How To:: Let Go Of Your Summer To-Do List

Sunday, August 8, 2010


I didn't actually write out a Summer To Do List like I did last year but I did make a bit of a mental list.
There is/was a lot we wanted to do.
Some of it we have and some we have not.



Thursday I started mentally counting the days we had left before school starts and I counted about four.
one, two, three, four....Four? 
What? Wait....
I almost panicked. 
(There's actually more than four but a few of those days we already have things going on so those days don't really count)

I started thinking we should make a trip to the beach today. Definitely. One more time.
We needed to do something.
But I didn't actually feel like it.  
Brave the heat and go to the County Fair an hour away? 
Nope, didn't want to do that either.
But I felt like we should do something big, something fun, something we don't usually do.
Time was running out.




And then I got over it.
We don't have to do big things, far away things or things that cost a lot of money.
I mean we have done some of those but I think we're good.
All we really needed was to do something together, preferably away from home because it feels like we've been staying in way too much lately. 




We decided to go to a Nature Preserve the kids love and spent several hours there.
Nothing big or super exciting, no money required.
Just us, our picnic lunch, extra clothes, jars, nets and a camera.
That's all we needed.
Our goal for the day was to catch tadpoles and take some home to see if they would really
 turn into frogs.
We waded through a little creek, nets in hand and waited.
And waited.
No luck. They were way too fast for us.




We layed down in the grass on a blanket, looked up at the sky, watched the clouds, tried to catch butterflies and tadpoles, picked flowers, threw rocks and attempted to swing from tree branches. And yes, I brought their swim suits and trunks to wade in a creek that is not actually meant for wading or fishing or swimming. Because I'm cool like that and I didn't really care if anyone saw us.



Oh and just so you don't think our day sounds too dreamy, throw in a few random threats from me due to too much fighting on the way there, sprinkle in a little teasing from the boy to the girl and vice versa, then a time or two of obnoxious screeching and screaming (them, not me) and you've got it right.
Oh, let's not forget the butt talk because that never gets old with them.

There ya have it, perfect enough for me.

*      *      *
What about you? Are there still things you want to do before Summer is officially over?
Or have you let go?

7 comments:

  1. My summer is pretty much over now, much to my dismay. I have meetings all day tomorrow and Tuesday, and then we officially start on Monday. I never really had a summer to-do list, since we spent so much time out of town. I'm just trying to get a few piddly things done around the house. I always prefer activities that are easy and close to home. It's so nice and easy. :)

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  2. I don't know where my summer went to begin with - I don't have kids yet so my summers are full of work with moments of joy through vacation and weekends. I love how your photographs told the story though. I'm actually looking forward to fall.

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  3. Sounds like my kind of outing! We've not been to the lake nearly as much as I wanted. (Because we both work for ourselves, it sometimes takes over). There are loads of little man-made beaches around here and we haven't visited enough of them. Days just fly by, but you've re-motivated me and this week I'm going to be more organised and get us out of this house! It's not over yet :)

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  4. i love this. i love that you made this okay. i made many mental lists (don't we all?) and intended to take weekly field trips and day trips and small road trips...and then, i just began to savor the simplicity of summering. and i have not for one minute regretted it. not one of my kids has complained that we never go here or we haven't gone there, which proves to me that they needed the simplicity of summer as much as i did!

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  5. My summer is up, more or less. I start tomorrow.

    BOO.

    My summer felt more like three weeks. It was way too short. I didn't do a tenth of the things I wanted to do. But I'm OK with that because this was a time of recovery. But I still think I need a bit more time.

    Beautiful pics...always.

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  6. your pictures are so beautiful, it sounds so dreamy indeed except for the fighting part (my three children do tones of that)!

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  7. Beautiful photos..the one of your daughter looking up is just gorgeous! I can't believe summer is almost over either. It's been unusually cold here most of the summer, like not even breaking 80 on many days. I just want some warmer evenings where we can eat outside and stroll around in shorts without feeling cold. I know you may not want to hear that with your heatwave...sorry :)

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