We are more than halfway through our resolution to try 52 new experiences this year.  I had planned to write this reflection when we were halfway through, but time always seems to slip through my fingers.  That, and math has never been my forte.

Our year so far has been exciting and educational, but most of all, I enjoyed spending time with my children as they discover new things about the world.  I’m an optimistic person and always try to put a positive spin on things, but I never needed to sugar coat any of our experiences.  We truly had fun during all 30 experiences.

I suppose this is the time to come clean.  There was one failed experience.  We tried to fry an egg on the pavement earlier this summer.  It didn’t work at all and left a sticky mess all over my parents’ driveway.  The kids were disgusted, and I didn’t have to heart to write about it.  We completed another experience later that week, and I wrote honestly about that one.  Now that I have rid myself of the guilt of keeping a secret from my readers, I vow to write about all experiences, including the failures.

Even though our experiment about frying an egg on the sidewalk failed, we did learn other quasi-scientific lessons this year.  Licking 9V batteries gave us a shock but turned out to be a huge source of amusement for my children.  Our homemade paper was not a total success, but it taught the kids a valuable lesson about recycling.  And, putting pennies on a railroad track showed just how hard a train’s wheels press on the tracks.

We also experienced more cultural experiences than we ever did before.  A few of our favorites includes dining on Indian cuisine, walking through the Grounds for Sculpture, and visiting the Princeton University Art Museum.  I love art and learning about other cultures, and teaching my children about things that I value has been fun for all of us.

Quite a few of our experiences so far involve nature.  Getting my kids to feel comfortable in nature is important to me.  I love spending time outside, and I’m glad they do, too.  Of all our experiences, camping in the backyard and swimming in a lake rank as two of my kids’ favorites.

Are there any experiences we wouldn’t try again?  Well, none of us are dying to pet a tarantula again, and the trout hatchery was not as exciting as we had hoped.  But, there is nothing I wouldn’t do again.  In fact, there are so many things we can’t wait to do again.  I told the kids that they should each pick one of our experiences to repeat this month.  Leah chose the backyard campout, and Luke chose the lemonade stand.  I think I am just as excited as they are!