JULY RECAP
First, it is somehow August. July felt like an absolute blur.
When I look back at my planner, it’s obvious why.
We had family here for 4th of July weekend. Ethan’s birthday and sleepover party with his friends. 2 weekends of swim meets, one including a 3 night stay at my parent’s house + lots of driving. A track meet. Ethan had swim lessons. I drove carpool for Asher’s swim practices some days. Piano lessons. Summer school ended. Drove Asher up north for a weekend at our old neighbor’s. I had a haircut, a bank appointment, an oil change appt. for my van, a skincare place appt., and a physical. We watched the Olympics. Packed Asher for camp. Attended an outdoor 40th birthday party for a friend on Saturday. Went to Six Flags Great America for a day. Oh, and WORKED 40 hours a week. Bought groceries. Paid bills. Cleaned the house. ETC.
😳
This is the first time I have really looked back at my calendar for the month, but wow. It didn’t seem like that much when I was putting it on the calendar, but it sure seems like a lot looking back.
Asher has been EXTRA busy…went up north with his friend’s family to their lake house this past Thursday. I met him yesterday and dropped him off at camp right away until next Thursday!
ANYWAY! It was a lot of fun stuff! Not complaining, but I repeat- wow.
Pre-Vacation Week
This is also our pre-vacation week. We leave Saturday for our Vermont-New Hampshire- Maine extravaganza.
A couple thoughts:
1- I am excited.
Since I do most of the detailed planning, I have the benefit of knowing more what to expect. My sister said once, “I think planning the trip is sometimes more fun than the actual trip!!” haha! The anticipation is part of the fun. Like waiting for Christmas Eve or something. 🙂
2– Pre-vacation kind of sucks, though.
Especially when it’s a road trip. I have said before, I am a disorganized-organized person. I’m NOT the person with an excel spreadsheet packing list. I’m also not the best at having everything done and ready 13 days before the trip. I TRY to think ahead….but I find it somewhat challenging.
I’m not great at “pre-inventorying” everything we might need (like stuff you normally just pick up when you run out, but need to have in advance because you’re going on a trip). For me, things like: contact solution. The beach wave spray stuff I use in my hair. Making sure I’m not about to run out of conditioner. Is anyone almost out of toothpaste? etc.
Also, making sure laundry is done BEFORE we want to pack. Having library books returned/ new ones ready to go. Cleaning the hamster cages. Buying/ packing snacks. Typing up trip details/ itinerary. Tying up loose ends at work.
Oh! And I had to get SCHOOL SUPPPLIES squared away already, because school starts like 3 days after we get home!
It always all gets done, though. 🙂
Hoping these awaiting views will be worth it….
In closing, 2 random things that made me happy yesterday:
#1: We went to Cracker Barrel for brunch after Ivan’s soccer game. I browsed the old country store while we waited, and I saw this display of FALL themed decor. I know it’s a still a little ways off, and I’m still enjoying summer, but……(squeal) FALL!!!
#2: Ethan worked on one of these peg board games for a LONG time. He had never tried before, and kept getting it down to 2 or 3 pegs left. He persevered and finally won!! An older lady across the way from us was watching him and kept asking if he had solved it yet. When he finally did, he shyly motioned to her that he got it, and she let out a whooping sound and pounded her fist on the table to celebrate him. Hahaha!! It was so funny. And cute.
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for this field of sunflowers I saw on the way to Asher’s camp yesterday. Just one of those brief, simple moments, but I enjoyed looking at them:
GRATEFUL KAE 
You did have a full month!! My calendar used to get crazy before we had kids and then I changed the way I planned things and didn’t plan more than 2 week night things/week and 2 during the weekend. But that was when I had ultimate control over my schedule. It’s so different when you have kids in activities! I hope your road trip is amazing! I imagine it has to be cooler out in that area of the country! This has been such a HOT summer! I usually love summer but I am so ready for fall. We are having nice weather now, but I know more 90s are in the forecast as I’m just over it being too hot to do stuff outdoors w/ the kids! And we’ve had bad air quality due to wild fires so we haven’t been able to enjoy the milder weather as much as we would if not for the smoke!
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I just could not do what you do – it’s a good thing I do not have kids, because I don’t know how you have the energy for all of this! Moms must have a special reservoir somewhere that they tap into. That’s my only explanation. 🙂
So excited for your vacation! Just a head’s up – Acadia has been crazy crowded this summer since everyone wants to get out and see something other than their homes. They were doing timed entry earlier in July – not sure if they’re still doing that, but they had to really control the number of people in the park. I wasn’t able to go this summer, unfortunately, but hope to get back next summer as it’s honestly one of my favorite places on earth. I suspect you all will have a WONDERFUL time!
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Ok, hold on… I don’t think I realized you have been there a bunch?? That’s awesome! Do you have any specific recommendations?? I’ve been trying to narrow down hikes to do but there are so many it’s hard to even decide! Please let me know if you have any favorites!!!
I am also concerned about the crowds this year… My only hope is that “maybe” by the time we get out to Acadia it will die down just a tad because in many areas of the country they go back to school earlier than we do here. We won’t be to Acadia until 8/15. We have a bunch of days in Vermont and New Hampshire first. Hoping that those areas might be a little lighter tourist-wise too. 🙂 I’ve been keeping an eye on trip advisor and websites for updates about entry restrictions. The only thing I think I see currently is that reservations are required for driving up Cadillac mountain.
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