With flowers blooming, temperatures warming up (just a bit), and our beautiful region transitioning from a long winter, it’s time we planned a few fun spring adventures! Schedules can fill up if we’re not careful, so I love plugging in intentional outings that we can look forward to.  It’s also important to us to celebrate the best that this incredible season has to offer!

If you aren’t familiar with our seasonal bucket lists, here’s the scoop: Each season, we create a list of about 10 fun adventures or projects that are specific to the season.

We dig through our favorite nature books, think about our favorite happenings of that particular season, and look at our calendars to gather the best things that nature has for us. To learn more, check out our summer, fall & winter bucket lists of past years.

Here’s our 2018 Spring Bucket List in no particular order!

• Visit Walla Walla.

Walla Walla, located in southeastern Washington state, is known for it’s gorgeous rolling hills, fantastic wine, sweet onions, and charming small town appeal.  Slaed and I are looking forward to sharing this beautiful destination with the kids, and finally getting back for a visit after several years.  We’ll be traveling to Walla Walla as part of Bergen’s spring break for a weekend getaway.

• Go to a farm and hold a bunny.

Georgia, our 3-year old, has a special place in her heart for bunnies and rabbits, and just the other day requested to,”hold a bunny in her lap”. We think we can make that happen with one of the many small petting farms here in the Seattle area, especially with spring being the time that baby animals are born! I’m leaning toward Fox Hollow Farm, but if you are from our area and have a suggestion, we’re all ears!

• See a field of flowers.

Of all the adventures that we’ve taken our children on in Western Washington, we’ve never made it up to Skagit Valley for their annual daffodil and tulip festival! Depending on timing, we’ll either be treated to daffodils (first to bloom) or tulips (set to bloom mid-to late April).

• Hike to a waterfall.

With the snow beginning to melt, waterfalls in Western Washington are particularly spectacular this time of year.  Some favorites nearby include Franklin Falls, Wallace Falls, Twin Falls, and Coal Creek Falls.  I love how motivating the sight of cascading water is for little (and big) legs!

• Plant seeds.

Last year we had such success starting our pea and green bean seeds inside, waiting for them to mature and for the weather to warm up, and then planting them in our backyard! Though we are a little late starting, we plan to do the same this year so that we can continue to enjoy fresh garden veggies throughout the summer.

• Family Bike Ride.

This spring all 4 of us (Georgia will ride with Slaed in her Yepp bike seat) will be participating in the Emerald City Ride organized by Cascade Bicycle Club here in Seattle.  The course is 12 miles, and loops riders around the city via the Alaska Way Viaduct, I-5 Express Lanes, and of course other roads and side streets.  Slaed and Bergen have participated in years past, so we are excited to experience the ride as a family now.  We just hope the weather will cooperate!  

• Go Animal Tracking.

Spring time in Seattle equals a whole lot of mud, which happens to be the perfect medium for spotting animal tracks! We’ll probably head to the nearby Washington Park arboretum armed with our Animal Tracks guide.

• Celebrate the Birds.

Personally, I’d love to learn more about the migratory birds of our region, and I think the kids will enjoy joining me in my quest to spot a few.  They don’t need much of an excuse to bust out their binoculars, and I hope we can better appreciate our feathered friends more through careful study.  I think a visit to the Audubon Center here in Seattle’s Seward Park, or the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge near Olympia would be great field trips for us!

• Honor Mother Nature on Earth Day.

Earth Day is on April 22nd, I want to make sure that our family is intentional about truly celebrating the day.  There are so many ways to go green!

What’s on your list to do this spring? Any fun local adventures? Travel? We’d love to chat with you in the comments!