Do you recall back in early June I wrote this post with my Summer 2013 Bucket List?
Well, summer is nearly over its time to check in to see how I faired this summer.
Here was my bucket list, and as you can see, I’ve crossed off quite a bit – more than I thought I would! My list was rather ambitious. However, it makes me feel better to see just how much fun and memories I was able to accomplish:
long bike rides with our new kid bike trailer | GEOCACHING | redecorate the kids rooms | plant dahlias | FIRST HALF MARATHON fall 2013 | runstreak – go on a running streak and see how many days in a row I can run at least one mile | One month of Elements using 1SE | DESIGN AN ELEMENTS SUMMER TEE | trip with elements team to a museum | girls weekend away | LEARN TO USE MY NEW CAMERA | update marketing plan for second half of the year | launch our new website {finally!} | MASTER HOMEMADE PIZZA ON THE GRILL | plan + host my son’s percy jackson themed birthday party {not sure how I’m going to pull it off yet – stay tuned for images!} | beach runs | TENNIS LESSONS | nap • sun • book | invent new ice-cream flavors | FRAME KIDS ART | run through sprinklers | nyc botonical gardens | STARGAZING | read a book a month | plan + execute my daughter’s rainbow and horse-themed birthday party
As for the items I haven’t crossed off, well, I have plans for some of them in the Fall already. For example, my step-mom and I have a trip planned to visit the NYC Botonical gardens, our website is actually in beta form and is nearly completed and training is in full-swing for a fall half marathon with some of my RAGNAR friends in October. As for the girls weekend away, I have that planned for the end of September for California, but my husband did manage to sneakily round up some of my best girl friends to meet me out for a birthday dinner and drink in July. It was a wonderful evening for me. Thanks, friends!
I have a few images to share with you from some of this summer’s adventures:
First, there were the long bike rides. Mostly to the park (shown here with my partner-in-crime Adaline who rode in the back on the bike trailer) and then to get frozen chocolate yogurt, of course. You can’t ask five-year-old to work that hard pedaling a bike without a reward, right?! She earned it – she’s a great co-pilot.
My husband and I are still working on mastering pizza on the grill, but this pie with fresh basil and tomatoes straight from the garden came pretty darn close. Ummmm.
Somehow, I miraculously was able to read quite a few books this summer – both business-related and some light summer fiction – while sitting in a beach chair by the water relaxing. One of the best parts of my entire summer. Family, sun, fun, reading. It doesn’t get better than that. I miss it already.
I successfully redecorated my kids rooms. My son got cool new bunk beds, mattresses, new sheet sets and nautical navy and white rugby stripped comforters for his birthday. But my daughter’s room got a complete overhaul. She was still sleeping on her baby crib mattress in a tiny toddler bed, if you can believe that.
For her birthday, I redecorated her room with a new night table, lamp (with big button on the base she can turn off/on the light herself – score!), lampshade, twin bed and sheer canopy with clip-on butterflies all from Pottery Barn. The comforter and shams I actually bought a couple years ago brand new in a consignment shop, but they were too large for her crib bed. I was waiting for this day to arrive when we could use them on a real twin bed …. and she freaked! She made a sign and taped it to her door that read: “My Mom and Dad are the best. If you want to see why, open this door!”. I call that a win. Let’s see how long it lasts.
We even managed a day to run through the sprinklers and dive onto the slip n’ slides (click on link below for short looping clip):
And we celebrated all of our birthdays:
And then, there were my dahlia’s ….
I’ll end on that high note. I’m pretty amazed at how beautiful my dahlias grew and bloomed and I have to give my husband all the credit. He planted them and watered them for me because he loves me – which makes the blooms that much lovelier to me.
I squeezed as much summer into my summer as I possibly could. Why do we always feel we can do more? There just aren’t enough hours, days and weeks. What was your favorite summer memory?
So as the days get shorter (booooo!) and the air gets crisper, it is time to start turning my attention once again to creating my Fall Bucket List.
What’s on your fall list? I’ll post mine soon … but until then, enjoy every last moment of the fading warm light of summer.
~Amy
