Welcoming June

Wanted to wish you all a (belated) happy June! Hope your first June weekend was fabulous!! (You can see Freida is sure summer-lovin!)

Not quite (officially) summer yet, but not too far off either; the beginning of June always seems the opportune time to kick-start the summer planning. Nobody likes to feel like something went by without feeling accomplished about it (a long weekend, winter break, spring etc.), and summertime is no different. It's great to start thinking about all the things you'd like to do, try, and experience before September sneaks up on you. I'm not talking about sending the kids to camp, traveling etc. (hopefully you've planned that all out way before June 1st!), I mean all the extras! I just started writing my "Summer Bucket List" - a list of all my aspirations for the warm-months-to-come (some for me and my husband, some for me and Freida, and lots for those Sundays all together). It's great to get it all down on one paper now, and it's so nice to strike-out each one as we happily make our way through this marvelous, magical season!

For those of you with older kids, I recently read about a mom who makes a list with the kids and cuts out each one, putting all the strips of paper into a bucket. At the beginning of each week, the kids get to pull out a few randomly and add them to the weekly calendar.

Here's a few ideas (for you and the kids) to jump-start your list of summer-fun:

- strawberry picking

- sunset on the beach

- lemonade stand

- a camping trip (even just one night?)

- outdoor nighttime movie screening

- a real picnic

- yoga in the park

- homemade ice cream bars

Basically, think of all the things you'd like to do (even in theory), and watch and see how many you actually get done if you put yourself up for the challenge! Then you can stop wondering at the end of August  what you did all summer!! : )