Soaking Up The Summer

At the beginning of every summer, I brainstorm the fun things my family and I would like to do and places we would like to visit.  Summer is my favorite season to reconnect with family and friends, so it is important to have a plan to soak up as much of it as we can.  Here are some of the things we have enjoyed so far: 

• We kicked off this summer with a special visit from my sister-in-law and her three kids.  This included a trip to a local beach, miniature golfing, and a Boston Duck Tour!  If you have not done a duck tour, I highly recommend it.  I always learn something new about the great city of Boston! 
• This is the first year that we took the kids strawberry picking and made some strawberry jam and strawberry & banana smoothies!  I did not use pectin for the jam but will try that in the future to speed up the jam making process.     
• We swam at a local pond just eight minutes away from our home.  The three times that we went so far entailed hours of swimming together and making up all sorts of fun games in the water!
• We also had many hours of fun in the backyard blow up pool.  I finally figured out how to blow up the pool so that the water does not empty out right after filling it! 
• Our July 4^th family reunion in Maine was lots of fun!  This included a total of 14 cousins and a special visit from my Uncle Vito and Aunt Rosaria.  Aunt Rosie taught us two recipes which she calls “easy food”, sugar donuts and patties using the squash flowers from the garden, yummy!! 
• Of course, it would not be summer without a few gallons of ice cream!  Some of our favorites are mint chocolate chip, strawberry, and monster mash which we recently discovered.  
• We had a nice beach day down in Scituate with my good friend from college and our families.  A trip to the south shore always feels like you’re going on vacation for this north shore girl!     
• Blueberry picking at Russel Orchards in Ipswich.  Lesson learned – make sure to go early in the morning or risk not having any berries to pick.  We ended up buying some from the farmer stand but we may try picking again in a couple of weeks. 

We are so grateful to have been able to enjoy so much of the summer so far and look forward to some additional summer fun as follows:

• Camping in the backyard.  This includes homemade pizza, firepit popcorn and lots of fun!  This year we plan to watch a movie outside as well which will be an extra special treat.
• Possibly a long weekend in Acadia, Maine.  In the past we have visited either the Cape or Old Orchard Beach, but we would like to try something different this year. 
• Maybe a surprise visit from my Canadian cousin Nadia and her two girls one of whom I have never met in person.  It will be so nice to give her daughters a big squeeze if I get a chance to see them!

I hope that you are having a great summer and getting a chance to soak up some fun!!