Every summer I long for my kids to have the kinds of summers I remember. A time when there were no video games in our house or iPads or You Tube or even basic cable until I was 13.. A time when playing was easy. I would spend my days roller skating or riding bikes with other kids in the neighborhood, build a secret fort in a clump of trees nearby, or make up games to play on the driveway (one year it was hitting wooden croquet balls up the sloped blacktop in an attempt to hit the garage door -- which, unfortunately, did not go over so well). We would run through sprinklers in the yard during the day, catch fireflies in glass jars with holes poked in the lids at night and not come inside until it was past dark out.
So once baseball, hockey, dance, soccer and lacrosse finally come to an end in July, my summer list comes out. I don't sign my kids up for summer camps (with the exception of swim lessons because I feel that is like riding a bike -- you just have to do it). I want them to just be kids. I want them to get bored in the summer and have to come up with unscheduled things to do on their own. I want them to read books in a hammock, get dirty feet from playing outside and go to the local swimming pool with their friends. I want them to ride their bikes, swing as high as they can to try to touch the tree branches in the neighbor's yard and feel summer. Because the time is always shockingly short -- next week school starts.
So this summer we went tent camping with cousins and good friends, cooked dinner and roasted s'mores over a campfire, kayaked, leaped off the "jumping rock" into the lake, paddle boarded, played UNO and Pick Up Sticks a thousand times, picked raspberries, went canoeing, danced in wildflowers, had piggy back races, built sandcastles on the beach, ran a seven-minute mile, climbed ninja courses and hunted for trolls. It was the summer of dreams. And no one asked for the iPad.
FALL SESSIONS OPEN NOW
Fall sessions are officially open and they are going fast! Pull out your calendars and book your date now!! Bonus: you'll feel super on top of it because you will have your holiday card photos already figured out!
