In case you didn’t notice, the summer season is significantly longer this year. Memorial Day fell about a week earlier, and Labor Day is about a week later than usual. But it still doesn’t seem long enough, does it? So grab the summertime we have left—here’s a list of things to do before the best time of year disappears.
* Dance at an outdoor concert.
* Enjoy just-picked corn-on-the-cob—buttered and salted, of course.
* Throw a Frisbee.
* Help a kid open a lemonade stand.
* Watch Body Heat (still one of the sexiest movies every made) with your guy on a sultry night with the air conditioner off.
* Ride a roller coaster—front car, arms up.
* Watch a thunderstorm approach.
* Walk barefoot across a lawn.
* Go for a bike ride. (Make sure it includes a really long downhill.)
* Spend an evening sitting on someone’s porch talking.
* Watch a bee work your garden.
* Wash the car in cutoffs, bare feet, and a tank top. (If anybody makes a wisecrack, turn the hose on ’em.)
* Sniff a ripe tomato on the vine.
* Pick and eat that same tomato like an apple.
* Read by the light of a citronella candle.
* Find something new to do with all that zucchini!
* Go outside to watch a sunrise.
* Listen, really listen, to the sound of your flip-flops.
* Coat a squirming kid in SPF 30.
* Nap in a hammock.
* Sleep outside in a tent or on the deck.
* Have a campfire and cook smores.
* Go to a drive-in movie.
* Play some Jimmy Buffet—loud.
* Wish on a star.
* Mulch.
* Volunteer at a carnival.
* Treat a kid to his first banana split.
* Bury your husband in the sand. (Resist the urge to leave him there.)
* Eat at an outdoor café.
* Hang some wind chimes.
* While driving to work on a beautiful day, turn around and call in sick.
* Sit quietly in the shade. Think. Linger in this one summer moment.
Comments from Members
These are such great tips for making the most of summer. My favorite is wishing on a star and getting outside to see the sunrise. These are great ideas for relaxing and taking time to enjoy the moments.
I like the wish on a star one and watch a sunrise one. Throw a frisbee--I just did that one today with our dog. And watch a thunderstorm, where I live that is a very easy thing to do since we had a lot of them at the beginning of summer.Good ideas--simple yet fun!
Some of these tips made me tear up! My husband and I are having a difficult summer and it is easy to forget tin order for our children to enjoy life, their parents must show them the way. Thank you for the reminder.
Linda, I noticed that you have a picture of a German Shephard on your comment. We just lost our Shephard, Ivan, a couple of months ago. He was 13 and could barely walk. We miss him every day. You couldn't ask for a better dog. My husband has just begun talking about getting another puppy. He kept insisting that he didn't know what the point would be since Ivan was the best dog you could have. Of course we know that our two girls, ages 7 and 4, really need to grow up with a dog.
Turn around and call in to work ...so funny!!!!
Our family favorite is catching lighten' bugs!! Then we all enjoy laughing and joking around the campfire and toasting marshmallows!! My teenage daughters' friends (boys and girls) have made comments about how much fun it is to "hang out" around our campfire with us!
Wish on a star and woohoo play hookie from work! Sounds like a plan to me.
Get out the old crank ice cream churn and make real ice cream. Eat it under a shade tree.
Enjoy every day of sunshine and those warm summer nights....these winters in Wisconsin are waayyyy too long so I like to take advantage of the summer weather whenever I can! Why, oh why is summer so short!!!
Go to a place you never been before and do not be embrassed about getting lost, that is part of the exploration of it all. My daughter still say to me "remember when we went on vacation and you drove in circles... You sure do act silly sometime mom." She never realize that I was lost.
Go out during a rainstorm (no lightning please!) and cool off.
I want the summer to sneak away! For the last 6-8 weeks temps have been 100-109 every single day! Fall and spring are my favorite seasons here in south Texas and winter is pretty good as well!
How relevent the summer has been slipping away. I'm going to take some time to slow down and enjoy.
These are great ideas. Once the fourth of July goes by your done
Once the fourth of July is gone. Everything goes by fast
Part of everyone's summer bucket list should be watching the Perseid Meteor Shower. Though the peak has passed, you should still be able to see a few meteors from midnight until dawn until August 17th. Then make a note on your calendar to watch the Leonids in December!
Sit outside and just listen to the birds and enjoy the beauty of the sky. Enjoy God's creations.
Sit outside on your deck one summer evening or early morning and listen to the birds. Enjoy the beauty of the sky and God's creations.
When you live in the city, the fire escape is as good a porch. We sit on it early in the morning when all is quiet and you can hear the birds chirping while we have a good cup of coffee. Almost over so enjoy what you have now.Maria
If you are a grandmother take a grandchild swimming they make you feel young again.Karen 8/17/09
Have one last summer BBQ bash with family & friends to say goodbye summer, hello fall! And don't forget some fun games for the kids like an egg toss or water balloon fight. Kids & adults like the cool whip fling game. Get a piece of poster board & cut a circle in the middle and have a volunteer hold it to their face. Give everyone a pancake flipper full of whipped cream, aim for target, bend it back & flip it! We give little prizes to the kids if they hit their target. This game gets lots of laughs and you get to be hosed off afterwards.
I feel pretty good - I have done many of the things on that list. The ones I haven't done are the ones I am not physically able to do because of my disability. There is one thing that was left off of that list. Catcth some fireflies!! Nothing says summertime to me more than that!!
All awesome ideas. I can't get out like I used too, but I still love looking out the window at the scenery outside and seeing all of God's creation...realizing I am one of them. I still love going riding around to see the sights in the countryside with the kids driving me now. I can remember doing many of the things on your bucket list when was much younger. Thanks for the walk down memory lane. God bess us everyone and have a wonderful summer...enjoy!
Gather up the whole family and a bunch of bowls, that bushel of green beans that are headed to your freezer, and head for the back porch. All the hands will make quick work of the veggies and it's a great time to talk and catch up on everyone's busy lives. With younger kids make a contest out of different things like who can pick-up the most beans in one hand, who can snap a bean in to 4 equal sized parts, or first one done with their bowl full gets to pick the treat for when you are all done!
