And We're Back.

Well, everyone, here we are!  Back where we left off on June 17, almost 3 months ago.  And how time flies that I'm actually back here writing to you, still trying to figure out what to say. 
Overall we had a busy, lazy, interesting summer; it was my first summer home with the two kids now both being really, really active and busy and there were days, I admit, that I had a hard time keeping up.  So from that experience, there's actually a lot rolling around in my head from my time off that I'm either trying to decide how to put it into words or deciding if I want to put it into words at all.

Since I haven't quite figured it out yet, I thought the best place to start was where we left off, which was a list of 10 things I hoped to accomplish this summer- a list that I forgot I had even written.  It's always interesting for me to see my chosen goals at a point and then see how I fared at them.  So here we go:

1. Use the free passes the library offers to many local attractions.

Not even close.  We went to the library itself, many times, but never got around to visiting anything.  When it came down to it, traveling even just a short distance with two kids can be exhausting.

2. Get our money's worth out of the season pass we bought for the town pool.

Yes!  We went enough times to justify the pass, if not surpass the cost.  Our frequent trips plus three (yes, three) rounds of swimming lessons and Gus is now a level 3 swimmer, is comfortable in the water, and will jump into and swim in the deep end.  He also taught Greta how to doggie paddle with her face in the water, and she gained confidence for jumping into the shallow end where she can still touch.  Water success all around.

3. Have play dates with as many kid friends as possible.

While this wasn't as extensive as it could have been due to everyone vacationing at different times, we definitely did see a lot of friends over the summer, thrilling the kids, who love to have someone different to play with.

4. Read lots of books with the kids.

Fail.  We read, don't get me wrong.  But we were not reading lots of books by a long shot.  We got a lot of books from the library, and then time would fly and we'd return them, reading most but not always all of them.

5. Take the kids out to local ice cream spots.

Check!  We ended up with a few gift cards from Gus's birthday, so we managed to hit up Ben & Jerry as well as Friendly's with those.  Additionally we went to our favorite farm stand and another amazing local ice cream shop, as well as the local mini golf/ice cream combo.  This may have been the kids' favorite part.

6. Fill my Etsy shop with all the products I have made in real life.

Nope!  More about this in later posts, but the summer was a lot harder than I though it was going to be as far as free time goes and the best-laid plans got pushed to the side.  I did get some things in there and got it cleaned up and organized, but there's still a long ways to go to get it to the point I want it to be in.
 
7. Thoroughly clean out and clean my basement.

Nope.  The poor basement is still a neglected disaster and I'm hoping that being trapped in the house this coming winter will prove to be better motivation.  But let's not mention winter yet...

8. Ditto that on the kids' rooms.

Yes!  We went through Gus's toys and got rid of a ton of stuff that neither he nor Greta have touched in forever, including some things that may never have been thoroughly loved when they first got them.  We moved around some of his furniture to prevent him from cluttering up main walkways in his room, and it's just a better system overall.  Greta's room is still a work-in-progress but we did weed out a few things from her room so far as well.  Her room is also much smaller so there's not as many places to hide things.

9. Take a few driving vacations to places like Cape Cod and Maine.

This one is a no, too.  Like I said, it was an unexpected summer as far as plans and daily tasks were concerned, plus the idea of packing everyone up and then paying for a hotel and meals out just didn't thrill us, so we never really even considered pursuing the idea.  There's always next year.

10. Have Gus keep a vacation journal.

Well, we got him started, I'll give him that.  We even took it on our vacation to Florida and had him work on it there, and then it just didn't happen.  There were days where the two of them would be up early playing, they'd come down to eat, they'd go back to playing contentedly, etc. and I just didn't want to break up their active play to make him write.  I know I probably should have, and if I reminded him he would have done it, but once it was in the cabinet the journal was pretty much out of sight, out of mind.

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Now that I'm looking back on all the things I had planned to try and do, I'm surprised at what I picked, and knowing what I know now, my list for next year would either be a) totally, completely different or b) I would list off things that I really wanted to do and thought would be very feasible.  Local ice cream we can do easily; a trip out of state not so much.

And I spent a lot of time thinking about what I want this space to become, but, of course, with time being what it is, I am still working on it, along with trying to get products ready for a string of craft shows, as well as making sure kids are ready for school, and so on.  So for now, I'm happy to be back, I'm happy that you stuck around, and I'm excited to see where we go from here.

I've missed chatting with you!  How was your summer?  Did you do all you wanted to do, or is your summer bucket list still as full as mine?  Tell me all about what's been going on in the comments below!