Easy Breezy Summer

these are the unplugged days we always dreamed of

Dear reader,

I’ve had summer break on my mind for several weeks now, and I finally spent some time at a coffee shop this past weekend working through the plan. Yes, I did make a Google doc planning it out, but only because I want to say YES to what we do want and make sure things that are a NO don’t creep onto our schedule.

We are a homeschooling family, which means summer is a nebulous concept in that we create our school year and schedule. Some summers we simply keep homeschooling, which has allowed us to take spontaneous, needed breaks during the year. I’m inspired by Jessica Fickel sharing that she takes the summer off completely from homeschooling.

We also live in HOT Florida and summer is just a different beast than what you get in the northern states. Honestly, our winter is what feels like summer in Indiana and summer in Florida just feels….like something to get through.

But hey, that’s not the kind of mindset I want to have and instead, I dream of an easy, breezy and (most importantly) delightfully fun summer with my 4 children.

Knowing what you want (and don’t want) is half the battle, so I’m sharing here what’s an easy yes and where I’ll be drawing the lines on our time and resources.

What’s IN

• beach mornings | I keep a packed beach bag in the trunk of my mom ride, and my goal is to go to the beach 1-2 mornings per week. It’s usually quiet that time of day, mostly retirees power-walking, and the tourists haven’t shown up yet (at least at the beaches we go to, wink.) Then we can leave when it starts getting unbearably hot and be home for lunch and naps.

• exploring Florida | we live in the coolest state and have only scratched the surface of all the things to see here. I’m currently planning out some weekend family adventures to some off the beaten path locales. Some places on my list:

  • Society of the Four Arts

  • Loggerhead Marinelife Center

  • Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens

  • McKee Botanical Gardens

  • Alys Beach

  • Historical old St. Augustine (plus, I haven’t had coffee at the Kookaburra in way too long!)

• unplugged days with intentional TV time | hear me out, I am all about the analog life. We don’t do tablets, we don’t have a gaming system. I did buy a DVD player and have mine and my husband’s collection from when our kids were little and we were newlyweds. We’ve also been thrifting DVDs when we can find them (my 9 year old son was so excited to find the first season of Home Improvement for $1!) Late afternoon will be TV time for the big kids, nap time for the toddler, and writing/work time for me. Unless I’m tired then I may just curl up on the couch with them.

• old school family vacay | when I was a kid we stayed in a tiny 1950s cottage in Door County, WI every single summer. I have so many fond memories of it and my goal is to create a similar annual tradition for my kids. We booked a stay in coastal Georgia in July at a cute little Airbnb in a walkable small town. Fingers crossed it has the vibe I’m hoping for. We’ll buy all the fun breakfast cereal (IFYKYK) and eat popsicles on the porch and walk to the farmers market.

What’s OUT

• washing dishes | our dishwasher has been on the fritz for some time and I end up rewashing many of the “clean” dishes by hand. I’m tired of this circus, so for the summer we’ll be paper platting it up and ONLY using personal water bottles. We can hand-wash the rest. Two Christmases ago I bought each of my kids a Yeti water bottle and paid a little extra to have their name engraved on it. There really is no reason why my big kids can’t handwash their bottle at the end of the day, fill it, and stick it in the fridge for the next day, amiright?

• constant doing | we aren’t doing all the summer camps, enrichment activities or carrying on like it’s the school year but in summer. Hard stop, no. I already blocked out full weeks over the summer where I’ll just say no to adding anything to our schedule. I’ll be taking it light in my business with a month break between the current round of my mastermind and the next one that starts on August 1st.

• catering to boredom | one of my children who shall not be named likes to complain that they are bored. A lot. I plan on strewing crafts and art supplies and library books, but at the end of the day, it’ll be my children’s responsibility to entertain themselves, explore the neighborhood, and make their summer what they want it to be. This is how it was for my childhood, and I have the best memories of solving neighborhood “mysteries,” riding my bike to the library, and eating too many ice pops on my neighbors trampoline as the clouds blew by. As Courtney McGee says, let’s bring back the 90s childhood!

Okay, I’m curious to hear what’s on your list! How do you plan to spend your summer, northern hemisphere mamas?

Cheers to an easy breezy summer

,