Summer Getaway for mommy

It’s July! Summer is here, and I am throwing down a challenge to myself –come join me! I have a very good mommy friend who inspires me every time I see her and hear accounts of her family life and spend time in her lovely home. Recently, she and I embarked on a wee journey together that inspired both of us to look at our current lives and think about reinventing our futures with an immediate timeline: SUMMER! We had very loosely planned an overnight trip away from home, and this quick but meaningful departure from our everyday "mom" lives ended up truly invigorating us. We had left our respective homes with only our bikes and a backpack and big, gummy grins on our faces! Neither of us had ever ridden away from home before –no suitcase, no car, not much of anything really; and for me, doing something completely new and out of my comfort zone made me realize I COULD and SHOULD do more stuff that I’ve never done before.

So upon reaching our charming bed & breakfast at the end of a winding, hilly road, we rested our weary legs and opened a bottle of wine and made some declarations. My insightful friend mentioned that more than anything, she wanted to instill in her young children a sense of wonder and adventure in doing incredible things and experiencing the natural world now, while they’re young, so they’ll never grow up without it. Uh, yeah, ME TOO! (Now, I’ve always known one of my roles as a mother is to “make it happen” –“it” being whatever was in the best interest of my kids- and not just let life fly by while we hang on for the ride. But lately I’d forgotten about injecting simple, nature-inspired, wonder-filled experiences into our busy school days). So together she and I made a pact to come up with as many experiences we could for our kids to ignite their passion for the natural world this summer. I haven’t completely finished making my summer bucket list, but I will post it once I have. And until then, I’m hoping you will think of some bucket list items for your summer. Ready? Let’s jump in!