Birds are squawking from a pine tree above my head right now. I hear more than see hummingbirds whizzing around my back porch, and I spotted a robin shaking the branches of a bush before alighting on a rock and peering toward me, the mountains behind, blue in the distance.
Every morning that I can I try to start my day with reading my Bible and various other books on my porch. The sun doesn’t hit it directly in the morning, thanks to a leaning ponderosa pine, and so it stays comfortable and cool for several hours. Still, I enjoy it a little later in the morning when the porch becomes too hot to walk on with bare feet. It doesn’t feel like summer until I’ve spent at least some time doing absolutely nothing while soaking up the warmth of the sun.
Here’s what I’ve been doing in the real world so far this summer.
Visiting friends in Idaho. Our friends live on a lake, so they took us kayaking and tubing while we were there! It was a relaxing and enjoyable trip over a long weekend. I also read this book on the way there, and this book on the way back, and both were delightful.
Going to our first airshow in Washington. Our friends suggested we go, and I’m so glad they did, because the whole family loved it. We got to walk inside a cargo plane, we saw several historic planes fly, including one WW2 plane that is the last of it’s kind that still flies in the world (I think maybe it was a P-38?). We watched a daredevil hanging out of a prop plane before skydiving to the ground, we watched a trick plane do loops that seemed impossible. And it was all topped off by flyovers by F-16s that made the ground vibrate.
Attended a homeschool conference. Every year I wonder if I should go to the homeschool conference or not, since at this point I feel like I’ve heard everything there is to say about homeschooling. But every year I go and I’m glad I did. This year I heard this speaker who was new to me, and I so appreciated his perspective on apologetics since he voiced some issues I’ve had with some approaches. Maybe I’ll write more about that sometime.
Our Kentucky friends came into town. We spent almost every day hanging out with our friends while they were here! We went to the pool, went to parks, hung around our house, and just enjoyed spending time together. I’m so thankful for friendships that are solid enough to thrive even long-distance.
Finished up biology dissections. My oldest took biology last school year (this curriculum), and we ended up with some formaldehyde-soaked critters for free because of a shipping error. So we had some friends over to do dissections and just hang out.
Celebrated 4th of July at a baseball game. We were racking our brains for something special to do for America’s 250th birthday. We toyed with the idea of taking a trip somewhere, but we also knew we’d be exhausted after such a busy June, so we opted for a baseball game. It was the right choice - not only was it one of the only places around to see real fireworks this year (because of a high fire risk in the mountains), it was also so fun and patriotic. The crowd was dressed in red, white, and blue garb, we got to sing the national anthem (obviously) and also “God Bless America” at the 7th inning stretch. Then we listened to patriotic music while watching the best fireworks show I’ve ever seen, with a hyped-up crowd cheering all around. 10 out of 10, highly recommend.
Movie nights on the porch. In the summer, every chance we get, we drag out kitchen bench out to the porch, set up our tv on top of it, and settle in with sleeping bags and blankets to enjoy a movie night outside. So far we have watched The Great Awakening - I was skeptical at first but ended up loving it - and the classic, The Sandlot.
Got my hair highlighted and colored. Summer is always the season for a hair refresh for me.
Visiting my grandma for a weekend. I feel so lucky that the kids get to know their great-grandparents - I never got to know mine, and it’s a special thing.
Went to see several movies. We saw The Breadwinner (funny), Toy Story 5 (I enjoyed it), and Young Washington (spectacular). Next on the list is The Brink Of War in August - I love all these historical movies that are coming out lately!
Started a flag quilt. I have not sewn anything in years, but I got it in my head to make a flag quilt like this in honor of the 250th. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to finish it before Independence Day, but the Declaration of Independence was actually signed by most of the delegates on August 2nd, so that’s my new target date.
Rescued a hummingbird that got trapped in our house. Our house is on a very bird-friendly piece of property, so we get quite a lot of hummingbirds each year, and occasionally one will accidentally fly through an open door and get trapped in our house. I cannot tell you how stressful this is, because I have an abiding love of hummingbirds, and I would hate to see one die. This bird exhausted itself trying to get out our skylight, and then eventually landed on our floor, where my husband was able to grab it and take it outside. We gave him a round of applause for saving the bird!
What is not happening right now: any homeschool planning whatsoever. By the end of each homeschool year I am usually thoroughly exhausted, but unfortunately each summer starts with more homeschool stuff because of the conference. Then my mind runs in circles trying to make decisions about curriculum and thinking through my co-op class for the upcoming year, and if I’m not careful I never actually get a break from homeschooling. So I’ve banned myself from doing any planning or buying any curriculum until the beginning of August. July is about doing all the things I never have time for, taking care of my house, going to the pool, and generally just remembering how to be a normal person apart from the “homeschool mom” label. Some homeschool articles may be coming as we approach fall, but not until then.
Upcoming summer fun:
Lots of pool days
Hiking and fishing
Backyard camping in our tent
A bubble festival
Dragon boat races
More movie nights
Lots of reading on the porch
Editing and sorting through photos that have been sitting in my phone
Canning project- probably blueberry jam and apple butter
Baking sourdough again
Painting mugs, and other crafts
Finishing a quilt or two
I’m terrible at ending these chatty posts, so I’ll just ask - what is something that you do in the summer that is just for you? I hope you are hitting just the right balance of summer fun and slowness, as I am trying to!
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