Every summer, I make a list of fun things I hope to do during the warmer months. These are activities that will make me feel like I had a good, full summer. In some cases, summer won’t feel like summer if I skip them.
We are approaching the halfway mark on summer (well, sort of. We don’t start school until after Labor Day around here, so we have a good 8 weeks to go). I decided to check in with my list to see how I was doing.
The answer is pretty good, especially after this past weekend! Saturday was a long, dragging, low-energy day; see yesterday’s sonnet. Sunday, however, had an entirely different vibe, probably because my husband took the early shift and I slept until 8. We had talked about doing a bike ride as a family, so I figured I would aim to make it a “tri” day per my summer fun list — that is, I would bike, run, and swim on the same day.
The family bike ride went shockingly well. We managed to get all the bikes and paraphernalia on the cars (plural — we have a lot of stuff) in about half an hour. We drove over to Valley Forge, and did the big loop around the park. The baby rode happily in the Burley behind my husband, and our 4-year-old pedaled on the tag-along bike behind me. The two big boys did the whole loop under their own power. There was a bit of whining at times — I expect it — but not too bad. It was a lovely day for a ride. Not too hot, bit of a breeze.
After, the baby fell asleep on the car ride home. I took advantage of the lull to go for a run, probably about a 5K. When I came home, we went in the pool. I managed to get in a few laps in between baby holding, so I will count that as a successful tri day. I may try to get another one in later this summer too.
I also listed “Go to Ocean Grove, NJ” on the list. We’ve gone to that little town (just south of Asbury Park) multiple times over the years, and while we’re not renting a house there this year, it’s only 90 minutes away. None of the big kids have camp this week, so I loaded the three of them in the car this morning and drove there. We had a good time in the waves, and building a sandcastle complete with a sand barn and sand aquarium, and then we got ice cream at our favorite parlor. It would definitely not feel like summer if I didn’t have at least one chocolate peanut butter scoop in a sugar cone there. Now I have — and it’s only mid-July!
The one downer: we’re all a little sunburned. Our sunscreen turned out not to be as waterproof as advertised.
How are you doing on your summer fun list?
Sounds fun. We have to do certain things or it just doesn’t feel like summer. We have a drive in movie theater and that’s always a must. Of course, pool time and hikes. As the mom of 2 “burners” (no matter how much or how strong the purported spf, they burn) I am a strong supporter of coconut oil. Where I live the sun and heat are outrageous (109 yesterday), and I can apply spf 50 religiously and somebody’s got red spots. Coconut oil is the bomb.
@Jennie – the sun always finds us out. Whatever spot got missed or washed off – we see it that evening. Sigh.
My 6yo son made a summer bucket list at school, and it only had 3 items on it — go canoeing (we live close to good floating rivers, so this is easy), play legos, and go to “grandma camp” (he goes to stay with my parents for a week each summer). As a full time outside the home working mom, I have a huge amount of guilt about my kids not getting the kind of summer leisure time that kids of SAHMs or teachers’ kids get. Seeing his expectations were so reasonable gave me a lot of comfort!
@Sarah K – those all do sound very doable! And yes, canoeing, Legos, and grandparents sound like a pretty good summer.
My kids are teacher’s kids and don’t get a whirlwind summer. If yours are like mine, they enjoy the downtime. A couple extra hours watching mindless tv or playing a game. A rainy day movie marathon. I don’t do blockbuster blow out summers. We do a handful of fun things and then keep it light. Our list is usually: drive inn, hike, swim, outdoor concert (free and easy), get snow cones, grill hotdogs, summer camp, make and eat a pink lemonade pie… Simple summer favorites. We attend the town firework show… that type thing.
loved the Summer fun list idea! Philarmonic concert in the Park, Kayak, lots of picnics in Central Park with our son, fireworks, drinks in a rooftop with my husband, see the sunset in the beach..checked! I still have a lot in my list like see the sunrise in the beach, two other special dates with my husband, family hike, and our summer vacation in August! Thanks Laura, I am loving planning every weekend and ckecking my list 🙂
Love your summer bucket list idea! Am totally copying this.