help our family life feel balanced. One colleague commented this spring that when Tim started he was single with a girlfriend that no one believed existed since I didn't live in KC yet. Now, 10 years later, he's married with a little boy and another on the way, and while he's no longer the youngest advisor in the group, he's still close and has the 2nd longest tenure. Tim's job is much more mentally intense than he lets on here at home. He reads a minimum of five newspapers a day and is usually listening to three audio books at any given time during his commute and Brayden is by far his biggest fan! Brayden has become quite the daddy's boy this summer so it was fun to celebrate a special day with Tim this month even though hopefully he won't be spending another birthday at the hospital if even for a good reason!

We surprised Brayden a couple Fridays ago with his "special day" and laughed as if he doesn't already get plenty of days solely designed around him. Brayden is fascinated with Tim's work recently - where he goes everyday, what he does there, if he needs a tie, if he missed us while there. We visited all three of Tim's northland offices, lunched at Piropos, bought Brayden's 1st cowboy boots for his early birthday present, played at Monkey Bizness, splurged on dessert at the train restaurant and finished our day making pizza at home for supper. It was a very fun family day as one of our final days with just the three of us!