Living Large Summer of Fun Scavenger Hunt Week #3: Do Something You Haven’t Done Since You Were a Kid

When we were kids, doing the simplest of things gave us great joy and since Sade Sue’s Living Large Summer of Fun Scavenger Hunt is all about finding joy, guess what kind of fun you’ll be challenged to find this week!?

“Bubble Chasing” by Flickr user S. Carter

You guessed it, for week #3, find something to do that you haven’t done since you were a kid (or at least in many years with your own kids or grandkids!)

Before we get to ideas for this week, let’s recap the past two weeks:

 

  • Week #1 challenged you to do something you have never done before. I had a pedicure and every time I look at my light blue painted tiny toenails, they make me happy!
  • Week #2 challenged you to reconnect with someone you hadn’t actually spoken to in more than a month. I reconnected at a luncheon with some women from my book club who are back for the summer from their winter homes. I also talked on the phone to my friend, Barb. We’ve been friends since 1994 when we both had dogs with heart problems. We connected on the old Prodigy forum and have been email buddies since. I don’t know why, but we rarely talk by phone, but it’s so fun, we vowed to do it more often!

Living Largers who posted here or on the Facebook page during the first two weeks of the hunt are entered into a drawing for a singed copy of my book. The first winner will be announced on the blog next week. I’ll be drawing for prizes every two weeks until the hunt ends on September 8. Your finds must be legal and G rated and you must be a U.S. resident for the drawing (although everyone is welcome to post!) You don’t have to play every week, but doing so increases your drawing entries!

Now, for the week #3 find. Here are some ideas I’ve been toying with doing for this find, or ideas you can use:

 

  • Getting some bubbles and blowing them for the dogs
  • Having a water gun fight with my husband
  • Running down the ice cream man and buying a childhood favorite
  • Riding a rollercoaster, or some other fair ride
  • Lying in the grass spotting animals in the clouds
  • Watching lightning bugs (I actually do this often!)
  • Skipping rocks in the water
  • Playing in the hose
  • Listening to music from my youth (I do this a lot, too)
  • Going to an arcade and playing skee-ball (or some other childhood favorite)

Ready, set, GO!

What activity will you find to bring you pure, childhood joy this week?

 

 

 

6 Responses

  1. Kathleen Winn says:

    I’m having a hard time with this one, mainly because I guess I never really stopped being a kid! Camping, hiking, bike riding, horse back riding and exploring the woods and fields around our house, are still daily activities for me. But- one of the things I loved as a kid that I do intend to pursue as a result of this scavenger hunt, is to once again climb a tree. I was an avid tree-climber in my youth, much to the dismay of my mother, who more than once found me lying on the ground with the breath knocked out of me, after yet another fall from the mulberry tree in our backyard that I loved to climb. I’ll let you know when I’ve scaled a tree worthy of this scavenger hunt challenge!

  2. Teri Conrad says:

    Hi Kerri. I can’t remember where I posted to participate in the Living Large Scavenger Hunt, but after reading your latest blog post I felt compelled to share something with you. For the past 14 months, I’ve been challenging myself to venture outside of my comfort zone, and for the most part I would say that I’ve been pretty successful at it. For starters, I moved from a comfortable two-bedroom home located 20 miles from Mountain Home, Ark. (due to sale) to a cramped but nicely renovated studio apartment located 35 miles from Mountain Home. By studio I mean to say nicely that it is a well-equipped and nicely situated “garage” that overlooks Bull Shoals Lake, and was converted into a living space for the owner’s mother-in-law. (From what I understand she lived here six-months before moving back to “civilization.”) While I’ve lived in both country and city settings, I would have to say that I’m more accustomed to living in the city. What I didn’t enjoy about it however, were the nosy neighbors, cramped living areas and noise. As a writer, I love quiet and the sounds of nature because it helps me stay inside my head as I write and is free of distractions. So suffice it to say that moving so far from “town” has really taken me out of my comfort zone. Oh, did I mention that I’m terrified of spiders and snakes, both of which are in abundance here in the nook of the woods where I now call home? Over time, I’ve learned to distinguish between good snakes and bad ones; venomous are considered bad in my book, and all spiders are scary to me. But the one thing that has caused me to feel most uncomfortable and frightened is living amongst scorpions both in and outside of the studio apartment. Yes, I’ve even been stung by one and just seeing them crawl across the floor or carpet, or climb up along the walls makes me cringe. But I digress. During my endeavors to challenge myself to acclimate and stretch beyond my comfort zone, I have opened myself up to trying “new” things and learning from the experience. Last year, while attending a stand up paddle board or SUP, for short, class hosted by the Buffalo National Park service, I discovered that I really enjoyed it and after saving up for several months, I purchased one that inflates for easy transporting. It is absolutely a blast to do and I’ve become rather good at it. However, finding a place to set my board down so I can paddle away and relax, even swim in the lake has been challenging because of the flooding in and around the area, and the rough terrain required to traverse in order to get anywhere near the lake (remember my fear of snakes; add in chiggers and ticks as well). Yesterday, I discovered an easy access from near where I live that allowed me to set my board down without hiking or walking through grass, weeds, or rocky terrain and enjoy my alone time in my “Zen” zone. It is a little strange being out in the middle of a lake all alone; yes, I do bring my phone and it’s in a water tight container, but I have learned to enjoy it and take the necessary precautions of wearing a life jacket, letting my landlord know where I’m headed, and not stay out too long. Even an hour spent SUPing provides immeasurable joy and is really all I need to enjoy myself. If I still lived in the city, chances are that I probably would not have allowed myself to try something like this because it may have been cost prohibitive, or because of the amount of traffic required to get to where I could enjoy it. I’m pretty proud of myself for choosing to go and seek out something new and continue pursuing “fun” despite being on my own out in the middle of nowhere, I mean, Webb’s Landing, in Arkansas.

    • Living Large in Our Little House says:

      What a wonderful story, Teri, thank you for sharing! It does make life so much better when we venture out of our comfort zone! Welcome to tiny house and lake living at its very finest. It sounds like you are enjoying it to the fullest!

  3. I’m definitely getting bubbles for me and the puppy-girls this weekend. Thanks for the laugh and the idea. Hope you’re really enjoying your Fridays off this summer!!!

    • Living Large in Our Little House says:

      I’m loving them, Roxanne! I actually thought of you and the girls when I found this photo! I want to see photos of your puppies and the bubbles!