Summer 2010, I Kind of Love You

I’m not a heat and humidity lover. The combination kind of makes me grumpy. And I don’t like shorts. And I’m too short for most capri pants. Despite my fashion woes and general distaste for sweating when I’m not running, I’m loving Summer 2010. Okay, technically summer didn’t start until today but we’ve been on summer break from school since mid-May. We’ve kind of settled into a non-routine routine.

Here are some things that we’re loving and are working for us this summer:

1. The Chore Chart. I had been wanting to make a chore chart for a month or two as BigBrother had been doing chores with little to no complaint for awhile. He also wanted to start collecting the Toy Story 3 Duplo sets. I figured he could do some chores to earn them but couldn’t come up with a way to fashion the chore chart properly. Then I saw this chore chart which allows the child to earn a toy/privilege/whatever-you-choose after they collect so many stars. So I made my own! BigBrother has been happily making his bed, sometimes without asking, setting the table and helping me with other chores since we hung it up on the fridge. When he earns 20 stars, he gets his first set. I made the amount of stars so high because he has six different things which earn him stars, some of which he can do multiples of each day. As an example, he earned three stars the other day for making his bed, setting the table and helping me water the flowers. If I had a lower number, he’d earn everything before the end of June. This is working for us.

2. We’ve been outside. A lot. Whether it’s been a bubble blowing extravaganza or a water gun fight or kickety-kick-ball in the side yard or a walk to the park in the wagon or any number of things, we’ve been outside. As soon as the grass dries off in the morning, they want to get outside. I’m 100% okay with that idea.

3. Grilling! Grilling! Grilling! I’ve been staying creative with our two-week menu plans by adding in some fun grilling meals. We’re not just kicking up some burgers over here (though we do that, too). I whipped up some chicken fajitas this past weekend and one of our new favorite meals is grilled lime chicken with black bean sauce and a side of cilantro lime (aka: Chipotle’s) rice. The best part of all of this? My kitchen doesn’t turn into a sauna. Oh! And the mess is (sometimes) less! Hooray!

4. Our deck. We built the deck last September since we had leftover money from our vacation fund. We knew we would love it but didn’t have much time to enjoy it before the Never-Ending Winter of Gloom and Doom moved in and we had to shovel over 30 inches off of said deck. But, man, we’re loving our deck. We love sitting at the table for snacks, lunch, dinner or even working on workbook pages. We love racing cars on it. We love sitting on it to read books. We love sitting on it to watch the birds, including our hummingbirds (more on them later this week). We love our deck. I think it’s the best thing we’ve done to our house thus far.

There are other things that we’re loving. We’re seeing Toy Story 3 today. BigBrother has been having a blast with his camera. We’ve been fishing and we’ll go again. A lot. We’ll be going to camp. We’re going to the beach. I’m going to BlogHer ’10 with my two best friends. The Farmer’s Market is rocking my flip-flops and taste buds and wallet at the same time. Reading books in the sunshine is the best thing ever. That new show The Good Guys is making FireDad and I laugh. A lot. Popcicles. Pineapple. Tomato sandwiches. T-ball. Swinging on swings. Naps under the ceiling fan. The list goes on.

I might forgive the heat and humidity just a little bit as long as Summer 2010 keeps on keeping on. How has your summer been thus far?