Central Virginia Summer Family Bucket List and Fun Road Trip Destinations

Summer is the perfect season for family fun in Central Virginia. Create your family summer bucket list this week. Write down favorite family activities and fun places you'd like to visit this summer.

Heat up your summer fun with lots of local events on the Lynchburg Macaroni Kid website. It's free to subscribe to the weekly newsletter, so share the page with family and friends.

Gather up the kids or grandkids and check out summer bucket list fun, Central Virginia style. You'll also find lots of summer road trip ideas, perfect for kids of all ages.

Central Virginia Staycation Bucket List

Ride bikes on the Blackwater Creek Bikeway
Food Truck Thursdays at Miller Park – Thursdays from 11-3
Miller Park Pool – open daily through mid-August
Sprayground at Riverside Park – open daily May to October
Shaved ice at Rita’s in Forest
Summer Reading at Lynchburg Public Library
Lynchburg Hillcats home game
Riverfront Park Fountain – open daily May to October
Ivy Creek Park canoe and kayak rental – summer weekends
Trout fishing at Ivy Creek’s Clemmons Lake
Tennis lessons through Lynchburg Parks & Recreation Department
Swim lessons at Miller Park Pool or the YMCA
The Nature Zone – Friday and Saturday at the Miller Center
Chess for Kids at Lynchburg Public Library – summer Saturdays
Summer movies at Holy Cross Regional Catholic School
Ice cream or frozen treats at Monkee Joe’s in Forest
Outdoor summer movies at Riverside Park
Play on the playground at your child's school
Hike Creekside Trail, off the Blackwater Creek Bikeway
WonderCamp Day Camps at Amazement Square
National Parks & Recreation Month in July
National Picnic Month in July
Kids Cove at Thomas Road Baptist Church
Bike or hike at Percival’s Island
Play at Bounce About in the River Ridge Mall
Ice cream at I Scream, You Scream
Visit Lynchburg Museum
Visit the Maier Museum of Art at Randolph College
Play mini golf at Tiny Town Golf
Visit the Anne Spencer Garden
Ice cream or frozen treat at Mister Goodies
Visit Old City Cemetery and swing on the big swing
Ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery
Summer Movie Express at Regal Cinemas
Go bowling at Fort Hill Bowling Center
Visit Dairy Queen for a dipped cone
Go bowling at AMF Lynchburg Lanes
Play at Putt-Putt Fun Center
Skate at FunQuest Family Entertainment Center
Ski, snowboard or snow tube at Snowflex
Disc golf at Peaks View Park
Hike the Alpine Trail at Riverside Park
Ride bikes on the trails at Peaks View Park
Read a book
Play board games
Enjoy a family game of kickball
Teach your kids to jump rope
Explore your family's history
Back yard barbecue
Blow bubbles
Draw with sidewalk chalk
Have a spa day – paint nails, do pedicures, try new hairstyles
Bake cookies
Make a family scrapbook
Let the kids teach you their favorite video game
Host a summer block party
Plant a garden
Pop popcorn and have a movie marathon
Camp out in your backyard
Have a craft day
Play dress up with Halloween costumes
Start a summer journal

Day Trip and Road Trip Summer Fun

Visit your favorite local, state or national park
Learn about history at the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford
Day trip to the Peaks of Otter
Visit the Museum of the Confederacy in Appomattox
Day trip to Crabtree Falls
Swim or boat at Holliday Lake State Park
Feed the big fish at Bridgewater Marina at Smith Mountain Lake
Visit Appomattox Court House National Park
Take a day hike in a Virginia State Park
Hit the beach at Smith Mountain Lake State Park
Day trip to Otter Creek on the Blue Ridge Parkway
Drive the Blue Ridge Parkway – bring a picnic lunch
Play all day at Chuck-E-Cheese in Roanoke
Day trip to Green Valley Book Fair near Harrisonburg
Drive the Skyline Drive
Visit the Childrens Garden at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens
Go see the Roanoke star on Mill Mountain
Rent paddle boats or canoes at a Virginia State Park
Visit the Children’s Museum of Richmond
Road trip to North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro
Visit Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville
Road trip to Splash Valley Water Park in Roanoke
Visit Charlottesville’s Virginia Discovery Museum
Visit Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond
Take a day hike on the Appalachian Trail
Learn and play at Danville Science Center
Visit Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke
See the trains at Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke
Road trip to Virginia Beach
Go camping at a Virginia State Park
See the sights in Washington, DC
Beach trip to Myrtle Beach
Get back to nature in Smoky Mountain National Park
Enjoy big city life in New York City
Cross-country road trip
Visit the Inner Harbor in Baltimore
Spend time with family or friends who live far away
Make a family movie about your summer

Before summer disappears, create a summer bucket list with all of your family's favorite activities and places to visit. Use your summer bucket list for ideas to enjoy on vacation days. Let each child choose one thing to do or decide together on a few activities to enjoy each week while school's out.

