Hello Summer

According to my calendar today is the first day of summer. And I've got a pretty sweet sunburn from my day spent at Cherry Hill yesterday to show for it. (I was planning on staying three hours...Lilian had different ideas and I dragged her out after about six. Sunblock...why do I never remember to reapply?)

But if you go by the school schedule, we're fully into our third week of summer. A summer that promises to be fairly even keel and simple. We haven't had one of those for awhile, and I'm kind giddy with ideas, and not quite sure what to do with myself all at the same time.

Past summers have been full of emotions where my tear ducts get lots of workout. (At least the tear ducts are getting some exercise seeing as my body has not...being a hot mess leads to not only no working out but also emotional eating. Hmm.) Past summers, or at least the last four, have either been spent proudly crying through a high school graduation ceremony and then trying to put on a brave face as I move my daughter out of the house and into her own apartment on a college campus in an entirely different city over an hour away. (And yes, I realize that I'm lucky she's only an hour rather than multiple states away. Baby steps for what comes next). Or dealing with preparations with said daughter as she moves home from college the next summer only to turn around a few weeks later and move an entire country away to serve a mission for the LDS church. Which brings on even more of a workout for the tear ducts than the college move did. #miserablejoy. And this has been what my summers have revolved around.
Worth mentioning (maybe) is that two of those summers were also a combo deal with "the summer of the hysterectomy/surgery recovery," and "the summer of the puppy." Oi vey.

But this summer? We have a little respite. At one point I thought this summer would be all about THE WEDDING, which would be a whole new round of emotional summer experiences. Except Rebekah and Tanner moved their big day up to spring break in March. So a workout for my tear ducts and lots more emotional eating, it was indeed. But not in summer. (Next summer will be another graduation and moving on for Brandon. Sigh. Lets not talk about that right now, shall we?)

Julianne has 6 more months before she returns home from her mission. (Yes, I am meticulously counting down the days.) Rebekah no longer calls our house her home and while always welcome, is officially a visitor when she and Tanner come around. There are only 4 of us who live here full time. So it's a different sort of a summer just in and of itself. But I've been kind of enjoying it. I told Bryan this morning that tomorrow we should go to the SLC Arts Festival. And Saturday morning I'd love to hit the air show at Hill Air Force Base. Sunday has a forecast of cooler temperatures...maybe we should go for a hike after church? Cause besides having the time, I'm actually more or less emotionally stable. Will miracles never cease?

Summer thoughts:
* bike more...oh who am I kidding. I should say biking, period. I think I went out last year a total of once. Remember when I used to bike 3 times a week? Ah, those were the days. I miss that.
* dinner on the patio
* outdoor movies/concerts
* festivals
* continue binge watching Downton Abbey...because I only got through the first 3 seasons originally.
* read A LOT
* hike weekly
* road trip to Mount Rushmore
* and Lava Hot Springs...although I'm considering saving this for fall cause I really kind of love the idea of sitting in those hot springs when it's chilly outside.
* Shakespeare Festival...for some bizarre reason I have never, ever been there before. What???
* Swim! After 3 or so years off, we renewed out summer tradition of season splash passes at Cherry Hill. Felt so good to be back yesterday. I kind of really love that place.
* work out more. The body, rather than the tear ducts. Especially if I'm going to continue to be in a swimsuit regularly.
* Lagoon...although after our trip to Cedar Point a couple weeks ago I'm sure Lagoon will feel a little lackluster. Still, Lagoon has its charms. And after her experiences with the record breaking rides in Ohio, Lilian won't blink at riding anything at Lagoon. Perfect ride partner.
* Blog more. Oh hey, here I am doing just that. Wish me luck that I can keep this up because I have so much to catch up on!