Mid-season update on the 2018 summer fun list

If summer is June-July-August (or perhaps Memorial Day to Labor Day) then we are officially halfway through this week. So it’s time for an update on the summer fun list!

Every year, I make a list of activities that make summer feel like summer to me. By the time the weather changes and the school year starts, I want to feel like we’ve made a lot of memories.

I’ve been making decent progress. I did my best to enjoy the launch of Off the Clock — including toasting its launch with friends and family — though book launches are always stressful. I have enjoyed hearing from people who enjoyed the book.

I took my youngest two children strawberry picking. We went to Ocean Grove for the week, so we ate a lot of ice cream at Days. My husband and I went to the beer garden in Asbury Park while we were there, so that’s crossed off the list as well. I did not read a whole book on the beach, though I did take a little nap on the beach, so that was nice. I have gone in the pool ALL BY MYSELF and enjoyed it immensely.

I sit on the back porch most days that I am home. I particularly like sitting out there in the evening. My wardrobe is not updated, though I did just order a new swimsuit online last night.

I am still working on the Mommy Days with each of the four kids. I’ve scheduled my daughter’s, and the others will likely happen in August, but I’ve got jury duty starting in late July, so I can’t commit to much until I find out whether that is happening or not (and for how long).

We have tickets for the Longwood fireworks/fountain show, and we have the plan in place for Yellowstone. All that will happen. Then this past weekend, we crossed off another one. On Sunday, we drove to Cape May, and ate at The Lobster House (and went to the beach).

This trip was kind of a lot of effort for what it was. We got a slow start to the day, not leaving the house until around 11:30. We left in pouring rain, which did not bode well for a beach trip (though the forecast said the storm was mostly north of us, which turned out to be true). The kids didn’t really want to go, though that’s neither here nor there (they rarely want to do stuff, and would prefer to watch TV all day, but they have fun once we’re out the door).

I liked my broiled seafood platter and Blue Moon at the Lobster House, if the kids refused to eat seafood and all chose chicken tenders. We drove to the Nature Conservancy’s preserve, and walked through listening to the birds. We sat on a pristine, secluded spot of beach. A school of dolphins leapt in and out of the water! It was nice, though the kids fought a lot, and then when I took the 11-year-old for a walk, my husband elected to pack up and walk back to the car, I guess assuming I’d know that he’d done that (his phone was in the car). But with him and the beach bag gone, I didn’t know which unmarked spot of sand went into the preserve. My 11-year-old and I spent quite a bit of time trying to find them, getting increasingly annoyed since we were barefoot and trying to walk over rocky paths, until finally we found where they’d left our shoes. I found the whole thing incredibly frustrating, and was mad much of the way home.

So…Cape May! The beach was beautiful though, and did I mention that I enjoyed the lobster? Visiting the Pine Barrens is on my summer fun list, and the route Waze took us toward Cape May went through the Pinelands Reserve, so perhaps I have technically done that too. Though I plan to actually go for a visit and a hike some day. I guess in August.