Yesterday while walking Finley around our usual loop I listened to Sarah’s podcast episode on planning your summer. She is a planning guru and divides her year up into five parts, quintiles, to best plan her year. I’m nowhere near that organized with my planning, but summer episode intrigued me.

Much like the holiday season, the summer has a special magic about it- later bedtimes, chasing fireflies, grilling, piles of wet towels, and sun-kissed cheeks. Perhaps a little intention will help make sure I don’t skip over any of the good stuff I want to include. Using her categories, I thought it would be fun to plan a little; I invite you to mentally play along!

Summer Reading

My mind first goes to reading aloud with the kids since that’s my most reliable reading time. We will finish the Harry Potter series within the next couple of weeks, then I’m planning to read The Penderwicks. If that floats our boat, we’ll dig through the series. If not, we will return to the second book of The Wingfeather Saga.

For personal reading, no big goals. I’ll finish Set Boundaries; Find Peace then try to find a lighter summer novel. The good news is that I read novels so infrequently that I know there are so many to choose from! Any recommendations?

Summer Wardrobe

The girls are set, as I’ve stocked them with their summer essentials. We went to Rack Room this week and bought them each a pair of neutral sandals to go with the piano recital outfits. Other than that they usually wear their Keens or sneakers.

I am still very much enjoying my Rent the Runway unlimited subscription. I signed up for the 4 item plan and trying different pieces to see what works for my personal style has been helpful. Since day to day I mostly wear workout clothes, it’s nice to have a few cute items at the ready for nights out.

Summer Schedule

Swim team will dominate our early summer, but we don’t mind. It’s everyday practice; right now in the afternoon, but will switch to mornings once school is out. Hailey loves it and Kaitlyn is tolerating it now that the weather is hotter and she doesn’t freeze when she comes out of the water.

We are keeping up with piano lessons (once a week) and Taekwondo (which is three classes a week; they are that you attend at least two). Both girls are signed up for an afternoon four day sewing camp, a full day weeklong Winshape Camp, and a three day basketball clinic.

I will be playing the part of chauffer.

Summer Social Outings

We have several park social gatherings on the calendar with our homeschool group that we plan to attend. We also have a Charlotte FC game planned with our friends. That will be a ton of fun, as it will be our first time in the Bank of America Stadium. We have friends visiting for the 4th of July. That’s all that is officially planned, but I’m hoping for a lot of boat time and inviting friends out with us there.

Summer Travel

It’s all set at point. In June we will visit Colorado Springs, Vermejo with the Dixon crew, and The Sand Dunes National Park. We have a Stathas family lake weekend at mom’s house in June, too. In late July we head to Disney for a a full week with my side of the family, which will undoubtedly be a ton of fun (if we all survive the heat!). I’m really itching to do a RV adventure. Nothing wild and crazy, but just to give it a try. I’m noodling it around for early fall; we’ll see!

Summer Fitness Goals

Nothing specific here except to stay the path. David and I have gotten into a routine of working out together almost everyday over the past year or two. It’s generally our 1.3 mile loop walk and the Madeline Moves workout of the day. Sometimes we modify to fit our schedule or give sore muscles a break. I love that it’s no longer a question of if we are exercising, but when.

Oh! I just thought of something though. Stretching. I need to become more consistent with this. Why is it so hard to do? I brought out my yoga mat the other day and did about 5 minutes. It felt so good. Why do I find this so challenging to stick with?

It’s fun to write it all out like that. I feel like it’s pretty planned out at this point, but also hoping for some of those magic summer nights with no plans, a backyard fire, pushing the kids on the swing, eating smores and sipping something good while grooving to some quality country music.

What are you looking forward to most about summer?