Favorite summer 2020 activities or memory?

[mommyoffive]

What is your favorite summer 2020 memory or activity?  I am trying to end this last week and a half of summer on a fun note, and I need some new ideas.

[Ottakee]

One of mine is reconnecting with a friend and getting out weekly to hike, bike or kayak with her.

Could you explore some local parks, nature preserves, etc and take a picnic lunch?

[EmilyGF]

Mine is like @Ottakee's.

We've been hiking twice each weekend since June. One day we go to a new park nearby that we haven't been to and wander around for an hour or two. We've found rock climbing walls, restored prairie, and a hawk's nest, among other things, on those days.

On the other day over the weekend, we drive 30-90 minutes to a highly rated, lowly trafficked hiking spot we've never been to and take a 4ish mile hike. Even my 4-year-old can hike 4 miles now!

This has been a really special part of this summer.

Also, I've assigned ds8 to bake cookies every Thursday with dd13. They tend to fight with each other, but each one likes cookies. Not only does our family end up with cookies every Thursday night, their relationship has grown more peaceful.

Finally, ds15 is a major birder. He's got a goal of being a top-100 birder in our county of 5 million on e-bird. I've always theoretically supported his activity, but never really wanted to be part of it myself. Over the summer, he's spent a fair amount of time watching the birds in our backyard with dd4, who until this summer called every bird a "chicken." Ds8 has taken up the hobby, too, to some extent, and I also have gained a lot of appreciation for our local birds. For example, ds15 and I went on a walk last night to all the nearby evergreens that I knew in the neighborhood so that he could look for the red-bellied nuthatch, which he hasn't yet seen this year. (It was like a wild goose chase, except that red-bellied nuthatches are tiny!)

[PrincessMommy]

My parents used to take us camping up in the mountains.  My favorite memory is hikes up the creek.  We would put on our bathing suits and river shoes and hike in the creek.   

[Wheres Toto]

Mine are like the others.  I've been meeting up with oldest dd to workout in the mornings.  It's more time than we've been able to spend together in years.  We walk and talk about all kinds of things, sometimes we dance, do weights and yoga, which is great but I'm really loving the discussions we're having.

[ScoutTN]

Evenings at the pool with fabulously un-humid weather.

Canoeing and kayaking

Watching The Mandalorian! 

Beach trip

 

[SKL]

Lovely walks in the national park.

The late graduation party we had for my kids' class.

For my kids, marching band and sports.

[MrsMommy]

Last week, I wrote a blog post about this, because I wanted to make sure we remembered the good things that happened this summer, no matter how small, and not just the bad stuff.