If Every Day Was Saturday

If every day was Saturday

I don't know what I'd do

Start each day with a grateful prayer

God's mercies start anew

Get up at daybreak to see the sun

Brew coffee at the crack of dawn

Take hikes to all the mountain tops

And hang out with family on the lawn

Volunteer with my favorite charities

Worship God and help others each day

Eat lunch every week with the grandkids at school

And stay to watch them learn and play

Road trips to visit family and friends

Scattered far and near

Seeing new, exciting places

My heart filled with joy and cheer

Sunrise along the Skyline Drive

Stopping to see the view

Drives on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Every day brings something new

I love the mountains 

But the beach is awesome too

Sunrise to sunset, sand between my toes

Hand-in-hand with you know who

Wherever I'd go and whatever I'd do

Kenny would be at my side

Maybe even on the trails

Looking for bears that hide

But for now I have to work each day

Selling stamps to those I greet

But when every day is Saturday

Retirement will be so sweet!

Blogging Grandma Sandy, signing off for now

Dreaming retirement dreams, when everything will be like WOW!

An Ode to Mom

I didn't know you when you were young

So many years ago.

Your life stretched out before you

Your cheeks bright and aglow.

So lovely on your wedding day

What wishes were in your heart?

Could you even imagine then

The times you'd spend apart?

As a young wife and mother

You walked hand-in-hand.

Down the streets of the city

Not knowing what God had planned.

A happy family picnic

You and your three little girls.

A Coca-Cola in your hand

Your hair swept up in curls.

The beauty of a mother's love

Is written in your eyes.

As you hold your firstborn son up high

Reaching to the skies.

By the time I came along

As baby number five.

I'm sure that there were days

It was all you could do to survive.

You didn't drive but you packed up kids

And traveled so far away.

To distant lands to make a home

Where kids were free to play.

Could you have imagined as a bride on your wedding day

You'd have two sons born in another land?

Your life would be lived so far from Wisconsin

Would you have said yes if you knew beforehand?

When we lived in Alabama

Your heart just wasn't there.

How much happier you were back in Kansas

An answer to your prayer.

As your children grew and needed you less

You reached out with arms open wide.

To embrace so many Girl Scouts

Taking life as it came in stride.

Your older kids moved out

Some moved far from home.

From time to time we all returned

From places where we'd roamed.

Grandkids soon outnumbered

Your family of eight little ones.

You gladly welcome each new baby

Granddaughters and grandsons.

Although you lived so far away

Wisconsin remained near and dear.

Your heart embraced your heritage

Wherever you lived on earth's sphere.

Some of your grandkids lived so far away

And others lived nearby.

You didn't whine and complain

Or get angry and ask why.

When all of us traveled home

The joy was etched upon your face.

Although the room was noisy

You handled it with grace.

What a massive group of grandkids

Your legacy to carry on.

None of us knew then that in so few years

Your work on earth would be done.

The children of your two youngest kids

What a blessing to behold.

Loved just like their older cousins

Treasures as though made of gold.

Of all the places you lived

And all the cities where you roamed.

There was no place better than your own front porch

For you, it was home sweet home.

When the weather was too cold

And your strength began to fade.

Your davenport was your place to be

Jayhawks and Snoopys all arrayed.

It's still hard to believe you're gone from us

But in Heaven, all things are made new.

As you wander God's streets paved with gold

Know how much we love and miss you.

"You take it as it comes"

One of your favorite things to say.

I know we'll all be together again

One bright and shiny day.

Saluting My Siblings: A Lifelong Gift

April 10 is Siblings Day, a day to celebrate God's wonderful gift of siblings. It's totally fitting that most of the family photos of me as a baby include one or more of my siblings. I was my parents' fifth child and over the next 10 plus years, I gained three younger siblings.

 They say I was a whiny baby, but that didn't seem to bother my older sisters and brother.

When we were kids, most of the photos Dad took were on Easter, Christmas or other special days.

In big families, kids are often paired up or grouped together. I always knew my older siblings had my back, even when I was just a little girl.

My big brother Butch knew I was his responsibility. He looked out for me as we got older too. Once he told a guy who wanted to date me, "Hurt my sister and I'll kill you." I think he was serious too!

My sister Debbie was my first roommate and remained my roommate until we got married and left home. Debbie is the closest sister to me in age and our kids grew up together. Although we lived 1,000 miles apart, our kids spent time with each other whenever I went back home to visit.

