This is one of the most magical times of the year. When the weather is warm, the days are longer and everyone’s spirits seem to lift automatically. If you are like me, you want this time of year to slow and last forever. So here are 3 ways to maximize summer vacation.
Whether you are a stay at home mom, or trek to an office five days a week, how can you lengthen summer days? I’ve worked outside the home for twelve years and still the pace of summer blazes by me. When my husband and I became parents, time seemed to keep a triple beat in summer months.
Kick off Fridays in a hurry. We toast each and every Friday like it is our last around our house. We don’t wait for the weekend to start on Saturday morning. We plan BBQs, dinner dates and play dates for the minute we leave our offices.
As our children are getting older and have more activities, if they are going to do something overnight with a friend, we try to save it for Friday night. This allows the kids to have friend time and celebrate the weekend, but we make it point to join back up on Saturday mornings for family time.
Live it up on Saturdays. If we are going to hike, camp or do anything big on the weekends, we do it on Saturday. It is HOT in Oklahoma during the summer and in order to get down all that we want to do, we’ve got to take into account the heat. We get up early on Saturday mornings and head on to conquer a mountain or river or new hiking adventure. By the time Saturday evening rolls around, we are all tired and filled full of an adventure packed day.
We usually do something like an easy, no-fuss dinner so I don’t spend the whole weekend cooking. This usually means either hot dogs on an open air fire pit or sandwich along our favorite hiking trail. Being outdoors is part of what brings us closer as a family and we embrace all of the opportunities we can.
Slow roll on Sundays. If it is anything more than church and an afternoon cookout on Sundays, we don’t do it. This allows us to spend time as a family of four and while we may want to hang out with some friends or family, it does not consume our day.
By the time the sun goes down on Sunday evening, there is a feeling of accomplishment as we toast one another with a weekend well spent. What ways do you maximize your summer vacation?
Leave a Reply