It’s the last day of school…and I can’t help but wonder where the school year went. It seems that as my kids get older the school years just keep going faster and faster. Is it just me? Or have you noticed this, too.
It was a great year which I’m sure added to the speedy passing of time. Both of my kids were at the same school, which somehow I found very comforting. And both of my kids had great teachers, which obviously I found very comforting. It was a good year indeed.
I’m a bit distracted today, with summer right around the corner. I keep wondering how the last day is going for them. I know my daughter is going to be really sad to say goodbye to her teacher. I hope she’s doing okay. My son is more than ready to go onto Middle School next year—so I’m pretty sure today is just a fun day for him. Nothing more; nothing less.
I guess it’s time to shift gears and get into summer mode. I have just over two hours until it is officially here! We don’t have anything big planned for the summer. I’m hoping that my parent’s will each come for a visit. But other than that and a few summer camps for the kids, the summer is mostly wide open.
I thought I’d use this post to make a little list of fun things I love about summer—just to help me get excited about shifting from school year mode to summer mode. So here it goes.
Dealing with less paper!
Okay, so one of the things I absolutely love about summer is that there is less paper to deal with every day. Hooray for that! Over the summer I like to go through the past year’s school papers and art projects and organize them into binders. I have a hard time tossing my kid’s papers the minute they bring them home. It just doesn’t feel right to me: “Nice job sweetie! Let’s run that beauty through the shredder.”
So instead I collect artwork throughout the school year in a bin, and then we go through it over the summer. This project is high on the list.
The circus.
I’m really looking forward to this year’s Circus Flora. This is a super fun summer tradition that we’ve been doing as a family since 2004. This year we’re going with my friend Elise and her family. Hooray!
The flea market.
This weekend I’m going to this Flea Market with my friend Stacey. Very excited to see what treasures I find.
Eating really fresh food.
Hands down fresh food is one of my favorite things about summer. We have a small garden on our side yard—tomatoes, peppers, herbs and some flowers. The garden and our local farmer’s market makes it so simple to enjoy fresh food all summer long. This, along with grilling and eating outdoors—okay, I’m getting quite excited that summer is almost here!
My nephew’s wedding.
I’m so happy for him. The wedding is in August but the bridal shower is next month. It seems like it’s been quite a while since we’ve had a family wedding, so it’s really exciting.
Fourth of July fireworks.
One out of four Garvey’s agree – fireworks are where it’s at! Yes, I’m in the minority on this one, but I really do love Fourth of July fireworks. And everyone else in my family enjoys them more than they think.
Days like today.
After a really rainy and hot May, today is just plain perfect—sunny, low humidity, and seventy nine delicious degrees. I hope we get many more days like this all summer long.
Riding bikes and going for walks.
Or any other excuse I can think of to be outside.
Sitting on the front porch listening to the rain.
Ahhh…I can’t wait for this one.
Fresh, homemade guacamole.
Yum!
Reading in the hammock with iced tea close at hand.
Oh, doesn’t that just sound like summer?
Okay…I think I’m ready! How about you? Is it summer where you live? If so, what do you love about summer or what are you looking forward to? Of if it’s cold where you live right now, what do you miss about summer? I’d love to hear.
I can’t wait for summer. We have been getting tons of rain here in NorCal. What happened to sunny California? My kiddos are still little, but I can’t even imagine how much paperwork we’ll have once they start school. We opt-out for some ads, and always bring totes for groceries, but we still end up filling half the recycling bin every single week. Congrats to your nephew!! My sister’s bridal shower is next week at my house! and I have a million things to do. Should get back to that right now actually while the baby sleeps and grandparents watching the older one. Have a wonderful weekend!
You make it sound so great. I hate summers. Please forgive me but 115 degrees in the shade doesn’t appeal to me. So I spend all the time leading up to the heat just griping about it instead of enjoying the not-so-hot weather. I need to take a leaf from your book and enjoy it now.
When I was in your stage of life, I loved all the extra family time and the slower pace of summer — no school commitments, no sports teams or orchestra rehearsals. It seemed that our time was our own. A trip somewhere for a family vacation was the highlight of the year.
Now I love that we usually get to visit with our grown children who live far away — still a trip, but it’s not with everyone anymore.
This summer will be very busy, as my daughter’s getting married in August! I’m thrilled for her, totally approve of the guy she’s marrying, but putting a wedding together is a lot of work, and I doubt my summer will hold much down-time. I’ll have to plan for some relaxation this fall.
What a great post Aby – I am SO envious that you are heading into summer, lucky you :). There are lots of things I miss about summer such as natural light – leaving home in the mornings when it is daylight and coming home again when it is still light! I really miss fresh salads, BBQs and walking along the beach as the sun is setting. Walking in thermals along the beach just isn’t the same, although there is “something” about the rugged waves crashing on the beach in winter. Enjoy your summer !! Right, I am off to light candles and have some soup…. The good thing about winter is I get lots or organising and scrapbooking done 🙂
I ALWAYS look forward to your posts about Summer – they are my favourite. I love how you relish in all the rich small things that make Summer what it is.
