The summer post

All the things!

While the calendar is telling me it’s spring, the school system says otherwise. Today was my big boys’ last day of school, so apparently it’s summer now!

I have so much nostalgia for my childhood summers. Swimming at the pool with neighborhood friends, staying up late reading the latest Harry Potter, watching cartoons with my siblings while eating Spongebob mac and cheese and drinking Sunny D, making friendship bracelets in the car on our way to the beach… those were the days. I can only hope that when my kids are older, they look back with similar happy memories of their own childhood summers.

Peak 90’s

Right now I’m filled with Big Summer Energy, so if this post sounds overly ambitious, that’s why. Just know that come mid-July, I will be surrounded by a pile of wet pool towels, hair frizzed to the max from humidity, weeping silently to myself. Summer with kids can be a blast, but it can also be… a lot. A lot of together time, a lot of sibling fights, a lot of heat-related exhaustion. I created a summer game plan to get me through, which is what I want to chat about in today’s post! Here are the highlights:

Play
Water, water, water! My dad’s apartment has a pool that we will visit often, and we’ll also be making the splash pad rounds. On lazy afternoons I’ll fill up the water table in our backyard and let the boys go to town. Our favorite indoor activities include the library, museum, and YMCA. God bless the YMCA, yall.

Childcare
I have two weeks of childcare set up in the form of morning VBS camps for the big boys. VBS camps are so affordable, and we’ve had great experiences with them in the past. I love that my kids get to meet new friends, have new experiences, and learn more about Scripture… all for ~$20 a week. ;) We will also do a few days of “grandma camp” with my mother-in-law, who is a teacher and has summers off.

Food
Why oh why are 90% of my days spent making and/or cleaning up food?! The mental load of it all can really weigh on me. I decided to make a loose menu for the summer:

-Breakfast – overnight oats or Eggo waffle + egg bites

-Lunch – sandwich, chips/pretzels, fruit

-Snack – string cheese or granola bar… or really anything we have in our snack cabinet at the time

-Dinner – rotation!
Monday – Salmon + rice + salad
Tuesday – Crockpot meal (like this one!) + sides
Wednesday – Josh grills
Thursday – Leftover crockpot meal
Friday – Josh makes dinner while I’m at work
Saturday/Sunday – ??? go with God my beloveds

This was actually my mother’s day breakfast menu but it was too cute not to post

Television
I’m going to be real with you: my big kids watch TV every day. After lunch I put Alden down for a nap, read for a bit with Kyeler and CJ, then pop on a show. It is my one true “break” of the day and I love it. While the boys are watching TV I usually lay on the couch with them and rest. On a higher energy day (lol, what are those?) I’ll do some chores around the house or start prepping dinner. A few of our favorite shows: Wild Kratts on PBS, Molly of Denali on PBS, Tumble Leaf on Prime, Gumboot Kids on Prime.

Vacation
As of now we have one big vacation planned with Josh’s side of the family. They are super generous and take all of the kids + grandkids to the beach for a week every summer. I’m also spending two nights at Great Wolf Lodge with the kids and my mom, anddd Josh and I are planning a potential train trip up to DC… TBD!

Reading
I saved the best for last! Does anyone else remember doing summer reading programs at their library? And then the prize was like… a pencil, but you were so excited? Good times. This summer I am really hoping to get my hands on the Emma M. Lion series. I’ve been hearing such good things! Currently I’m in possession of an embarrassment of riches that I cannot wait to work my way through, including Theo of Golden by Allen Levi, Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, and Brawler by Lauren Groff. Josh and I are also doing a summer book club through our church and we’ll be reading The Duties of Parents by J.C. Ryle.

The big boys are really into the Dog Man comic books lately, so I’m sure this summer will include our fair share of those. I also have some chapter book read-a-louds on deck for them… most notably Little House on the Prairie, because those are my favorite.

Alden is still deep in his Chicka Chicka Boom Boom era and will occasionally shout “coconut tree!” at us, apropos of nothing. He’s also obsessed with anything Little Blue Truck. I kind of am, too. :)

Honorable mentions:
-Cold brew. Nothing hits better than cold brew + cream in the summer. I like to make my own using the Toddy.
-Spray bottles filled with water. The boys can water our plants, themselves, each other… whatever their hearts desire!
-Miss Mouth’s stain treater. Self-explanatory! If this post had a sponsor, I can only hope Miss Mouth’s would be it.
-Summer sewing plans: this top and bottom set for the boys + another Skyline dress for me!
-Kinetic sand. This keeps my kids occupied for ages. I learned my lesson, though, and now have a strict Outside Only rule. ;)
-Outshine cherry limeade popsicles. The best flavor!

I might have just made myself *more* overwhelmed by writing this post. Whoops. But it’s gonna be fun you guys (she says to herself)! Gooooo parents!!!

Tell me—what are your summer plans?! Any fun activities I need to know about??

xoxo :)