10 Things That Are Working for Me This Summer

Summer can be pretty wild when you change overnight from a pretty scheduled routine to the freewheeling days of summer.

So far, this has been a pretty great summer. We’re not headed out of town almost at all (just one short trip in July) so our daily life IS our summer and I want to make the most of it in a way that feels laidback and relaxed, but also fun and non-boring.

Here are some of the things that are working well for me this summer:

10 Things That Are Working for Me This Summer

1. Having our nanny come five mornings a week. Work is always the trickiest part of summer for me and most years it’s caused me a lot of stress trying to balance spending more time with the girls and not falling wildly behind on my work responsibilities. For SURE, the thing that’s working best this summer for me is having our nanny come every morning from 9-1. This is by far the most childcare I’ve ever had in a dozen years of parenting and it’s been amazing (Bart was really the one who pushed for more hours. I would have absolutely said 10 hours a week was plenty and then been stressed and fragmented all summer long). We found our current nanny on Care.com and she’s been incredible – the girls ask every morning if she’s coming and they beg for her to stay longer every day. I also scheduled pretty much all of their lessons and activities during the mornings while she’s here so she can drive them to tumbling, take them to piano lessons, or set them on for their Savvy Reading classes. That way, once she leaves, we have the whole afternoon to do fun things together. And because I actually have enough work hours, I’m not desperately trying to squeeze in a few more things during those afternoons.
2. Taking the girls to swim team. Last year, several of our daughters did swim team for the first time and Bart took them every single morning (I didn’t go once!). This year, I take them and while they practice, I attend a workout class at the rec center – it makes it so easy and seamless to fit in those workouts because I’m already going to the rec center and the times line up perfectly. I’ve been doing some classes that are NOT easy for me (namely High Fitness and Spin) and it’s been so fun to try some new things and get to hear all about swim practice on the way home!
3. Lots of play dates. My girls LOVE having friends over and I find it very non-stressful to have more kids in the house because they all play together so well. Several of their friends also have water park passes, so if we’re going, we’ll sometimes pick up their friends and take them along with us, which makes it extra fun!
4. Pushing dinner back a little. During the school year, we have dinner right at 6 almost every day, but with summer schedules, we’ve pushed it back a bit to 6:30 or 6:45 so we don’t have to race home from the water park or community pool or library in order to get dinner on the table. That little bit more laid back schedule has been so nice and kept the afternoons from feeling stressful.
5. After dinner bike rides. Tally learned to ride a two wheeler this spring, so now when the weather is nice, we love going for a neighborhood bike ride after dinner and before bedtime. Sometimes it’s just a 10 minute ride and sometimes we go for 45 minutes. Sometimes we stop for a treat or pause to chat with a neighbor or swing by Bart’s parents’ house. No matter what, it just feels so great to get out and enjoy a Utah summer night.
6. Not worrying about my hair. You may have noticed that we’re doing a LOT of swimming this summer – we’re at the water park or the rec center pool multiple times a week. In the past, I’ve tried to keep my hair from getting wet so I wouldn’t have to wash it and it really cuts down on the fun factor. This year, I decided I just didn’t care. If my hair got wet. . . it would dry. I’d still keep washing it about once a week and not feel like if it got wet I had to wash it afterward. And it’s been so freeing.
7. Phone free afternoons. I am ridiculously far from perfect at this, but every day I recommit to working on this (it’s my #1 summer goal) and it’s been so nice work on puzzles in the afternoon or read my book on the back deck while the girls play and not feel like I should be working or checking in at every moment.
8. Playing lots of pickle ball. One of Bart and my favorite activities together is playing pickle ball and our rec center passes give us free access to their pickle ball courts. During the summer, we’ve been trying to go 1-2 times a week. Sometimes we just play together, sometimes we play with other people who are there and sometimes we bring friends along to play. The weather is perfect early in the morning or once the sun goes down and it’s such a fun way to enjoy being outside doing something together.
9. Saturday adventures. Because we’re not traveling much this summer, I feel highly motivated to get out and explore this summer or do fun things together as a family and we’ve tried to do something pretty much every Saturday, whether it’s taking the ski lifts to the top of Sundance, going on an easy hike, or hitting the water park! Usually on Thursday or Friday, Bart and I spend ten or fifteen minutes planning out the weekend so we make the most of it!
10. A pair of Reef sandals. When I did my post of summer sandal options, Reef sandals got mentioned a million times and I ordered a pair to try them out. I LOVE them! They’re really comfortable (which is hard for me to find), they’re totally waterproof and they come in a million fun colors (although, naturally, I got them in fairly boring white). I’ve worn them for every pool or water park trip this summer and every time I can’t get over how much I love them. They also have a back strap which is crucial for me because it’s so hard for me to keep backless sandals on my feet.

What’s working for you this summer? I’d love to hear!

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