It's Official, Summer's Here!!!!

June 21st is the official start of summer. My kids have been out of school for 3 weeks already, but we still have 10 weeks left before they go back to school to enjoy the summer. There are many reasons summer may be hard to deal with, like being surrounded by children all day, but there are so many more reasons that make summer better than any other time of year.

• No Homework. I hated worrying about finding time to get it all done.
• Lazy schedule. We did schedule some things, but if we skip any of them, no biggie. Not like schedules during the school year, where you can't just skip school or activities because you feel like it.
• Parties. We have a lot of things planned where we will get to enjoy being with friends and family.
• Outdoor fun. Being from Minnesota, we get about 6 months a year where we can be outside for more than a couple hours a day, and in the dead of winter sometimes we can not be out at all. We start to get cabin fever. Mt favorite part is, if the kids start driving me crazy I can kick them outside.
• Vacation. My husband and I already took our alone trip, and in August we are taking all the kids on a trip.
• Parades and county fairs. These are the things that scream summer to me. I can smell the mini donuts already.
• Sleeping in. I am lucky to have kids who sleep in. Most of summer we all sleep in, unless we have something early scheduled, which are few and far between. I sleep until 10 or 11 most days. (Please don't hate me)
• Easy summer foods. Salads, sandwiches, grilled foods and fruit all make for easy lunches and dinners.
• Backyard fires. can you say S'mores?
• Water fun. Swimming, sprinklers, water balloons, and water guns make for great fun on a hot day.
• Summer birthdays. Four of my kids have summer birthdays and so do I. The twins birthday and mine are on the same day which makes for a huge celebration! Birthdays are always used as a good excuse to do something fun that is out of the ordinary.
• Picnics. I love being able to pack a lunch and eat outside whenever we go on day trips in the summer. We do drive thru fast food way too often when we are running around during the school year. Picnics are more nutritious, save money, and also makes good memories.
• Late dinners. We don't need to rush to get dinner cooked, eaten, and cleaned up so we can get to whatever activity we have going on in the evening like we do during the school year. If the kids are playing outside and not hungry I don't worry about that. I just have something ready around 7, and when enough people come tell me they are hungry, we eat. As a bonus to this, my husband usually gets to eat with us too. During school, he usually isn't home when we eat.
• More lax about chores. I don't worry so mush about keeping the place clean or laundry done because nothing is going to happen if the kids look like ragamuffins all day at home.
• Pyjama day. Many days we all stay in our pyjamas just for fun.
• Less baths. Once per week in the summer for kids because why? It's not like anyone is going to see them.
• More lax about bedtime. What happens if they stay up until midnight? Not a damn thing. They will probably just sleep later.
• More reading time for me. Less running around means more time to relax.
• Special time with the kids. During school every evening is so ruched it just feels like we are going through the motions of everything we need to get done, and I have very many days when nothing felt "quality" about any of the time I spent with them. It went more like nag nag nag nag nag nag nag.
• No paperwork! During school there is an endless supply of forms to fill out and bring back, backpacks to go through, and papers to look at. 
• Play clothes all the time. No worrying about getting stains, rips, or spills on their good clothes. Plus no jackets or real shoes required. We live in flip flops all summer long!

Now, I am willing to bet that 10 weeks from now I will have a similar list of all the ways school is better than summer, but for now this summer is looking to be a pretty amazing time! 

 

What's your favorite thing about summer?