Summer Plans

Instagram favorites from last summer.

Claire is doing vacation bible school at church this week. I figured since we could stay at home all morning (besides taking Claire to and from church) it would be a perfect time to potty train Maggie. Both girls are doing great in their new adventures!

Next week, Claire is doing tennis camp, then we are going to visit my family for the July 4th long weekend, and the following week she's doing soccer camp. Both "camps" are really just hour-long lessons for four days at our local park. Right after we get back from my parents' house, we're planning to take the side off Maggie's crib.

Then, Adam's family is coming to visit for a week! His parents, his two oldest brothers (one of whom has a daughter Claire's age), and one of his uncles. Adam is taking the whole week off work. We're hoping to take day trips to Bainbridge Island and Mount Rainier and do lots of other fun Pacific Northwest summer activities.

After they leave, Claire and Maggie will both do two weeks of swim lessons at the swim club down the street. Those will be right around lunch time, so since we'll be home most of the day it will be a perfect time to nudge Betsy onto a nap schedule. She seems to have similar sleep habits to her older sisters. They were both pretty bad at napping on their own until almost six months old, so I'm crossing my fingers Betsy will be the same way.

We have the first week of August completely free. We'll start Betsy on solid foods and hopefully sneak away for a date night to celebrate our anniversary. Adam will take the rest of his paternity leave and have the following three weeks off. This will coincide with my sister's visit back to the states from her orphanage in Honduras.

We're all driving up to Vancouver and taking a direct flight to Montreal. We'll spend the first part of our trip in Ottawa visiting my grandma and our other relatives there. We'll drive to Quebec City on the Feast of the Assumption, stopping in the Notre-Dame-du-Cape, the site of a Marian miracle. We'll spent a few days sightseeing in Quebec City (I'm really excited to visit the St. Anne shrine there!) and then fly from Montreal back to Vancouver for my cousin's wedding.

Adam and Allison will still be off for a whole week when we get back, so I'm hoping Allie and I can spend a few kid-free afternoons together. I'm thinking afternoon tea and the Nordstrom annual sale for sure. Then Allison will fly back to Honduras, Adam will go back to work, and we'll have the last week of August completely free again.

Mother Theresa will be canonized over Labor Day weekend, which totally calls for a party and will be a great way to end the summer. September will be here before we know it and Claire will be starting preschool.

My summer bucket list:

- Remlinger Farm
- Fox Hollow Farm
- Woodland Park Zoo
- Juanita Beach Concerts
- Wading pool open swim
- Blueberry and blackberry picking
- Art of the Brick exhibit at the Pacific Science Center

And, of course, swimming in Lake Sammamish, shopping at the farmer's market, and going to our town's festival and food truck night. Isn't summer the best? Mostly I'm just really excited to see my sister. Only six more weeks!