Since when did weekends become the dumping ground for laundry, grocery shopping and vacuuming? I remember a time when weekends were spent with my toes in the sand, loud music in a crowded club or a double feature on the couch with my sister and a large pizza. Let’s not forget that chores aren’t the only thing weekends are good for anymore. Oh no. There is the mind-numbing stream of birthday parties, play dates, kids' movies and endless hours pushing a squealing child on a swing.
Desperate for our summer not to be filled with cookie-cutter weekend plans, my husband, daughter and I made a list of all the fun things we wanted to do together. After a few ideas were thrown out, it was evident we needed to put these things in categories. Honestly, it was only evident to me, but who’s counting?
A list was born. Our Dream, Probably Not, Maybe and Definitely summer plans. My husband's dream was to fly to England to watch a Liverpool match. My dream was a vacation in Hawaii. My little one piped in that her dream was to play with dolphins (at least hers was on the same page as mine). After our random fantasies were exhausted, we talked about going camping and fishing and learning to swim. My daughter couldn’t contain her excitement and bubbled with idea after idea. Even my husband had a few fun plans to chime in. I could tell that this was going to be a great summer! The days flew by way too quick, but I was able to make the memories last with a handful of photos.
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| Fourth of July fireworks and a baseball game - classic Americana! |
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| Who can resist such sweet sprinkly goodness at the State Fair? |
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| Turns out it's not so easy to put together a puzzle of the USA. But it was fun trying to at the Children's Museum. |
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| Her first time fishing. Ice House Reservoir |
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| Swimming with Mommy and Daddy made the Definitely list. Even better to swim with them while camping! |
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| Even though reading and doing art didn't make our summer list, not a day went by without a little of both! |
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| This is quality summertime fun! Dancing at Concert in the Park with a couple of her best girlfriends. |
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| Who knew? She got to play with the dolphins after all. |
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| Eating a delicious funnel cake wasn't on our list, but my sister convinced me it should've been! |
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| No endless hours of swinging here. Just a terrific summer day spent at Six Flags with my sister and our daughters. |
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| Finishing summer with a stroll with Grandpa along the path at the top of the world. |
Now that the summer is ending, school has just begun and the weather is turning cooler (oh wait, scratch that last one), I can look back and say that it was a great summer! A wonderful one full of sweet memories that will last us through the cold and rainy winter that is right around the corner. I'm thinking now would be a good time for us to start our autumn and winter Dream list. If my little one's wish to play with dolphins came true, maybe a beach vacation is in the stars for me!
