5 Surefire Ways to a Great Summer

Although we're still a month away from the official first day of summer, she's made her way to Maine this week anyway.

Tourists have descended on Acadia and Bar Harbor.
Campgrounds are starting to buzz.
Boats are emerging out of storage.
& Temps are getting warm enough to wear shorts and tank tops.

My guess is it's happening where you live, too.

Every year around this time, my heart reminds me how quickly it will all go by,

how one day we'll be anxiously waiting for the water to be warm enough to paddleboard, and in a flash, it'll be time to pack that paddleboard away again.

Even more so for me personally this summer as I'm looking forward to the activity that comes with having two teenagers out of school and into the summer buzz of camp and summer jobs, and only a year from now I'll be preparing to launch one of those kiddos off to college — his 18 summers of childhood coming to an end.

It happened way too fast. So yeah, I kind of want this one to be GREAT.

Since you're showing up here week after week to read these togetherness tip emails, I bet you want to have a great summer with your people this year, too.

So I thought I'd do a little round-up for us about what works for making time with our families the best it can be.

I like to keep it simple — especially in the summer.

Here's what works for my crew ⤵

#1 — Gather around a campfire

#2 — Get outdoors

#3 — Spend some time in a national park

#4 — Take a camping trip (or do some backyard camping)

#5 — Be still. (I'm still learning this one — here's what I mean⤵

Our hummingbirds are back.
They arrived just this weekend.
Thankfully, I was ready — feeder out, windows cleaned, porch scrubbed.
I even had my phone alarm ready to remind me about feeder refills on Saturdays.
I watch them throughout the day as they stop by for little sips.
And on quiet evenings when it's somebody else's turn to make dinner, I sit on the porch.
And I wait for them.
They teach me how to meditate as I watch their tiny chests rise and fall.
They teach me about abundance with their faith in my sugar water refills.
They teach me patience while I listen for the hum of their tiny wings.
As the season goes on, they teach me about companionship as I watch one become a pair,
the male who fought so hard for this territory gladly making room for the female to join.
But more than anything else, these hummingbirds teach me how to be still.
I pause my writing, my stirring about, and he arrives.
I stay still.
He stays until I wiggle, raise my camera, or start to write again.
I hold still as long as I can.
I watch him sit and drink and rest on the tiny red ring.
Then I can't take it anymore.
I move a tiny bit, and he's gone again.
It makes me realize just how unnatural stopping and staying still is for me.
I settle and he returns.
I move my pencil and he flies to a nearby branch.
He watches until I'm sill again and returns.
He stays until I move again.
We repeat this dance again and again.
Again and again like some kind of magic.
And I wonder what other magic I've been chasing away with my movement.
What other blessings might rush in if only they could catch me being still.
A magical conversation I wasn't expecting.
A hug I didn't see coming.
A host of other things I can't even imagine yet.
I want to learn from this dance.
I want to be still a little more and see what happens.

& Just in case you'd like a few more ideas for fun summer family togetherness —

Here are 7 more ideas from a few mamas in the email group.

What's on your must-do list this summer?

Or, what have you done in the past that you'd love to do again? Come on over to the email group and share — I’d love to know!