If I could use one word to describe our summer, it would be social! Especially this last month! Our calendar has been a blend of hosting play dates and dinners and then traveling for play dates and dinners with friends and family. In June, Owen shared his wish to see more friends and then in July, we had so many friends over to our house that Owen requested we start going over to other people’s houses! I laughed because it felt like I just couldn’t win! But in the end, we’ve created a good mix of here and there and everywhere. Gotta keep things interesting!
One of my favorite days this month was a Friday that we packed up for a day of exploring in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. We scoped out a campground we plan to visit this summer and then went hiking nearby. We enjoyed all the waterfalls on the Covell Creek Trail. We made a quick stop at Layser Cave before moving on to Takhlakh Lake with a lovely view of Mt. Adams. It was a great day of adventuring together in nature!
Another fun activity was a small Christmas in July moment I had with the boys this last week. We had leftover miniature gingerbread house kits from IKEA. They’ve been sitting in my pantry since December. The boys loved decorating while I supervised (sipping on hot chocolate and listening to Christmas music). It was so festive and the gingerbread cookies smelled heavenly! Owen decorated houses while Graham made sprinkle explosions on a couple cookies. It was hilarious to see the difference in these two cookie decorators!
We love playing board games as a family and with company. We relearned a game from our collection this month. BANG! is a western game with a sheriff, deputy, renegade, and outlaws – each with an agenda to kill the sheriff or keep him alive. It’s been a hit! We also got a new game thanks to Prime Days, Machi Koro 2. We taught the boys this weekend and it’s a current obsession. We even taught it to friends last night. I love that our new board game cabinet in the dining room is getting used like I envisioned!
There is no doubt about it – summer is an intense burst of activity! The window of good weather and flexible scheduling only lasts so long. It’s been great to see so many people and do so many fun things together. But… I’ve also started to daydream about autumn and a little more structure to our schedule. I can’t help myself! I’m an introvert who can only keep the summer pace up for so long. Good thing it’s only a season and I hope to be as present as possible while it’s here!
Amy Scott's Thoughts 