It is summer. School is out. The air is heavy and warm. Fireflies are starting to light our yard. It stays light until late in the day and the sun is up early to greet us. It is summer.
I am not a summer person. In fact, out of the 4 seasons, it ranks in 4th place — and that’s only because there isn’t a 5th season. Spring and fall are beautiful in East Tennessee. It is hard to beat those seasons in this gorgeous part of the country. I’ve always liked winter as well. I love snow, I like bundling up and all things cold and associated with it make me happy and snuggly. I hate being hot. I hate sweating — which I do a lot of. I don’t tend to tan, I usually burn. Mosquitos eat me like I eat chocolate cake. Summer is just not my season.
But it’s funny how having kids really does change everything. Jack is changing how I feel about summer. Over the past several years I have realized what a precious time this season is with my boy, and I’m kind of starting to love it. I’m not a natural at this summer thing, and I’m not a naturally fun person so having a fun, intentional, and adventurous summer is out of my comfort zone and a stretch for me. But I’m going to do it. You see, I realized the other day that I only get 18 of these summers with my boy, Lord willing. And I’m coming up on my 4th summer with him. How is that even possible?? This realization made me catch my breath and hold back tears a little bit as I thought about how quickly time is passing. I don’t want summer days with Jack to be wasted. I want to teach him valuable skills, I want to show him amazing things, I want him to have a spirit for adventure, and I want him to look forward to an exciting time of year where our family shifts our focus into fun and adventure for a season.


In order for me to do that I have to set some goals + make some lists [because even if I am going to be adventurous, let’s face it — I’m still type A and need a good list to be adventurous 🙂 ]. So we have made up a family summer adventure list with the goal of crossing each thing off the list. The first week of summer for us was last week, and it went really well. I watched my friend’s son while she took care of her other son who was sick. So we got to have some fun adventures with Jack’s buddy, too. They had Icees and a picnic at the park to start the week. Then the next day a Chick-fil-A picnic in Nan and Pops incredible back yard. Jack has run errands with me and spent time outside blowing bubbles. The first week of summer was a success!
Here is our list:
Family Summer Adventure List 2014
1. Get Icees and go swing at Bluegrass
2. Picnic at the park
3. Play in the sprinklers
4. Picnics at Nan and Pops
5. Play out in the backyard at Nan and Pops house
6. 69 cent Icees over and over
7. Anni-Jack-a-birthday week to kick off summer!
8. Celebrate Jack’s 3rd birthday!
9. Celebrate our 5th anniversary!
10. My birthday on Memorial Day this year
11. Go to the mountains
12. Go to the library
13. Go for walks
14. Play bubbles
15. Water gun fight
16. Slip-n-slide
17. 4th of July
18. Catch fireflies
19. Go to the zoo
Go to Dollywood
20. Ride bikes
21. Go to the park
22. Go fishing
23. Go hiking
24. Order pizza
25. Camp in backyard
26. Lay on driveway and watch the stars
27. Find our Gabriel star
28. Visit the cemetery lots
29. Go to Smokies game
30. Go to the beach
31. Go swimming
32. Pick blueberries
33. Make strawberry jam
34. Make blueberry jam
35. Get strawberries from Tidwells
36. Visit Daddy at work
37. Find a special place to serve
38. Go to Kingsport
39. See cows + visit Mamaw’s barns
40. Paint on the driveway
41. Paint on the fence
42. Take the dogs for walks
43. Jack’s birthday party at the farm!
44. Remember and celebrate Gabriel
45. Plant flowers
46. Fix up backyard
47. Grill out lots
48. Eat popsicles
49. Play with chalk outside
50. Rent a canoe
51. Make homemade popsicles
52. Swim in blow up pools in our yard