I just survived my first big summer concert (Taylor Swift!) so even if the kids aren’t out of school for another month this feels like the start of the season.
In this week’s episode of Best of Both Worlds, Sarah and I discuss all things summer. We discuss our own plans, and our usual planning tools (yep, the Camp Spreadsheet is back!). We talk travel, Summer Fun Lists, summer fashion, favorite treats, and more.
In the Q&A, we advise a listener who is trying to choose the best after-care option for her soon-to-be kindergartner. Please give the episode a listen and let us know what you are excited for this summer!
In other news: Did you know that Best of Both Worlds has a Patreon community? Lately, we’ve been discussing snacks, teen summer plans, where we shop for clothes, and more in our discussion forum. We’ll also be gathering (virtually) next Thursday May 25 for the next installment in our book club, discussing Gretchen Rubin’s Life in Five Senses. Please join us!
Enjoy Maine!!! My parents built a house in Bar Harbor in 2003 so we have an easy summer vacation destination built in and usually head up for two weeks in July/August. A nice way to escape the mid-Atlantic humidity =) Hope you get good hiking weather and lots of lobster rolls!
I love these summer planning episodes. We’ve got our plan nailed down for the summer and I’m really looking forward to it. There are lots of stay at home moms in our community and while I envy them their ability to be spontaneous, I like the opportunity / necessity to expose my son to different social groups, cultures, educational activities. T has swim camp for two weeks in another country, and then a nature camp. Over Easter, he did a sealife camp and an arts camp and loved both. He tends to be one of the youngest, but I think he likes it that way?
Sleep away camp seems less common in the UK though, which strikes me as weird. They are willing to send 9 year olds away to boarding school but not to sleepaway camp?
Oh, I am so glad I’m not the only one who had a fit while filling out vaccination forms!
I have a question for both of you – do you have a system for how to manage kid/family photos? I have an almost 2 year old and I’m overwhelmed by the number of photos on our phones. What I have done so far:
1. Created a shared Google photos album so my partner and I can add our own pictures of our daughter to this album
2. Each year create a annual book that contains my favorites. This will be more of a keepsake for her.
3. For other pictures, create an annual family photo book.
4. At the end of the year save our pictures to a hard drive for archiving.
Curious what others do! I hate the idea of pictures only living online so I’m trying to get a chunk of them ‘printed’ via these books.
Thanks!
Annie (28), Lakeville, MN
@Annie – it sounds like what you’re doing is smart! Every year someone in my family creates a photo book with photos from our phone. We often print up photo books from a family photo shoot too. Or at least we choose our Christmas card from that. I’ve been enjoying looking through our old photo books recently. It is a pain to do (well, now my daughter does it, so it’s much less of a pain!) but they are good to have.