When I was a kid summer meant long days at the playground, wading in the creek, walking to the library, and climbing trees to read. Most of these happened during different portions of my childhood, and often in different towns, but they stuck with me. And now, I am working on simple summers for my kids.

Mud pies, s’mores, gardening, climbing trees, playing in the sprinkler, wading in the pond, cloud watching, lying in a hammock, picking fruit off the trees in the backyard, meeting up with cousins at a favorite park, learning to swim, enjoying local festivals, all good ways to pass the time on hot days.

Most of these are pretty spontaneous, if the kids are outside and hot it’s easy enough to turn on the sprinkler. Mud pies are a natural occurrence whenever water meets dirt if my kids are around. If the fruit is even almost ripe, the kids are going to pick the fruit they can reach. Cloud watching takes…clouds, which we don’t always have in the summer, but those can also mean summer storms, which my kids also love. They honestly hope the power goes out so they can use flashlights and we light candles and lamps. It’s an adventure for them. Wading in the pond just takes a pond, really. The shoes just come off and in go little feet. The hammock is always waiting and so are the climbable trees.

The ones that take a bit of planning are s’mores, meeting cousins at the park, learning to swim, and attending local festivals.

For true s’mores you need a fire of some sort. The fire pit hasn’t been used since last autumn, but will probably see matches sometime soon if my kids get their way. You just have to commit to monitoring the fire, since it takes more that five minutes for a wood fire to get down to those beautiful coals that are so perfect for roasting marshmallows…and hotdogs, too. See? Dinner and dessert! I need to wash my hair after, or I am going to be waking up with a sore throat the next morning. Remember that planning part? Yeah. Sometimes it’s more than just planning the start. There are times you have to plan the after, too.

Meeting cousins at the park means I schedule a time when my sisters and their kids are available. That can be interesting to work in between everyone’s sleepovers, summer activities, and time with other relatives. But it’s definitely worth it when we manage it. I do not even contemplate scheduling anything after we meet up because we don’t usually leave until the sun is going down. By then the kids are going to be so tired from playing that getting them home, fed, and into bed are really your only option. More of that planning for after an activity.

Learning to swim is the goal for one of my daughters this summer. We need Grandma for that, since she used to teach swimming lessons when I was a teenager. She got my sisters and I ready for swim team and coached for two summers. I do not miss swim team, or nearly drowning every time I practiced and raced the butterfly stroke, but I am glad that swimming is a total muscle memory thing for me even after, um, you know what? Let’s not mention how many years it’s been. OK?

We already enjoyed one local festival this summer, parade and all. Another one is in a few weeks. So my girls are anticipating cotton candy, lemonade from the people in the lemon shaped trailer, caramel corn, a few low to the ground rides, a visit to the dress up photo tent, all during a hot afternoon out with aunts and cousins as we wander between the stalls. Along with the rest, I love meeting people we haven’t seen since last summer at festivals and County Fairs.

Such as the County Fair where Grandma and some other relatives will be showing their crafts and manning booths for local nonprofits. It will be fun to show the girls all the animals in the show barns, the crafts and food waiting to be judged in the main building, and again, get some seemingly summer only foods. We may even catch some barrel racing and calf roping. That would be a lot of fun. The festival and fair will only be a couple weekends this summer, but they are anticipated all year long.

Summers may be busier as my kids get older and find more hobbies and activities. But right now, simplicity is where it’s at for us. They are going to get 10 cents per squash beetle removed from my garden. We are going to blow dandelion puffs, enjoy impromptu picnics in the yard, and invite cousins over for hotdogs and s’mores. That’s the warm weather life for us this year.

What do you hope this summer looks like? Will it be full of sports practices and games and team BBQ’s? Are you planning on blowing up a kiddie pool and sitting in the shade while the toddlers learn to pour water from cup to cup? Are you snuggled on the couch with your newborn and your phone? Let me know in the comments. Perhaps we can swap ideas, work-arounds, and sanity savers.