Summer anxiety

The formatting on this is stupid, but I was done trying to fix it.

I've never been one to have anxiety. Apparently it comes with

being a parent. Having step kids brought it a little, having my
own child brought it a lot more and the thought of having all 3
kids all summer next year fills me with all kinds of anxiety.
Bryan doesn't really understand and I don't really expect him
to. The thought of the kids being bored home with me makes
me want to die. I want them to have a fun summer and enjoy
being with us. He'll be at work a lot unlike this summer where
he was home for the entire month they were here for paternity
leave. I won't be able to hide myself away in my room with my
new baby and ignore the fact that they are on screens all day
every day. 

In an effort to combat the anxiety I've been thinking of a plan.
Being prepared helps me feel in control. If I plan on not letting
them be on screens all day every day I want to have fun
productive things for them to do. I realize that this will be better
in my head than in the actual application, but at least I have
put in the time and effort. 

I'm planning on having a must do list for them every day. 

-make your bed

-clean your room

-read 20 minutes

-do your chore (whatever that is)

-work in the garden x number of minutes

Then they can have 2 hours of screen time. Past that they will

have to earn time or they can earn money. I'll have a can with
different color coded tasks on Popsicle sticks worth a different
amount of points. I had been thinking about this a lot and then
the new youth program cam out and I felt like my thoughts went
right along with what they were presenting so there will be 4
categories physical, intellectual, spiritual, social. The kids are
not required to do any specific color, but some tasks are worth
more points than others. I haven't figured out the point system.
I want to talk to Bryan about how much "allowance" they can
earn and go from there to work the points into that. 

I'm hoping they will find activities they like and try new things.
They will move their bodies and their brains and not just their
thumbs. I want to make sure this is well organized so it has a
better chance at success. That's one of the reasons I've started
so early. 

I've been brainstorming ideas for a 13 year old boy and 15 year
old girl. I want to give them a variety of choices. I'm going to
have them give input and be involved. I'm hoping to work on
some of this over Spring Break when they are here. Maybe
even get their cousins involved. You know the whole buy-in
thing. I'll have them create a couple lists. 

Goals, travel bucket list, life bucket list, summer bucket list
(I really like bucket lists).  

I want our family to spend quality time together and really
form bonds and create good memories. I want the kids to look
forward to coming to visit and be able to look back someday
and recognize that we really wanted them with us and we
tried to make it fun and memorable. 

Here are the things I've thought of so far. (Thank goodness for

the internet) Not everything fits into a category perfectly, it's
definitely still a work in progress. If you have anything you
would add, I'd love for you to share in the comments. 

Intellectual (skills) 

1. Photography
2. Build a Ukulele and learn to play it
3. Draw
4. make jewelry
5. Find their own DIY project and make a list of materials needed. (Complete the project)
6. paint a phone case
7. Do a science project
8. Create a block set for Lincoln
9. Work on a puzzle
10. painting
11. learn to code (saw a kit for this on someone's Instagram)
12. puppetry (create a set, puppets and writ e a play)
13. carpentry (nothing fancy, just giving them some nails and wood)
14. Graffiti (I want to make some kind of fence thing they can spray paint on)
15. doodle
16. Write a play and act it out (this one might take some planning so they have more than just the 2 of them to be in it)
17. Write to a pen pal (hopefully they have friends in Washington they could write to. I know letters are SO old fashioned)
18. Write a story
19. String art 
20. Do movie reviews (bonus if they create a set)
21. Create a pinterest board
22. create a blog
23. Listen to a podcast (I need to make a list of kid friendly podcasts)
24. Paint rocks (they love to do this at the cabin)
25. duct tape art
26. work in the garden
27. Shrink art
28. Origami
29. Make a comic strip
30. Polymer clay sculpting (My mom does this. I'll need to check if she has a book or something. Maybe check at the library. This could also go with the jewelry and they can make their own beads)
31. Plan and make a meal
32. Make homemade ice cream
33. learn to decorate cake or cookies (my friend does cookie classes and I think it would be fun to do this with all the girl cousins. Drop Ethan and Lincoln off with Jill and take the girls to the class. 
34. Bake something
35. learn to make candles
36. learn to grill
37. learn to knit
38. learn to crochet
39. learn to juggle
40. learn a magic/card trick
41. learn to sew
42. learn calligraphy
43. learn an instrument
44. learn/practice a language

Physical

1. Hiking (plan a hike)
2. Swimming (plan a swim trip)
3. Geocaching (I did this on a date and it was fun. I'll need to look up good resources and see if there is even anything) 
4. in our area)
5. Go for a walk
6. Go for a bike ride
7. Play a sport

Social

1. -Volunteer (animal shelter) I need to look into community opportunities
2. -Join a club
3. -Play a board game
4. -Plan a picnic
5. -Plan a movie marathon (what movie, when, food, invites?)
6. -Have a water fight
7. -Choose a community event to attend
8. -Create a scavenger hunt
9. -Read to Lincoln
10. -Serve a neighbor

Spiritual

1. Write in your journal (gotta find some good journal prompts)
2. Plan a trip to the temple
3. Read a conference talk
4. Read the scriptures for 10 minutes
5. Make a card and send it to someone
6. Plan and give an FHE
7. Index names

Misc.

1. Bird watching
2. Wash the car
3. play with sidewalk chalk  
4. color 
5. Plan a camping trip
6. Fly a kite

Family Activities-obviously a lot of these could be family activities

1. Flea market flip (HGTV show DIY DI flip competition)
2. Color me mine
3. Bowling
4. Movies
5. Lagoon
6. Vacation