Bucket List 2014 – How did we do?

At the start of the year I created a Bucket List of things I would like to do this year as well my usual small list of resolutions. We have had fun ticking things off the list and it was a great change to our usual resolutions. So how did we do?

Well I took LP to the cinema to see Star Wars Rebels for a blogging event and then Dave and I took both the children on a weekend morning – they loved it and we will definitely be going to the cinema more in the future as a family – when Dave and I are both off work!

We had a few BBQs this year, mainly to celebrate Birthdays or just Dave, the kids and I. In hindsight I think ‘having a BBQ’ was a little too ordinary for our Bucket List!

I have been to quite a lot of blogging events this year, mainly BritMums, and have met some amazing people through blogging. After my first full year of solid blogging I can safely say that my blog is a permanent fixture in my life and I’ll definitely be going to more blogging events in 2015! I have also made so many new friends through blogging that I will be forever thankful for.

We saw fireworks on one of our visits to Legoland and it was Little Man’s first fireworks experience and LP’s first fireworks where she was able to watch them and oooh and ahhh at them. We are going to try and go to fireworks every year now, again, work permitting.

We had an impromptu day in Brighton and managed our noodles on the pier tradition. I know everyone raves about seaside fish and chips but for me there is nothing quite like noodles at the end of Brighton pier followed by a spot of 2p machine arcade playing!

Dave and I had a wonderful weekend away where we got all dressed up for a child free evening and the children also had a night with the grandparents – this will be something Dave and I try to do more often when we can but it is hard to make time with both of our working patterns – it makes it even more special when we do get a chance to have some time alone. This weekend also featured afternoon tea but we also had amazing afternoon tea when we were on holiday in the New Forest and again on holiday in Cornwall at Cardinham Woods.

We didn’t quite make it into London this Christmas but did get to see Santa at Alice Holt Forest. LP loved it, can’t stop talking about Father Christmas and we will definitely be going into London to see him and the Christmas lights next year.

Although I didn’t make bread this year I did make jam a few times and I also continued work on our vegetable patch. It isn’t finished yet but we did grow some more strawberries, blackberries and our first harvest of potatoes too. I’m hoping that our vegetable patch will be finished in a couple of years but it’s a lot of work whilst juggling two children and work shifts so expecting the vegetable patch to be finished this year was slightly unrealistic. We did give LP a section of veg patch though that she used purely to dig.

I started exercising – running – this year which I never expected and did get down to my Weight Watchers goal weight, although briefly. I have stopped exercising and worrying about a diet until after Christmas and will be picking this back up in January.

We took the children to the beach, paddled in the sea and took LP swimming a couple of times but we also signed her up for swimming lessons and she has started to settle into them and splashes about happily. She still has a long way to go until she’ll actually be swimming but her confidence in the water is improving week on week.

We had a couple of no screens evenings – one with friends where we played board games, drank and laughed. The other was with Dave, carving pumpkins together – a first for both of us!

I’ve embraced messy play and LP now regularly plays with messy things although we reserve them for when Little Man is napping. We’ve also spent a lot of time getting messy this year at farms, forests and anywhere else!

We have also taught Little Man to self settle although we had a bit of a regression because of teething but I am happy to say we’re now back on the right track with his sleep – fingers crossed! We have got a very firm bedtime routine with both LP and Little Man now, reading them both bedtime stories, looking at the stars and moon and having a really nice, relaxed time.

We celebrated all of our Birthdays this year in different ways and over the course of the year I cooked and ate so many things that were new to me. All in all, our 2014 Bucket List may not be completely ticked off but it has helped me to cook more, experience more with the children and teach us all new things.

All in all our 2014 bucket list has been a success and I am looking forward to putting together our 2015 list, I can see bucket lists being a fixture in our lives for years to come.

How was your 2014?