Summer Intentions—2025!

Okay, peeps.

We’re a week in, and it’s time to talk big picture about our 2025 Summer Intentions. Woohoo!

I suppose the headline is this:

Make summer amazing, again!

(Just please bypass any associations to some similar, incendiary language that makes me unhappy, m’kay?)

We’ve always been pretty solid at making the most of our summer breaks, and I’m all to aware of how fleeting these years are, when all my babies are underfoot and we have the opportunity to make core memories.

That said…last summer was a bit of an anomaly.

Basically, we had a puppy. And you can pretty much just say The End right here, and that would be enough said.

But, we not only had a puppy, but a puppy who was quickly deteriorating in health while we were getting to the root of a necessary hip replacement (that happened just after Labor Day), but we also had a bit of a schedule switcheroo due to Nanna’s knee replacement (hi, Nanna!) and our timing in Oklahoma, so…it just felt a bit different in 2024.

Honestly, on top of all that, I was really overwhelmed and mentally taxed.

Chica’s inaugural year of middle school just leveled us up as a family in a major way, and combined with our puppy struggles, I just didn’t have it in me to go 100%, like we typically do, during our summers.

I was pretty much in survival mode.

And, yeah, sure, if you go back and look at all we enjoyed last summer season, you could say: that’s survival mode?! Because it was still pretty awesome! But it wasn’t our level best.

Thankfully, we’ve made such headway, since then.

For one, Coda girl got her new hip, we made it through the recovery and rehab, and she’s aging a bit, which helps her activity levels (slightly, ha).

For another, I honed in on a lot of organizational and mental health tips and tricks to assist in surviving school years in this insane kid-rearing age of ours, and, put into practice, they’ve helped me reach this summer break in much better shape than last year. Whew!

I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m still beyond exhausted and ready for a downshift and change-up of routine, but, at least I don’t feel untethered and absolutely overwhelmed. 

All that to say…we’re heading into this summer with our typical Let’s Do This attitude where we plan to make the most of the weeks that we have at our disposal, and I’m feeling positive that we’ll get to August feeling happy that we did it up right. :)

Now, for some categories of our intentions…

Summer Bucket List:

Soooo many of our fun ideas during the school year just get shelved because there’s zero time to make them happen. But, Summer is our CHANCE to work some of these “extras” into our life, and we decided to make an actual list this year. I tasked Little Man with helping me write it all down the other night:



There’s something so stinking satisfying about writing these things down—and then crossing them off! Like we’ve done for more than half-a-dozen, already!



If you zoom in and look at our list you’ll see that most are either things we already have on our agenda (like summer trips), or are completely manageable, but it makes me happy to see them all there. Officially.

Plus, I’ve learned over the years that my kiddos (and me, as well!) really thrive on having a plan.

Whether it’s a day off school, a whole summer laid out, or our excursions for a trip, we really thrive on knowing what’s ahead. It helps us hype up for each thing, even when they’re small items. And I feel like that’s nothing but positive vibes.



Plus, after so many years of school-aged children, we really have so many weeks of our schedule down to a science:

The first week off school, we always go-go-go (like we’ve done this past week), enjoying and doing a bunch of things we can’t during the achool year.

Then, the second week off school, we’re typically out of town—and typically, in Colorado, ha. Which is exactly what’s happening next week!

Then, the third week off school is always VBS! This year, two out of three kiddos are volunteering, and Little Man is participating (with a friend), and they always come home pretty wiped and ready for some down time.

So we’re always about to the third week of June (and nearly a month into summer) before we even look up and figure out what’s next for our plans.

The kiddos each have a camp or two scheduled for the summer (during various weeks), we typically head out of town for the 4th of July. We alap always spend the last week of July in Oklahoma with grandparents.

I find this predictability of our Summer schedule pretty wonderful. And with school starting less than two weeks into August, it goes by in a blink!

So…this year, our Summer Bucket List is ruling our plans, and it feels like a pretty solid list for tackling all the things we’d most like to accomplish or enjoy.

Health Appointments:

It’s just plain fact that every Summer, we tackle dentist appointments and orthodontic consults and well-visit check ups for shots. I’m even going tomorrow for my follow-up blood work related to my anemia, so…yeah. Not fun, but it’s so helpful to knock these out when I don’t have to take the kiddos out of school.




Mental Health Time (Puppy Away To Play):

Honestly, one major addition to this Summer’s intentions has to be mental health time for ME. And I’m sorry to say that it often involves Coda puppy going to play at her play place twice a week!



It’s so tempting when the kiddos are off school to keep Coda home with us, and that’s all lovely because she’s so darn cute, but she’s still so BUSY that it’s a major distraction to track her all day.

One of two things happen: I don’t get the quality time with the kiddos (without distraction!) or I don’t get quality time for MYSELF, for non-kid-related things I’d like to accomplish.

It’s so hard to preserve Me Time that’s not Mama time or Cinderella Chore Time or a million other roles I assume on a daily basis, but I’ve realized more and more over the years how precious it is to preserve my sanity.

So…sorry, Coda pup, but you’ve got to keep going to play!

Shake Up Our Food Rut:

Every parent, everywhere can probably relate to this one, but we are in a MAJOR food rut.

If I have to throw chicken and vegetables into the slow cooker one more time and try to make it taste new and different, I might scream.

Not only can I barely manage an uninspired grocery delivery order once a week, but it’s next to impossible to cook at mealtime because Chicklet now has swim team five days a week, and four of them are in the evening, smack dab during dinner time.

