What I Did On My Summer Vacation Part 1

Hi!  I've been so bad at updating this summer. I think I just needed a summer vacation.  From everything.  It has been extremely freeing and refreshing to simply relax this summer. We have developed quite a lovely routine this season, in between several trips and events.

We wake up and eat breakfast. Geary has become quite a pro at making pancakes.  Yet another reason to love him.

Then we spend our mornings working.  For the boys that usually means household chores, which they complete quickly and then play.  For Geary and me it means working on the house, or some of the projects we've taken on this summer.

Every weekday, the school that is just a couple blocks from our house serves free lunches for kids.  We found out that adults can eat for just a dollar and they have a pretty good salad bar.  So most days we quit working around 11:30am and walk over to the school for lunch.  Sometimes just Geary and the boys go and I make something for myself at home and just enjoy 30 minutes of quiet.  School lunch has been one of my favorite things this summer.

After lunch we have F.O.B.  That's a summer camp term which stands for Feet On Bunk.  We set a timer for 30 minutes and simply rest.   Scheduled quiet time...it's so good!

Afternoons are for fun or running errands.  We read, play outside, visit playgrounds, shop, play games, watch movies, do art projects, invite friends over to play, and sometimes we are even bored.  It's kind of nice.

Tuesdays are always Library Day.  We signed up for the Summer Reading Program at our library and each week the boys check in with a children's librarian to record how much they've read over the past week.  I love that a lot of the prizes are things like free passes for blueberry picking at a local farm, free admission to an indoor jungle gym, and free pieces of fruit from a local grocery store.  So much better than stickers and cheap toys!  Plus, each week they are able to earn raffle tickets for a chance to win a big prize like a pony ride, a lego set, books, admission to OMSI and other really cool experiences.

After the library we usually stop at the Farmer's Market.  One produce stand has these huge, gorgeous heads of lettuce for only one dollar!  We usually buy one for the week and couple pints of berries and some other veggies.  And sometimes we stop by the Kettle Corn booth and buy a small bag of caramel corn.  They have so many different flavors.  Our favorites this summer have been Vanilla Maple and Lemon Meringue.

In the evenings we eat dinner, sometimes outside, and then play more or read more or work more if it's cool enough.  Geary usually spends the evenings reading outside and sometimes starts a fire in our fire pit.  We've been experimenting with different types of s'mores but so far we haven't found a combo that we like more than the classic milk chocolate, marshmallow, and graham crackers.

This summer has been wonderful and we are a little sad that we only have two weeks until school starts again.  The calendar is filling up and our routine will have to change again.  But it's exciting, at the same time.  We're gathering school supplies and looking forward to seeing friends again and as much as I love these sunny days I'm kind of craving some cooler weather.

We are very excited to share about our trips, the events we participated in, and some of our summer projects.  So stay tuned...we've got a whole summer's worth of stuff to catch up on!