When people ask what we did this summer, I honestly don't know how to respond, because we didn't do much. We went on one camping trip. We intended on going on more, but one is all that worked out. We hit up the local swimming pool, we went to our county fair, we even made it to the State Fair, and we ended up doing a few more of our regular summer activities. Otherwise, we hardly left home, instead choosing to spend the summer in our Intex Swimming Pool, riding bike, hiking through the woods, and listening to as much music as possible. I let my house go a bit, I let the laundry pile up, and it was wonderful. It was probably the most stress free I have ever been since I had kids, and I loved every minute of it. Remember last summer how my neighbor mentioned he could hear me yelling? I didn't want a repeat of that this summer, so I intentionally chose to keep my summer as stress free as possible and didn't put requirements on myself or the kids. I wanted to read a lot this summer, and so I did. I wanted to introduce the girls to various musicians, and so we did. I wanted to sit and soak up the sun, so we did. I took them on walks through the woods, down our road, and we sat outside marveling about how lucky we are to live here. I may have yelled a time or two, but I know that if I ran into my neighbor again, he would probably say he heard laughter this summer. Which is exactly what I wanted it to be.
Intentions....they can put a lot of pressure on us, and this summer I chose to be wise with my intentions and expectations. Did stuff get put aside until later because of it? Absolutely! This winter, I'm going to have my work cut out for me organizing our basement and our toy room (yikes). But winter is a good time for it, because it's cold and dark outside. Did my house sometimes go weeks without cleaning? Yep, but it's still standing and I even managed to clean it yesterday and it was just fine.
Interestingly enough I managed to get through summer almost completely on my own. Chris' business has picked up enough to the point of him working not only all day, but also late into the evening. This is wonderful for us financially, but a big change on our family with the absence of Chris. Thankfully he is finding some great employees to take over the evening work, but for the majority of this summer it has been Chris working all day into the evening and me figuring out how to parent alone. I was, and in many ways, still am exhausted. Which is why I am so glad I didn't force myself to do more this summer, but instead just chose to enjoy it.
So like always, our summer flew by and before we knew it fall was here. If I could have summer all year long I would. I love warm weather, I love the sun, and I love the stress free life of just enjoying summer. I'm always sad when summer comes to a close, but this summer I can say I enjoyed it fully!
How was your summer? Have you gotten into the swing of fall yet?
