A week from now we’ll be picking out first day of school clothes, packing lunches, and getting to bed earlier. We will be back in a more structured routine. My son will be starting Kindergarten. It will be a transition to a new season. Excitement and sadness. I am feeling anxiety right now realizing my kids are growing up.
It seems that the older you get, the quicker time flies. This summer has gone by especially fast due for a couple reasons (1) we had a late spring and (2) we’ve kept busy, taking advantage of every day. As I have become more aware that life happens quick and I better take advantage of it now or I will regret it later. There is a new song I like by Incubus. The title is “If not now, when?” (By the way, if you haven’t checked out Amazon.com for music yet – go. Their prices are generally MUCH better than iTunes and you can save your music on an online drive and also download the music to your computer). I think that question is very relevant. If you don’t have the time now – when will you?
At the beginning of summer we put together our bucket list of fun. I don’t know if we’ll get through all the activities, but we’ve definitely had a great few months. Here are a few of the highlights:
Fishing in Island Park
Ever summer we go to Island Park and stay at my mom’s cabin. This year we took the kids fishing a few times. They haven’t been fishing much and they were both able to catch a fish or two. I get creeped out by fish and all things slimy so I stuck to camera duty.
Long Walks to the Park
One of the best ways to get kids to go on long (3 mile-ish) walks is to take a pit stop at the park mid-walk. We have tried to go on nice long walks on Sunday evenings as a low-key family activity.
Fireworks!
Oh boy. The kids (including the one I’m married to ;)) sure love fireworks. The laws changed this year allowing a longer window to do fireworks and many of the previous illegal fireworks are now legal. We did fireworks several nights and enjoyed putting on shows for some of the neighbor kids.
Splash Pad
There are two splash pad’s within 10 minutes of our home. Splash pads are perfect for kids and moms. Moms can sit on the perimeter with the younger kids and without getting wet while the older kids run through the water and have the time of their life.
Oregon Coast
This was our big trip this summer. We drove up to Portland to visit my dad. He got a condo on the beach for a week and we had a great time. It is incredibly beautiful up there. After this trip I started thinking we need to consider looking at other places to take up residency! One of my memories of the beach when I was kid was picking up seashells along the beach. Last time we went to California seashells were nowhere to be found. Luckily the kids were able to find a couple this time and keep them as souvenirs.
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