It’s a whole thing, and it’s terrible.

So my options are to put something in the slow cooker, or to cook something around 3:30 pm that can keep, and neither are great.

So, this Summer, I’ve set a goal of just ONE new meal, per week, and this week, I’ve already managed two new meals—plus one we haven’t made in a loooong time.

This new one was a major success, so easy and actually looked like the recipe for once, ha:

Other simple food rut shake-ups that I’m trying to tackle involve our breakfasts. Again, they’re uninspired. And I’d LOVE to find better and yummier things for the kiddos to eat before school some days, so we’re experimenting this summer.

My first hysterical hit: boiled eggs! HOW have I never made these for my kiddos for breakfast???!!! Their faces peeling their eggs were priceless. But they loved it.



Again, I have no delusions that we’ll manage to keep a happy rotation of new and unique meals when the school year starts, again. But I’d just like to prove to myself that it is possible to shake it up during the Summer, when time allows. And I have faith that will help us power through the next rut when it comes.


Books, Books & More Books!

Do I need to elaborate???? We are MASSIVE readers in this house and we are attempting to read even more than ever, this Summer.

We made an expensive trip to Barnes & Noble, today (is there any other kind?) and loaded up. I’m particularly excited that I’m tasking Chicklet and Little Man with novel-length books this Summer, and we picked out some great ones.

In addition to reading these fun books, I have a personal goal of rendering the final few years of my blog books that I need to create. I made it through 2020 several months ago, but I want to make it to current posts by this Summer.

My blog posts are the most precious memories of my crew and I’m trying to do everything I can to preserve them in physical copy, just as a safeguard.

So, YAY, books. And more books. And, reading. And, MORE READING. :)




Movies, GALORE!

Okay, peeps. This Summer Intention is really fun. We want to watch a whole lotta movies!

First up, we’ve finally added some dang artwork to the walls of the playroom and given it another nice purging and cleaning, which makes me want to spend much more time up there, watching family movies on the good surround sound speakers!

I hung some floating ledge shelves and selected artwork that’s representative of cities we’ve visited—either as a family, or just the hubby and I.

The kiddos got a big kick out of the prints, and it felt a little more grown-up (but still playful) than the animal prints we had before we refreshed the playroom.



It’s hysterical that it took me almost 18 months to add the artwork after the refresh, but…LIFE.



It’s been so lovely to spend a bit more movie time up there, and while Coda girl isn’t great at staying entirely put, we’ve found a decent way to keep her relatively contained so she can hang up there with us.



In addition to our home movie viewing, we have TONS of movies we plan to see in the theater this Summer! So many, in fact, that we just bought some monthly passes at our local dine-in theater.

The hubby and I are finally comfortable enough allowing Chica to babysit while we see a parents-only movie out. And we’ve mastered a fun plan of downloading something for the kiddos to watch at home while we’re gone so that we all get a synced up movie experience, and I covertly text during the showing to make sure they’re safe and sound.

It feels like a HUGE win to get to this stage—especially since we’ve never been babysitter people, for whatever reason.

Additionally, there are a handful of movies we plan to see as a family in the theater and we are here for it.

One, Two, Skip A Few:

This one is radical, but simple.

During the Summer, we’re giving ourselves permission to be less regimented with some of our commitments—particularly the extra-curriculars.

For example, Thursday is Little Man’a table tennis night, but the hubby has been working like a dog and was unable to take him, and, honestly, I’m pretty darn tired after our busy week and didn’t feel so inclined to drive 30 minutes across town and spend two hours round-trip for the whole shebang—especially when Little Man was excited to chill at home.

Same for Chicklet’s swim team. We’re there SO many days a week that it felt like a luxury to be away from that commitment over the long Memorial Day weekend.

I realized we need to allow ourselves the grace for some strategic days off to help fill the family scheduling cup before it drains again come August.

Honestly, I’m a bit terrified about what next school year will look like. Between the three kiddos, here’s our bare minimum list of commitments and it’s…overwhelming:

Choir

Orchestra

Cross Country

Track

Band

Dance

Theater Arts

Swim Team

Confirmation

Table Tennis

Basketball

Soccer

Robotics

Granted, a few rotate based on seasonality, but others are four-day-a-week situations and, HOLY MOLY.

I know we’re not at all unique. These demanding schedules are the reality for gobs of families within our life stage.

But I’d still like to make it through with a shred of sanity! So…one, two, skip a few might be our grace-allowing Summer motto.

Disconnect:

This one makes me laugh, especially when I look back at past years when it was a particular goal to maintain connection with the kiddos’ friends, and now, I want to do the exact opposite, ha.

Another sign of the times, if ever there was one.

But the reality is this: Chica has a four-day-a-week morning strength training situation during most weeks this Summer (beginning Monday). So she’ll see her friends plenty. And Chicklet will continue with her evening swim schedule the same number of days a week. 

Add to that the steady stream of hang outs and play dates and meet ups that always seem to happen, now—plus, both girlies now having cell phones to keep in touch with friends, a bit, and…THEY’RE GOOD.

Honestly, I’d just like the chance to hide out a bit during strategic weeks this Summer and truly DISCONNECT.

I’d say my kiddos are pretty moderate with their tech use, but we have plans to even try some tech free (completely!) days.

Okay, peeps. So there you have it. So many high hopes for Summer,

But, also, some LOW-KEY hopes.

Either way, it’s going to be a GREAT one. I just know it.

Okay, peeps.

More later this weekend. Until then…happy almost Friday!

Over and out.