Huckleberry Finn and Friends

I took these photos when my sister was here last week. We just let the kids play in the water while we snapped away. Not a lot of staging or posing, just playing. If we let them, kids will find a game in flowers and rocks and a bucket. We tend to complicate things with toys and stuff. 

Something occurred to me while I edited these photos…simplicity is almost always better than the alternative. When we overbook, our kids are usually crabby and we’re usually stressed out. When we over-decorate, our homes look like we’re trying too hard…or we’re hoarders.  When we over-think meal planning and cleaning and taking care of our homes, usually one area looks great while the rest of our house looks like a bomb went off.  We can be creatures of overdoing a lot.

Things seem a lot happier when we schedule less, make simple meals, do a little light cleaning every day, have a plan but not an elaborate plan…simple.  Simple wins.  Our kids notice. Our husbands notice.

I’m attempting to embrace simplicity even more this summer. We are not generally “over-do-it” parents and over scheduling our kids, but we’re taking it even to the next level of simple. Each kid has chosen one camp (and we are having Noah go to church camp as well…so I guess that’s two things for him). They are signed up for those and we’re not planning on adding anything else. Although last summer was full of trips to the beach and we had so much fun, I’m not sure we’re going to make it there at all this summer. Maybe…possibly a weekend away, but our guests that are coming are making it seem like this baby/moving-filled summer also includes vacations. 

This summer we’re going to read books and play with squirt guns…fun things that don’t require getting in the car, disrupting baby’s nap, and being there at a certain time.

Do you remember fun times with your family as a kid? A lot of the very best memories are made on a whim. Unplanned. Simple.  I remember dancing around the dining room to Gloria Estefan’s Congo with my family. We’re all laughing hysterically. You couldn’t have planned that if you’d have wanted to. Impromptu dart gun wars and lemonade stands are really all that summer needs.  And that’s what kids remember anyway.  You know all that stressing we did about what to get our kids for Christmas just a few months ago? Do they even remember what they got? Let’s go with simple this summer. 

We have this week of school left and we’re done for the summer. My kids are ready for the pool and neighbor friends all day long. I am too. Scraping off all the extra stuff will make this summer already full of moving obligations bearable. We are ready, Summer.