Summer Goals

Well, the list is up!  That means we're one step closer to summer. 

I LOVE the unscheduled, lazier days of summer, sleeping in a little, and mostly playing all day, but I also like a little structure and some plans, too.  Craig and I started helping the kids with Summer Goals years ago when they were little.  We encouraged them to have a few things they wanted to accomplish during their break as well as some fun things to look forward to.  The kids have made homemade popsicles, hosted a movie premiere party, and opened a lemonade stand in past summers with the help of those little lists.  Planning is a good thing.  Lists are good things.  And combined with a little flexibility and some spontaneous fun thrown in, a few goals make the summer so much better.  I think it's a good thing to be able to look back at the end of a summer and see that's it's been fun...and productive.  The kids still have their individual lists, but we've added a FAMILY SUMMER GOALS list to the kitchen also, mostly to keep us motivated when the summer seems endless and everyone starts to get bored.  (Although with our schedule this year, I'm not sure we've left much time for boredom...)  We sat the kids down earlier this week and asked them what they wanted our summer to look like.  We let them toss out anything and everything, and we mostly included it all on the list.  We may not do all of those things (like Lagoon...blah...I'm kinda hoping we don't have time to fit that in) but it's nice to have some direction to the lazy days and weeks ahead.  

Have I mentioned that I'm REALLY looking forward to the end of the school year?  

smoothies for breakfast...visits to the pool...early morning walks instead of early morning seminary...lots of picture taking opportunities...family vacations...

Hurry up, summer.  I wish you'd just get here already.