Many thanks to Marcy at (Don't Be) Too Timid and Squeamish for the idea. This list is a variation of her 101 Things in 1001 Days.
This list represents dreams, hopes, curiosities, and responsibilities. The girls and I each contributed to this list; some of these ideas are Sage's, some are Alex's, and others are mine. Each of us will attempt to do every one of these things during the next four years (November 17, 2011 - November 16, 2015). We'll report our progress on this blog every Thursday beginning December 2, 2011.
1. Draw or paint a landscape.
2. Walk on the Great Wall of China.
3. Create something and sell it.
4. Night hike a New Hampshire Four Thousand Footer.
5. Gently capture a live spider and put it outside (the girls are facing their fears on this one). COMPLETED Finished 11/30/11.
6. Balance something (soft) on our dog's head for ten seconds (this could take all four years to accomplish...our dog never stays still).
7. Camp by a lake in Canada.
8. Go to a Broadway show (and have excellent seats!).
9. Organize a walk for charity.
10. Volunteer in a cat shelter.
11. Go sledding in the rain.
12. Make a cast out of a wild animal's footprint.
13. Go Christmas caroling.
14. Visit Prince Edward Island (we just finished reading Anne of Green Gables).
15. Volunteer at a homeless shelter.
16. Build and sleep in an igloo.
17. Visit Italy (Rome and Venice).
18. For one full day, eat only fruit.
19. Try all the types of cheese in the local grocery store. IN PROGRESS
20. Take a cruise.
21. Volunteer in a retirement community.
22. Enter a cake-baking contest.
23. Spend one day at each ski resort in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
24. Go to the top of the Empire State Building (the girls just watched King Kong). COMPLETED Accomplished 11/28/11.
25. Read all the books in our house (and weed through them!). IN PROGRESS
26. Finish highpointing all the states except Alaska, Washington and Oregon.
27. Have a dinner party once a month for twelve months in a row.
28. Create an original dessert for a special occasion.
29. Finish every science/building kit in the house (and weed through them!).
30. Find a four leaf clover.
31. Watch all the educational DVDs in the house (and weed through them!). IN PROGRESS
32. Sleep in ten backcountry shelters.
33. Complete a hut to hut White Mountain traverse.
34. Attend a religious service at five significantly different places of worship (for educational purposes).
35. Create our own hiking list, name it, and create an appropriate patch. COMPLETED. 1/12/12
36. Name our house and put the name on an original, hand-carved sign.
37. Cut down our own Christmas tree.
38. Visit Niagara Falls.
39. Start to seriously plan a hike of Kilimanjaro.
40. Be a street performer for a day.
41. Finish another established New Hampshire hiking list (52 With a View for Sage, Trailwrights for Alex (in addition to the winter 4Ks), I guess both 52 With a View and Trailwrights for me). IN PROGRESS
42. Find a rare plant or animal and take its picture.
43. Put $0.25 in every parking meter in the main shopping area of Plymouth, NH.
44. Participate in Seek the Peak -- in costume.
45. Design our own t-shirts.
46. Play every board and card game in the house (and weed through them!). COMPLETED. 1/12/12
47. Visit five of the Ingalls Wilder sites (thanks to Kerri of Goodreads for the suggestion!).
48. Make cardboard swords and shields.
49. Paint and decorate glass bottles. COMPLETED. Accomplished 12/15/11.
50. Tour a working chocolate factory.
51. Bake our own bread.
52. Go apple picking.
53. Visit five unusual roadside attractions.
54. Tour Washington D.C.
55. Watch Disney's Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty back-to-back (there's a reason for this, I'll explain in the report). COMPLETED 1/5/12
56. Obtain bumper stickers for all of the states we've highpointed. IN PROGRESS
57. Clean out the basement. IN PROGRESS
58. Collect 101 (temporary) tattoos.
59. Watch the 100 Best Kid and Family Movies (Rotten Tomatoes 2011 list) . IN PROGRESS
60. Watch as many of the 100 Best Documentary Movies (Rotten Tomatoes 2011 list) as we can...I'll have to screen out those I feel my kids shouldn't yet watch.
61. Make our own Christmas wreaths.
62. Turn our bland and boring bathroom into Something Bright and Colorful.
63. Buy five $10.00 presents, wrap them, and leave one on each doorstep of five random houses.
64. Eat lunch or dinner at all the restaurants in Harvard Square.
65. Read five (unabridged) books by Charles Dickens. IN PROGRESS. A Christmas Carol
66. Roast chestnuts o'er an open fire. COMPLETED. See 12/29/11.
67. Attend a Renaissance Faire.
68. Read five (unabridged) plays by William Shakepeare. IN PROGRESS
69. Attend three different county fairs.
70. Visit an art museum in five different cities.
71. Claim a peak for Summit Cheeseburger.
72. Read the entire Harry Potter series to Hugh, so he can finally understand the plot behind the films. IN PROGRESS
73. Attend a rodeo.
74. Learn how to whittle.
75. Write a letter to an elected official.
76. Meet three famous inventors.
77. Inhale helium from a balloon. COMPLETED. See 2/16/12.
78. Go to a spa and have a mud wrap.
79. Make our own Christmas ornaments.
80. Participate in a scavenger hunt.
81. Walk the Freedom Trail.
82. Take an overnight train ride using "sleeper class."
83. Spend a night at Camp Muir.
84. Use up all the art supplies in the house.
85. Go vegetarian for a week.
86. Pass out candy bars to Appalachian Thru-Hikers.
87. Attend a public hearing about something that potentially affects our community. COMPLETED. See 1/26/12.
88. Refrain from talking for one day (sunrise to sunset).
89. Create a system of trails throughout our wooded property.
90. "Camp" (sleep in a tent) in every room in the house.
91. Visit the White Mountain National Forest Headquarters in Campton, NH
92. Do the UFO Encounter Route Self-Guided Tour (Betty and Barney Hill were the first people to claim they'd been abducted by aliens, they were supposedly taken in 1961 while driving through a southern portion of the White Mountains).
93. Visit Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park in California and see the tallest trees in the world.
94. Attend a professional production of Sondheim's Into the Woods.
95. Create a new face for our broken cabinet drawer.
96. Cut a cat door into one of our people doors.
97. Go ice climbing. COMPLETED. See 2/16/12.
98. Do something nice for someone who has not been nice to us (it's a lesson in grace).
99. Donate to Toys for Tots.
100. Knit our own blankets.
101. Attend a live concert.
The girls and I look forward to tackling our new goals!
Publication date: April 3, 2012. Broadway Books. Now available for pre-order.
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