list 15 fun, adventurous or interesting things I'd like to do with my stepdaughter this year

and WOW! It was so much fun! She didn’t really understand the concept at first, and so we explained how it would be like freezing a day in time to try to remember for later. We spent hours on it, collecting headlines from the newspaper, coins minted in 2007, a first class stamp, a list of her favorite things, napkins from her favorite restaurants, favorite photos, a stuffed animal and other little family things like that. It was a great way to spend a rainy Sunday, and I love memory making activities like this.

I just hit the jackpot thanks to my friend Lori. Kids off the Couch is quite a gem. This lovely little website has a weekly newsletter that suggests family-friendly adventures based on film. What a great concept for a culture that is, much like my eight-year old stepdaughter, obsessed with television. Each week, the newsletter suggests a movie (both contemporary and classic movies are included) and then accompanying activities that honor film, literature and culture that are, best of all, kid-friendly! It’s even more perfect for me this summer, because I need a nice mix of low and medium octane activities for Alexa now that her energy levels are erratic from day to day. So here’s:

#7. Have a film adventure a la Kids off the Couch

Mainly that we aren’t living in North Dakota anymore, and now we live down the street from Alexa. Also, it goes without saying that her diagnosis changes the kinds of things I hope to spend our time doing together. I still like the concept though, so I’m committed to doing it: finding and doing 15 fun and new things in the city of Dayton with Alexa this summer.

6. Take a cooking class at the Dorothy Lane Market. They have some great cooking classes, and it seems like a pretty low-octane activity for her.

How fun would this be?

I’d love to have Alexa “journal” her own time here. My husband and I have been thinking for a while about getting a new video camera. Ours predates the digital age, and is a lumbering, awkward dinosaur. Our goal was to have a new one by the time she gets out here over the summer, so I think it’d be fun to have her create a video diary of her summer vacation.

I’d love to take her—she’s never been, and she’s such a girly girl, it’d be good for her

for her, complete with cake and presents since we never get to see her on her real birthday, March 19th

at Otis and James. I love their work, and I’d like to have some fun, funky pictures of her in our house.