Family Friday (vol. 20): Welcoming Summer!

We live in Michigan and despite having an unseasonably mild winter with very little snow, we’re all overjoyed to be welcoming summer. Summer is the reason we choose to survive the winters – it’s fact! Even my season-loving, hockey-playing, I-hate-jackets self is basking in the sun and warmer temperatures.

But of course, with summer comes some woes.

While no one other than our families come to visit us 9 months out of the year, we seem to easily book up most every weekend with visitors in the summer. I’m not complaining, but I am being realistic in that….

1. We have a toddler and fall prey to honoring the sacred nap time (which lord loving, is from 12:30-3pm-ish)

2. I’m getting pretty darn pregnant and beginning to feel more and more pregnant by the day (I am truly not complaining – this pregnancy continues to be a cake walk in comparison to my last)

3. I can’t drink. There’s literally 4 NEW  microbreweries opening within 10 miles of our house and…yeah. What I wouldn’t do for a cold IPA on a hot summer evening!

There’s also the issue of jet skis – my husband’s mid-life crisis, as I so aptly refer to them. It’s a half day or more to put the jet skis in and out of the water when you factor in his toodling around time on the lake. Sometimes we have guests over who actually want to jet ski, but it certainly isn’t me. I’m stuck on land smothering a toddler in sun screen and bathing 2 tons of sand from the dog…probably at the same time. Hot and pregnant.

Then there’s the tourists. The locals wait 9 months each year to enjoy a meal out on a patio, but instead we’re met with 3 hour long wait lists at desirable restaurants. Is it really worth it? Sigh.

But, we have the beautiful lake, wonderful outdoor space at our home, and other fun things to look forward to like fruit picking! Strawberry you-pick starts this weekend and from there we’ll get into cherries around the 4th of July, raspberries around that same time, peaches at some point, and blueberries in August. Of course come September and October there’s the concord grapes and apples to pick, too. Oh, and pumpkins! I love our sandy soil that brings so much local produce to the area. It’s the perfect thing to do with the whole family on a nice day – we’re going for strawberries tomorrow!

So even though the weekend isn’t forecasted to be spectacular, neither was last weekend when it ended up being sunny and in the 80’s for 4 straight days of work-free fun. Here’s hoping for some more sunshine and warm weather…and a great summer, all around!

Be well,