Hellobee

For most of May, I was consumed with thoughts of how I would keep my kids occupied all summer. After considering costs of programs, two road trips for a family reunion and a family wedding, I ended up signing Lil’ Pizza up for just one thing – a weekly 30 minute swim class. At one point, I was looking at gymnastics, swimming, art, and a dance class, but somehow I talked myself out of all of it and settled on the one class.  I might completely regret this in a week or so as I try to keep my 4-year-old and 2-year-old occupied all day, but hopefully we can enjoy the simplicity and flexibility of what summer has to offer.

Just last week, we released butterflies that we were able to witness transform from caterpillars to chrysalises to butterflies. It was so fun and easy that I would love to do it again next year. I might have enjoyed it the most in my family, but the girls definitely got a kick out of the whole experience as well.  We used the Original Butterfly Garden and borrowed books from the library to learn more about the whole transformation.

 It was so much fun to learn and watch the process of the caterpillars changing to butterflies.

I know absolutely nothing about gardening but we thought it would be fun to grow our own plants. I didn’t realize that preparing the gardening space would be so much work as we pulled unwanted plants and added soil and compost, but we had fun digging and looking for worms and other bugs. I set my expectations low for my first year of gardening and just hope that the experience will inspire me to do it every summer. It helps that some of the easier vegetables to grow are some of the girls’ favorites including tomatoes and cucumbers. Any tips for a novice gardener are welcome!

We still need to actually plant the vegetable plants we want to grow in the next few days. Hoping for some success!

Lil’ Pizza and I also worked on creating a summer bucket list. I loved all of her simple suggestions. I know we don’t have to do anything “grand” to have an enjoyable summer. We might get close to finishing most of these things in June but that’s alright, we can just make another list.

In addition, I scheduled in various free events that the local library and the park district are having into our calendar. We also want to make room for play dates with friends. I am trying to still figure out some activities that can be part of our routine such as post-dinner strolls, weekly library visits, exploring new parks, gardening, and alphabet themed activities.

June is already picking up pace and while I’m nervous about the days being long, I already feel the summer escaping me.

I love this quote by Eckhart Tolle about being present in the now and want to just enjoy the sweet and simple moments with my kids this summer.

“Most humans are never fully present in the now, because unconsciously they believe that the next moment must be more important than this one. But then you miss your whole life, which is never not now. And that’s a revelation for some people: to realize that your life is only ever now.” – Eckhart Tolle