If you follow my blog, you know we set out with the intention to have a slow summer without many plans. Many of you, my dear readers, have asked if we were successful, as busy and summer seem to be used in the same sentence 90% of the time.
I’m kind of surprised to say we were successful with this intention – we really did have a slow summer! Now let me explain a little more. We did not stay home, inside, watching TV all summer. It’s not that we didn’t have full weekends and busy weeks. We had all of that, but it was the pace, and the overarching “summer vibe” that was different.
If we knew we had a busy weekend coming up, we’d be sure to not make many plans for the next. And on those “plan free” weekends we did things like ride our bikes downtown, hit up the farmers market, have a spontaneous dinner with friends or do some work in our yard. It’s not that our weekends and summer wasn’t full of fun (!!), but it wasn’t jam packed. It had a slower pace than ever before.
The older I get, the more I realize I don’t thrive in the busy busy 100% of the time. But what really pushed us to try this slower summer was Finn. All kids are different, so different. I know there are many kids who need structure, and have a hard time just “being home for the morning.” We have our days when that doesn’t work for him, but we also have days when I know he needs time at home to play with his toys, not have to go anywhere, and to just chill. I’m not about to say all kids need this, but mine certainly does.
Part of the motivation for this summer was for Finn, but it was also for us. In summers past we felt relieved it was over, so needing a routine, time at home to cook, clean and just relax. We’ve felt like we didn’t even remember summer because it went by so fast. Those summers were fun, but now that we have a family we were craving a new path.
We had to say no to some things this summer, which is never easy. But practicing saying no when we know another full weekend isn’t what’s best for us, or for the week ahead, is what we had to practice. I’d say for the most part it was a success all around!
Now to share some fun things we did this summer!
Adam and Finn built a swing set! (and I helped by bringing him cold beer)
We went on vacation for a week with my parents to South Hero, VT. It was beautiful, relaxing, and delicious. Vermont may be my favorite place in the entire world.
I read two (!!) books. Educated by Tara Westover. and The Nightengale by Kristin Hannah. Both incredibly well written, really tough stories. All I could think about was when I could sit down to read again – the sign of a really good book!
Found out we are having a girl!!
We went to Michigan to visit Adam’s family – Michigan in the summer is SO fun. Finn and I stuck our toes in a Michigan Lake for the first time :).
We grew a lot in our vegetable garden: lots of herbs, kale, collards, swiss chard, lots of lettuces, tomatoes and broccoli. We had some issues with critters eating a lot of it – but we still had quite the bounty!
Spent a lot of time on our bikes. We don’t go for long bike rides, we just cruise around and we love it!
As we move into fall we’re excited for our baby girl (due early January), soups and stews, our first trip to the Commonground Fair (SO excited about this), eating lots of apples and enjoying crisp fall days.
