Sooo...summer may have been over awhile ago, by many measurements. Luke's been back to school for a month, we're past Labor Day, and we had some 60° days recently. HOWEVER, if you go by the lunar calendar season schedule (which I rarely do), I am getting this post in in time! Also, how would I know what was memorable about summer until it was fully over! (Really, it's COVID's fault.)
We had a wonderful summer where the boys were old enough for adventures so we took advantage of that! We went to Kings Island, Maine, Michigan, fit in 3 more camping trips, saw family, saw friends, ate a lot of popsicles, and enjoyed having no school schedule!
I specifically remember thinking when we were on the Scooby Doo ride at Kings Island how it was really important that we prioritize adventures and experiences with the boys over these next ~9 years until Luke is out of high school. Some of my favorite childhood memories are our epic camping vacation and I hope we're giving our boys the same types of wonderful memories! Those sustain us through the homework fights of the fall/winter/spring!
This should come as no surprise because I still wear this every. single. chance. I get. It's now cold enough to wear sometimes for school drop-off! I bought this from Kohls in late May, wore it every single day of our Maine trip, I think every day in Michigan, on our other camping trips, AND at home. It might be the only sweatshirt I wore all summer. I LOVE IT STILL. It's the perfect shade of blue. This was the summer of my sweatshirt.
I plan to write a post about these later this fall, after we stay in our FOURTH for the year. Yes, they are, by far, our favorite way to stay anywhere besides home (even though we've been in more hotels this year but one night in a Kamping Kabin for Kings Island just isn't as practical as a hotel 5 minutes away). I have a few in the plan for next summer and I just cannot explain the utter peace and joy I feel when we are at one. The boys love them, they fit our family perfectly, and camping is just so relaxing.
This is one of the things I miss the most about summer. Matt goes into work early and I typically get up with him. Once I workout and shower (if I'm not running later in the morning), I usually had a good 30-45 minutes (some days longer) until the boys were awake. Most days I read on the porch. I've spent hundreds of hours reading on the porch since we've lived here but in these early mornings I had to change where I've typically sat since that love seat was right in the sun. There became something very precious and special about sitting somewhere else on these mornings and I treasured every one of them (especially judging by the number of times I photographed it).
I'd have my tea, a good book, and some guaranteed reading time. Often it was all the time I got to read until the boys were back in bed and it was truly lovely.
We didn't have these for our first summer adventure (Kings Island) but a few days before we left for Maine, we picked up our custom printed t-shirts and tie-dyed them in each of our favorite colors - blue, green, red, and orange. Then we wore them on our long driving day to Maine and every time we set out on a summer adventure after that! It was just fun and the boys were always delighted when we pulled them out because it meant an adventure was coming! One or both or them may outgrow them before next summer which makes it extra special that we got to wear them so much this year (it was a very adventure filled summer!).
I bought these tickets on February 14, 2020. We had no idea what that year was going to hold at that point. It was postponed twice and when we booked a camping trip for the same weekend as the Sunday night concert, it was partially on the assumption that it would get postponed again. Well, it didn't and it was a whirlwind of a weekend although a highlight of the summer in many ways. I went by myself, sang to every song, and enjoyed it very much. Then Backstreet Boys were the only thing I listened to for a solid week.
This was a purchase especially for Kings Island and ziplining but I ended up using it A LOT. All over Maine. It was the only purse type bag I took to Michigan. Wore it to the zoo. It might be because my regular wallet fits in here and not in the cross-body purse I use often in the summer but also, it was easier to have this at my waist than the cross body which can swing all over, especially when chasing kids. I felt weird buying one but it was very worthwhile to own!
We are always trying to make less trash. We've made many small changes just for that purpose. However. We just can't quit these popsicles. I bought 5 boxes of 100 each at the start of the summer and we're down to about the last 20 of those. And then Aldi had then on clearance and I bought another (it's going to be hot this weekend!). It's amazing what a popsicle can do to subdue fussy kids (and grown-ups) when it's hot. We went through SO MANY the day we dug the sandbox and often had them after the hot walk home from school. We easily consumed 100 each plus shared many with cousins, friends, etc. The trash these generates makes me a little sick but also...we're hooked and they saved us from many a meltdown.
8) Scooby Doo
This was the boys' Scooby Doo summer. I don't know how they first learned about Scooby Doo or why they started getting the DVDs at the library....but they did and it became their screen time of choice. I've written before about how much I appreciated it - they didn't fight over what to watch, I didn't worry about content, and each disc was a set length, no endlessly streaming episodes. We struggled with some kind of quiet time all summer and the balance with screen time but limiting that to about an hour of Scooby Doo many (not all!) afternoons made it a bit easier for all of us.
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That's it! Things I'll remember about this summer, when our boys were 4 & 9 and we still read piles of picture books most days and we had almost daily popsicles!
What I'll Remember Most about Summer 2021
What I'll Remember Most about Summer 2020
What I'll Remember Most about Summer 2018
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