What a cute sisters picture of the four of us. Kathy and Sue were so much older than me that I didn't spend too much time with them as a kid. 

I once asked my Mom how she handled having so many kids, when just three was sometimes overwhelming to me. She said that each time a new baby was born, she told the next older child that this was their baby to help take care of. So, my younger brother Mike became 'my' baby, just as I had become my older brother Butch's baby.

I have so many fond memories of time spent with Mike. I thought of him as my partner in crime and, as I got older I led him into trouble more than once. Hopefully he forgives me now for not being the best influence in my teen years!

I still think of my brother Pat as my baby brother, even though he's way taller than me now and has five kids of his own. Pat was such a cute baby, but I picked on him a lot when he got a little older. My favorite taunt was, "Pat's got white hair." Sorry for that, Pat, but now it's true!

What a cute group of seven siblings we were back in the day, all dressed in our Easter best. Who knows how we managed to take this photograph with everyone's hair in place and no stains on anybody's clothing! Kudos to Mom and Dad for this picture.

One of the biggest days in my life as a little girl was my First Communion day. Dad took photos of me with each of my siblings and even a couple with Mom, who hated having her picture taken. This is one of the few photos I have of just me with my oldest sister Sue.

This is also one of the few photos I have of just me with my older sister Kathy when I was a kid, although I have more of us together as adults. I always looked up to Kathy, who was a wonderful role model for all of us younger kids.

Just as me, Butch and Debbie were grouped together when I was little, me, Mike and Pat were grouped together when Pat was little. We look like we're cooking up some sort of mischief!

This is one of my favorite photos of what a carefree childhood looked like back in the day. Butch, me, Mike and Pat were just hanging out together on a summer day. Life was so much easier then!

Scouting was a 'thing' in our family. Mom was a Girl Scout leader for many years and Dad was a Boy Scout leader. This back in the day photo of me and Debbie in our Girl Scout uniforms is a great reminder of the values we learned in our family and in scouting. 

And then there were eight. Baby Nancy was born when we lived in Alabama. Like me, Nancy was a whiny baby who was raised in part by her seven siblings. She'll always be the baby to me!

After Nancy was born, Daddy started taking me, Mike and Pat lots of places to get us "out of your Mother's hair." This photo was from one of our many outings with Dad.

Having a little sister so many years younger than me was like having my own live baby doll. This photo was taken when Nancy was just learning to walk. She was a hot mess, getting into everything. I wrote an essay about "Tornado Nancy" for school about this time.

Sunflowers are the state flower of Kansas. That year me, Mike and Pat planted sunflowers in the back yard, Daddy accidentally mowed Pat's sunflower down. Poor Pat was doing the best he could to smile in this photo while holding his mowed-down sunflower to the ground.

Because of the age span in our family, there aren't many photos of the eight of us together. This one was taken for Christmas card photos in 1974, the year before Debbie and I got married.

The five sisters on my wedding day in June 1975.

What a crazy posed photo of me with my brothers on my wedding day!

A back in the day shot of my three brothers in 1994. As always, Butch is cutting up for the camera.

We all made it home for Nancy's wedding in 1994 and what a fine-looking group we were!

Photos of the eight of us with Mom and Dad are even more rare than photos of all eight of us kids. This one was taken at a very happy gathering for Dad's 80th birthday and Mom's 79th birthday. What a blessing that we were all able to be there!

One of many family gatherings at my brother Pat's house. 

One of my favorite pictures of me with my sister, Kathy, who spent a lot of time during recent years caring for our parents as they aged. 

One of my favorite pictures of me with my sister, Debbie, who also helped care for Mom and Dad through the years. Debbie's also one of the siblings who remained close to home. Debbie's kids spent a lot of time at Mom and Dad's when they were growing up.

Maybe the only photo of me and my baby sister, Nancy as adults. She's all grown up now, but we live so far away, we don't get to see each other very often.

The five sisters all together at once. Aren't we cuties!!!

Whenever I'm in Kansas, there's always chocolate on the menu. Baking brownies with my sisters is one of my happy memories of sibling love.

We match and dressed in red, just like back in the day. Me with three of my greatest blessings: Kathy, Debbie and Pat, who are all still living in Kansas and all helped so much with Mom and Dad.

A Siblings Day celebration in 2014 at Pizza Hut. What a joy to spend the day with three of my siblings that year!

Scattered from Virginia to Hawaii and everywhere in between, we all came home for Mom and Dad's final days. I'm so glad we had this photo taken. Mom cherished it until her death and it sat on Daddy's dresser as his life ended too. God blessed Mom and Dad with the eight of us to carry on their legacy. I hope we can live up to the examples they set. Happy Siblings Day to the seven people who've known me the longest. I love you all and am so grateful that God put us all together in one big family!