A little less than three weeks to go and school will be out until Labour Day. I remember the years when I used to panic at the thought of summer vacation. Surprisingly, this year the panic has vanished and I'm actually excited for summer to start.
My kids are old enough that they have become very self-sufficient, yet hopefully young enough that they will still want to hang out with me. This seems like the summer to do it. I really want to fully participate - that's the word that keeps circling in my mind.
There will be structure and schedules for sure (hello? you know I'm German, right?), but there will also be lots of togetherness and being in the present moment - even if I have to schedule it. The kids are still working on their Summer Bucket Lists; Marius and I have however settled on one item for sure - we are planning on writing a book together. We're thinking about creating "Auer Guide to Summer Survival" (coming in ebook format to save your summer 2014). So I'm pretty stocked about that, because he's incredibly creative and maybe I can even get Pauline to do some illustrations!
And me? Inspired my Galit's great article about Summer Bucket Lists for Moms, I decided to make my own list and take some time to enjoy.
This summer, I plan on...
... taking a nap every afternoon.
... organizing our "picture box of doom" and put the pictures into albums. Remember the days when people still had films "developed" and pictures printed? Yeah, I have a huge box of those pictures, one of the few things we brought to Canada from Germany.
... read Jennie's entire memoir on her blog "A Lady in France".
... learn to use Evernote and then actually organize all my story ideas and notes in it.
... go fishing with my husband sans kids for a few hours.
... learn how to use the BBQ (I have NEVER BBQ'd before - what? My husband does a really good job, but I want to know how to use it. I will stay away from mowing the lawn though, which I have also never done)
And that's all I have to say 'bout that. What are your summer plans?