Hi friends! Kelly here. It's finally feeling like summer around our house - the kids are out of school (goodbye making lunches every morning! goodbye homework!), the air conditioning is running at top speed, the back door is constantly being opened and slammed, and there is a faint whiff of sunscreen and popsicle in the air. Ahhh...I love it. Generally. But then there are the days when everyone needs to get out and have an adventure. So I've come up with a little mini album that is going to help my family (and me!) enjoy every minute this summer, and remember them, too.
Let me introduce you to the "90 Days of Summer" album that we are going to (hopefully) fill this summer:
I've finished "daily" albums before, but I concentrated on one month of the year. For a few years, I chose to write/scrap/photograph activities for every day of August. But then I would skip taking a photo one day, or we would go on a trip and have two dozen photos one day, and then I had kiddo number three and doing anything every day went out the window. So...this year I had a brilliant thought: Why don't we just make a list of the things we want to do this summer, and then take pictures and write our thoughts about those? That way we have 90 days to complete our record of summer instead of just 30.
I took a bit of inspiration from the crafty ladies at eighteen 25 and their to-do list printable that I used for the cover of my mini-album. I simply downloaded their graphic and printed it as a 5 x 7. I adhered it to some cardstock and added a few number stickers for the year. For the pages in my album, I used an old mat stack I had hanging around. Some of the colors are funky, but they are perfect for the eclectic feel I'm after. I designed a simple border for the bottom of each page, and then wrote down one of the activities we hope to do this summer on each one, with a check box next to it. When we go on one of these adventures or complete one of these projects, we can add more journaling, a photo, or some sort of memorabilia to the page (ticket stub, part of a map, etc.).
I used scraps of patterned paper and cardstock that I had lying around, so this project came together pretty quickly and didn't cost any additional money. I punched holes in each page near the bottom and used a big binder ring to finish it off. I'm pretty simple, but you could add some charms to the ring, or a few ribbons for a fun look. I think by the time we add photos and other stuff, the album won't look so simple anymore!
So what's on our list? Some examples include: Stay up late to watch for shooting stars; Eat s'mores around a campfire; Go geode/fossil hunting; Spend lots of time at the water park; Have a bike rodeo with friends; Throw water balloons; Go to a parade; Make popsicles and ice cream; Visit Grandpa in Wyoming; Put on a play or puppet show...and the list goes on. There's room for more pages, so let me know if you have any great suggestions for keeping kids busy in the summer!
(Letting my parents' dog Scout, lick my boys, is not on my list. But visiting Nana and Pop, is on there).
I'll be back in July with another post - I'll let you know how our summer album is coming together. Until then, sit back with some icy lemonade and watch the clouds go by. Summer doesn't last forever!
