Our Summer in Nashville List of Things We'd Like to See and Do

I am a very visual person so I can’t stop myself from visualizing things that Ross and I talk and dream about. So when Ross brought up the idea for us to come here this summer, the intial thought was that we might be living out in the country (on a friend's land) with lots of outdoorsy, country-livin' things to do. Upon visualizing that scenario, I felt myself get so excited and prematurely began to look forward to a quiet summer in the country. And with the way my mind works, by the time I was done, I had practically envisioned a Blue Bell Ice Cream commercial...kids running around barefoot throught the fields, laughing and eating popsicles, catching frogs, fishing, swimming, and riding 4-wheelers. I didn't even know if there was a pool or 4-wheelers, but you get the idea.

But really soon after that (like maybe a week) we learned that the house in the country wasn’t available. There was no guest house available on land this summer. So we began to re-think what living here might look like. Pretty soon after that (and as a huge answer to prayer) this house we are staying in came available. Problem was, it didn’t matter that my mind had only been picturing the leisurely country scene for less than a week. It was firmly planted and did not want to get uprooted. Like an annoying stubborn weed, the carefree-in-the-country picture wanted to stay.

Result: once we made the final decision to live in the Osenga’s house, I had a hard time adjusting the image in my head. And it's not like this situation isn't great. It toally is. This house is perfect for us this summer, and we are so thankful. It's a great size, is very cute, is in a convenient and pretty neighborhood, and has lots of great little girl toys for my busy bee, Naomi.

I think that I could picture how my life might look each day in that first scenario probably because it was so different from my every day regular life at home. In other words, living in the country on top of moving to another city was enough change to seem really momentous and open-ended in it's purpose for me and the kids. It didn't feel quite the same way to be living in a very similar situation to my regular life at home, only not my own home, neighborhood, and friends. Add to that, at that time, I thought Ross and I would have 1 car and my thoughts went to “what I am going to do with these kids all summer while Ross is song-writing?"

Then one day I stumbled upon this blog post and it re-inspired me. There is so much to see and do here with kids. I was amazed at all the beautiful places to explore, fun outings to be had, and learning opportunities for us. And I also began to come up with a deeper sense of purpose on how to learn and teach my children contentment and rest and how to learn to observe life around us, all while having these great experiences. So here (and in the post below) is Our Summer in Nashville List of Things We'd Like to See and Do, hereafter referred to as our Sponge List (because we want to learn to soak it all in).

This has been adapted (by me) from 50 Things to Do with Kids in Nashville Before they Grow Up by Lindsay Ferrier of Suburban Turmoil based on our budget, time frame here, and my kids’ ages. I know that we will not even get close to doing all of these things, but I am keeping them on the list, nonetheless, because the list is so good and because who knows when we will be back to do more of them. They are in the order she listed them in and I only took out a few that were for teenagers and added a few of my own. I’ll be updating it when we cross one off the list and writing about our experiences. The kids are going to document their experiences this summer too and I will occasionally post their versions of what happened. I've also highlighed the ones I have already planned to do or really, really want to do.