Feeling the need to get all the summer things in while you still can? There were two things we love to do (that feel like an essential part of summer) that we hadn’t done. The first one was swimming, which we squeezed in right before our trip to the Midwest. (We met friends at a beautiful coastal lake we’d never been to before, little man was more interested in climbing the sand dune than in swimming, but I was glad to jump in the lake.)

The second one was blueberry picking. How can we have a summer without blueberry picking? I had made a promise to Bracken that I would take him to our friend’s nearby farm to pick blueberries, so he could spend the day with a good friend. I was afraid we had missed the season, but luckily, the later varieties were still going strong and we were able to go there at the end of last week. The berries were so plentiful, I filled up my bucket in no time and then filled it up again. And the kids had a wonderful time, and didn’t want it to come to an end.

I’m not ready for summer to come to an end! But I do feel a bit better now that we got some summer essentials checked off the list. This is our last week before all the school year activities start up (and now, by the time I’m publishing this, the week is nearly over.) We have plans to go blueberry picking one more time, and in a way it feels like one last hurrah of summer.

The air is getting colder, and I’m starting to see some leaves changing color. Jeff cleaned out the chimney and wood stove this week, as he does every year, to prepare for winter. (We need to start focusing on firewood. Some years we are better about doing that earlier than other years.) I’ll miss hanging the laundry to dry outside in the warm sun, eating berries straight out of the garden, being barefoot all over the yard, and so many other things. I like the other seasons too, I just don’t feel ready to see summer go this year.

There is one thing we did over the summer that I felt like mentioning, because it’s such a great thing to do with kids! Jeff and Bracken collected tadpoles at the river by where we live and then we kept them in a fish tank in the house to watch them transform into frogs, then released them. That was such a neat thing to witness!

Our family went down to the river again recently. We forgot to bring the nets that day, so when we saw tons of tadpoles Bracken decided to catch them with his bare hands instead. We couldn’t believe how many he caught that way, since they are quick and difficult to catch, not to mention they can slip right out of your hands. We joked he had discovered a truly amazing talent as a tadpole catcher. Now we have more tadpoles living with us that we are feeding and watching every day.

What about you? Have you squeezed in all the summer things you wanted to? Are there things you do each year that just don’t feel like summer without them?