One Saturday morning, earlier this summer, I was sitting on our deck reading through my new edition of Magnolia Journal. We had wrapped up our (bit-off-more-than-we-could-chew) house project. Summer was just beginning but I already felt exhausted and had no motivation to start new projects or even do fun things that would require some effort.
I have a tendency to have an all or nothing mentality and after a very busy spring, I was drained and couldn’t envision myself doing “everything” so instead I was choosing to do nothing.
However, I came across a piece in Magnolia Journal suggesting putting things you don’t want to miss in place of to do lists. One of the things I love about Magnolia Journal is how thought provoking it is. The piece went on to challenge the reader to think of a word or phrase to define your summer.
The word that came to my mind was “full”, as in complete especially in detail, number, or duration; not lacking in any essential. Shifting perspective suddenly transformed my to do list from things that would make this summer too busy to things that would make it reach its full potential. So on frigid winter days, I wouldn’t look back feeling like I wasted the precious gift of summer.
As of now, here is a small snapshot of our summer. While there have been a few times where the days have gotten away from us in busyness or waste, this summer has been FULL.
In these little people years with Lucy, the days are long but the years are short. With COVID causing certain places to be closed or restricted, it’s been a little more challenging to make these “long” days full and count. When we were quarantining, walks kept me sane and the fresh air was good for the kids too. We’ve continued the tradition but with nicer weather, I try to take the kids to a different trail once a week for a change in scenery.
We’ve also tried to make a habit of going to the splash pad once a week. Lucy is younger than most kids there but so far we’ve had fun and some positive interactions. This has been so good for Lucy and certainly a highlight of her week. She is walking faster and faster now and is ready to leave me in the dust to chase after the big kids.
We have also enjoyed time with family and friends, enjoyed making s’mores around our fire pit as well as having Lucy’s one year photos taken by the talented A Couple Moore !
We have also been blessed to make some memories with Lucy on special outings.
Earlier this month, we took Lucy to the Nevada Berry Patch Farm. We started our day fueling up with our favorite iced coffee from our favorite local coffee shop, The Coffeesmith . Then we made our way to the berry patch. It was a fun outing and was great to be outside in the sun. Lucy had trouble understanding why we couldn’t sample every blueberry we picked but she was happy we brought some home to snack on and have on our waffles the next morning. This outing was perfect and inexpensive. There is no cost of admission at the berry patch. You simply pay for the berries you pick when you leave. Hoping to make this a tradition for our family!
And of course we couldn’t be within such a short range of Ames without stopping at the Dutch Oven to pick up some donuts to enjoy that morning!
We also made it to The Blank Park Zoo this month. Sad to say when your kid was in quarantine for several months of their 13 month life, they are just as interested to watch the people at the zoo as the animals. Despite her frequent people watching, Lucy enjoyed seeing all the animals. I think some of her favorites were the sea lions, lions, wallabies, and giraffes. She may have also mooed at the rhinos.
Thanks for taking a glimpse at our summer!
There are still some drops of summer left. As I try to do the same, I’m wondering is there a shift in perspective that could change the last bit of your summer? Are there things you will be sad you didn’t do? Are there things creating too much busyness in your days? I hope that you can decide how you’re going to define the rest of this season and make it memorable!