It’s already the end of June, but I’m just now looking forward at summer with wide eyes.

(Have I ever mentioned how much I want a camper?  A vintage AirStream would be ideal, of course.  But then we’d need a car with a hitch.  And Florida camping is just so. so. hot.  But we could drive north! And west!  Someday.)

Adam’s been out of school for a week and a half now, and it’s pretty great to come home to a clean house every day.  Or clean laundry.  Or a clean car.  He’s working hard, but he’s also relaxing and painting a lot.

We leave for our first mini-vacation tomorrow.  We’re heading to a beautiful vacation spot on Amelia Island with the munchkin for the weekend.  We have a lot of fun trips planned, actually.

Piper starts a new Montessori preschool in August, and her last week at the babysitter’s is next week.  Adam will be home with both kids for most of July and August, until school starts again.  He’s already out of ideas, Riley’s already bored at home, and summer hasn’t even started yet.

I want to take advantage of these family days, while my munchkin is still a mini and Adam can hang out during lunch hour.  I’ve got big dreams – big summer dreams!

1. Travel:  We are heading to Amelia Island this weekend, then up to Wisconsin the first week of July.  We’ve got Key West on the schedule for late July, but that’s it.  I want to try to get another mini-vacay or weekend away in somewhere too.  Maybe up to Asheville or Tennessee or even the panhandle of Florida.
2. Mama-Piper Days: I want to take a few days for just the two of us to hang out.  Perhaps her first pedicure or a trip to the zoo. Maybe the beach or a pool or shopping.  Adam will need a break while he’s home with her, and I want to spend time with the kid before she starts school.
   
3. Date Nights: Adam and I don’t get nights out without big events very often.  We need time for just the two of us, so we’re going to try to line up a sitter once each week so we can do the whole date-night thing again.  His mom used to come every other week to babysit, but no more. We need to make this happen.
4. Home Projects: There’s a lot we want to do in the yard, and Adam’s already starting those while he’s home. I want to spend some cool evenings finishing some of that work, finishing painting that mirror I started, finish decorating the bedroom and find a few new pieces of furniture for the dining and living areas.  Get some of this stuff out of the way!
5. Dinner Dates: We can’t always go out, what with the two kiddos in tow, but we can start inviting friends over more often for weeknight dinner dates, to hang out in the yard with wine.  We have a few neighbors we’ve been meaning to spend more time with, so I want to make it a priority to do so.
6. Sunsets: We don’t see enough gorgeous sunsets, even though we live on the beach on the West coast of Florida.  I want to make it a point to get out to watch the sunset at least once each week if we’re home.  Because we’d be crazy not to want to catch more of this: