Every summer starts with big plans. Especially in places like Utah where the snow has barely thawed and the natural beauty is nearly indescribable, summer holds infinite possibilities. But, like everything good, this summer slipped by before we could make all of our warm weather plans a reality. Aidan starts school on Monday, and I'm already starting to fill our calendar with plans that I know will occur in "sweater weather."
Here are the summer plans that we followed through with:
Taking our first Tripp family vacation in over a decade. This was the biggest summer win and still makes my heart swell to talk about. Besides the obvious pleasure of hanging out with my family, we got to surf, sail, stand-up paddle board, dance, play at the beach, and swim in the pool for a week. Aidan re-bonded with his cousins and Robert got to witness my family's terrifying alter ego while playing board games.
 |
| Cousins! |
Keeping Aidan involved in stimulating activities all summer. This was my first summer working full-time at the U, and I wasn't sure how we would handle childcare. Robert and I signed Aidan up for seven weeks of camp through the University ("Club U") and it was a wonderful solution. Aidan spent the summer canoeing, hiking, stomping around the University visiting the hospital, engineering department, and the Brain Institute. He touched sheep eyeballs and goat brains. He fenced and did archery. He went cliff-diving and built robots. He learned stop motion animation and participated in a talent show. I'm forgetting a zillion other activities, but it's safe to say that we got our money's worth at Club U. Aidan also took three trips to Los Angeles and spent a full week in Maine and New Hampshire. Not a bad summer for a nine-year-old.
 |
| King of the World! |
 |
| Lucky? Who me? |
Movies under the stars at the Capitol and free concerts in Midway. Salt Lake City has a ton of free events over the summer and we took advantage to a small degree. We packed our picnic blankets, popcorn, and cookies and saw Despicable Me 2 under the stars at the Capitol with the Fuentes. Robert and I also had a chance to catch a free concert up in Midway for a band called "Fire on the Mountain." They were no Neon Trees, but it is was still relaxing and beautiful.
 |
| At the Utah State Capitol before the movie |
 |
| Be still my heart |
 |
| Our picnic blanket got a lot of action this summer |
Running a 10K and a 5K. I know running a 5K is a lame thing to brag about but, whatever, I did one! I have not been a runner since it was forced upon me with high school soccer, but this summer I ran the Dirty Dash and the Fun Run with Robert and Christine. We also signed up for the Fall Dirty Dash next month which I have been told alternately is a 10K and a half-marathon. I may not actually know until the day I show up.
 |
| Robert is full of secrets |
 |
| Team RebRob |
Utah Arts Festival. One of my favorite summer activities in Utah. Good food, cool shows, lots of local art. This year we went on a Saturday afternoon so it was incredibly packed but still fun. Next summer I'm going to try to go on a week day or Sunday to avoid the madness, but it was still great to see such a thriving art community in Salt Lake. For one day, Salt Lake City actually feels a little like Venice Beach!
Fireworks in Sugar House Park for the 4th and at Uncle Rob and Uncle Brent's for Pioneer Day. I love seeing traditions start to form for our family and was happy that just like last summer, we walked to Sugar House Park for fireworks on the 4th of July. For the last nine years, I have watched fireworks, laying on the ground with my arm tucked around Aidan, but only for the last two years has it felt like a tradition. Every other year, it was always us taking part in someone else's tradition. I hope we do this the rest of Aidan's childhood so he can say we "always" walked to Sugar House Park to watch fireworks on the 4th of July.
 |
| Pre-fireworks |
 |
| Uncle Rob's ridiculous Pioneer Day fireworks. The kids actually ran for cover. |
Bee's game. What is summer without a little bit of baseball? Robert, Aidan, and I snagged $5 Bee's tickets for some Utah lawyer event. Incidentally, two lawyers got hit with a foul ball at the game. Lawsuit?
 |
| Da Bees |
Throwing three successful parties - a cocktail party, Aidan's birthday party, and Lenore's baby shower. This is especially pleasing to me since one of my favorite things about having a house is hosting parties. We had three from May to August, and they were all a success. My mom would be so proud.
 |
| Me and Kinza at the May cocktail party |
 |
| Happy kids at Aidan's birthday party |
 |
| Lenore's Dueling Piano Baby Shower |
 |
| Still proud of my Ducky Punch |
Frequent walks. I love that Robert and I started walking around our neighborhood once the weather turned warm. And because, you know, we got a dog that needed exercise. Our long conversations on these walks have been one of the highlights of my summer and make me so happy that I married this guy:
 |
| Robert and Stan in front of dream house in Country Club |
Better luck next summer:
Hiking every weekend. We had plans. Really we did. We looked for good spots. We talked about camping and put it on the calendar at least four or five times. When it came down to it, I really only went hiking twice; once to Ensign Peak and once across the Bonneville Shoreline. Pathetic.
 |
| Aidan, not a hiker. |
 |
| Our one successful family hiking adventure |
Taking a Cummings Family Vacation. This one is getting a little ridiculous. We have talked for years about taking a family trip that is not to LA or Salt Lake City. When we lived in LA, we used all our vacations to visit Robert's family. Now in Utah, we took our one vacation to visit my family in LA. Which is great, but I would also love me, Robert, and Aidan to travel somewhere new and see something we haven't seen before. There are like six national parks in Utah. Montana and Wyoming are a car ride away. I need to make a Cummings Family Trip happen before next summer. Maybe when Aidan gets a week off school for the start of hunting season. That actually happens here.
Go to UU Summer Forums. Robert and I got a little too enthused about being part of a church that takes a three-month break from normal Sunday services. We didn't attend a single summer forum at the UU church this summer. Next summer, we'll try to be better Unitarians.
 |
| Agreed, but it doesn't hurt either. |
It's easy to get discouraged that we didn't do everything on our summer fun wish list, but when I look at what we did do, it's kind of a lot. In fact, our summer rocked. That being said, these are my priorities for next summer:
1. Take a freakin' Cummings family vacation. Really, is it that hard for me to plan a getaway with my family??
2. Camp and hike more. I'm a Utahan now. Time to act like it.
3. Attend more free concerts and events. How did I only make it to one free outdoor movie and one free concert this summer? Inexcusable.
4. Get back to my goal weight. This desk job is really taking its toll.
No comments:
Post a Comment