I began the summer by saying no. No to well-meaning friends who wanted to schedule playdates and dinners out, no to Jason when he wanted to sign Charlie up for golf camp, and no to Maddie’s gymnastics teacher when she invited her to gymnastics camp.

I’m sure it was aggravating to some people when I kept turning them down, but I just needed some rest.  It was a long, hard winter for my family, and I was just so tired. I really felt the need for a long stretch of time with no responsibilities or worries.

So I said no, and when we wrapped up our school year, finished with MOPS and church responsibilities, played our last baseball game and went to our last gymnastics lesson, we started our summer of yes.  And it has been fantastic.

We marked a lot of things off our summer bucket list (which wasn’t really a list, since I refused to make any lists all summer long).  We spent tons of time at the pool:

Both Charlie and Maddie are great swimmers now, and every once in awhile (thanks to some awesome lifeguards and plenty of pool noodles) I could actually sit and relax without worrying about anyone drowning!

We went to the beach a couple of times:

Our favorite beach activity: building sandcastles.

Ice cream at the beach is the best!

A little daddy-daughter dance. 🙂

The kids had a lemonade/cookie stand.  This made me fall in love with our little community even more.  So many people stopped and bought cookies and lemonade from C and M! There was actually a little traffic jam in front of our house.

We had lots of sleepovers.  This means that the kids slept on our bedroom floor.  They loved doing this every time there was a thunderstorm, which there were lots of this summer.

Maddie learned how to make pancakes, and is now the pancake master of the world.  Charlie orders pancakes before he goes to bed, and she wakes up the next morning and makes them!

And, we had lots and lots of time for silliness:

We did other really productive things, like taking plenty of naps (pretty sure Jason thinks that’s all we do at home now) and going to the movies every Tuesday (How did I not hear about Tightwad Tuesday sooner?). We read lots of books and I am so proud that Charlie, after a year of struggling with reading, is now a super reader. He also learned to tie his shoes.  We’re all feeling pretty happy about those major skills he mastered this summer (well, mostly me since I am the one who had to spend HOURS of my day every day tying his shoes).

I know that summer isn’t officially over until Thursday, but we’re back to school and all of our extra-curricular activities.  After such a relaxed summer it hasn’t been easy it has been a struggle it has been almost impossible to get back into our schedule, but we’re getting it, and I’m starting to look forward to fall and all of the holidays coming up.

This year, with all of it’s ups and downs and crazy rythyms, has taught me a lot about the importance of real rest.  I’m a list-making, planning type of girl, so to take so much time and not do those things was not easy for me.  At the beginning of the summer I asked myself what I wanted to accomplish by the end of the summer, and a major thing I wanted was to feel rested and ready-to-go once the summer was over.  I also wanted my family to have fun at home, and for us to have a vacation-type atmosphere at our house.

I’m happy to say that I can mark those things off of my list (in my head, because making that actual list would have been considered work). We had a great summer and are rested and (pretty much) ready to go.