I’m up in Canada on the West Coast (Vancouver Island – just above the Port Angeles/Seattle area for those of you in the US).
Our weather here this year has been odd – usually we have an unexpected heatwave in mid to late May but so far the weather has been surprisingly cold and rainy/cloudy. We also usually have a heatwave in mid-Summer so I’m actually looking forward to that!
My favourite activities include:
Going to the local farms A LOT for all the amazing fresh organic produce, especially for the U-Pick’s they have for strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. We also go to a place called Ruby Red Farms to pick up a 10lb box or two of their AMAZING plump large blueberries (a tradition each year).
Going to any of the multiple lakes we have in the area for a swim or barbeque (we are going to try fishing this year at one of the lakes stocked with fish).
We are also right on the ocean so there are sandy beaches for that – the water is pretty cold in our area but a 2 hour drive upisland to Parksville has the warmest ocean waters in all of Canada – the water is like soup at the end of the day in the Summer when the tide comes in. We love long walks out to explore the tidepools (mini-crabs, shrimp, sand dollars, starfish, snails, etc.) when the tide is out, swimming in the afternoon and beach fires in the dark at night. We usually stay for a few days in a log cabin.
Homemade popsicles with fruit frozen inside them.
I like to bake lots of rustic tarts & galette’s with summer fruits. One of my favourites is made with a mix of fresh red and black currants.
Homemade ‘Sun Tea’ – load some tea bags into a large mason jar and set it outside in the sun to brew, then add icecubes, frozen fruit and a splash of sugar.
Going out into my backyard garden to collect all the ingredients for a fresh salad, then adding some grilled chicken breast or shrimp – YUM!
Can’t forget Canada Day which is on July 1st – a few days before your celebration. I always buy my son a t-shirt for it that has the year on it plus a Canadian symbol like our maple leaf flag.
Early mornings outside on the patio sipping amazing coffee : )
During our heatwaves, when the sun goes down and it’s cooler outside than inside, we light to set up the TV outside on our patio and watch a movie outside with popcorn and lemonade.
Camping in the backyard. Complete with roasting hot dogs or marshmallows over a small firepit.
Finding small garter snakes in our yard and capturing them long enough to make them a ‘home’ with rocks and grass, take some photos, give ’em a name and then let them go.
Water fights in the backyard with water balloons and garden hoses.
Oh I could go on, sorry to ramble but the current anticipation is getting me all excited! – I love everything about Summer – especially the smell of the grass and gardens on a hot day. I only wish we had fireflies like you guys do Aby! I’ve never seen one before!
Looking forward to celebrating summer. The weather’s finally turned warm and we turned the AC on for the first time this season this Sunday.
Also, wanted to give you a Target $1 bin update: New round buckets have arrived for summer. Picked up a white one for the laundry room. What will you use yours for?
@scr@ppertiff – I did pick up some of those buckets…how did you know? 😉 I’ll do a post on this soon.
Aby
It is summer as I am in Missouri, too. And, I was so excited to learn about Circus Flora. I think that may go on our family outings plan for this summer. The best thing about summer to me is that my husband and I are both teachers. So… summers off for the whole of Team Lawson. YES!
@Relyn,
Oh, summers off for everyone sounds delightful! You should go to Circus Flora — it is really neat!
Aby
I have just downsized to a townhome from a large house. We got rid of so much STUFF! It was great. Now, a year + later, I need to get rid of STUFF again. How did this happen?
I like the “lawn and leaf bag” idea of sorting a closet. When done, the bags collapse for storage. My pet peave is when the garage is messy. I can’t decide which class to take to help with the garage and the boxes of heritage photos…….
I have just downsized to a townhome from a large house. We got rid of so much STUFF! It was great. Now, a year + later, I need to get rid of STUFF again. How did this happen?
I like the “lawn and leaf bag” idea of sorting a closet. When done, the bags collapse for storage. My pet peave is when the garage is messy. I can’t decide which class to take to help with the garage and the boxes of heritage photos…….
@ Mtn Mom,
Thanks for your comment. I think the best place to start would be Organizing 101. It would definitely help with the garage. I don’t have a specific workshop for photos at this time…but I’m happy to answer questions about topics like photos in my other workshops such as Organizing 101 or Organize Your Paper Clutter.
Please let me know if this help or if you have any other questions.
Thanks!
Aby
@ Mtn Mom,
Thanks for your comment. I think the best place to start would be Organizing 101. It would definitely help with the garage. I don’t have a specific workshop for photos at this time…but I’m happy to answer questions about topics like photos in my other workshops such as Organizing 101 or Organize Your Paper Clutter.
Please let me know if this help or if you have any other questions.
Thanks!
Aby