I love all of the seasons, but I must admit that summer is a favorite of mine. I love trips to beach, eating loads of watermelon and getting to enjoy a slower pace without school schedules for the kids. Don’t forget the unlimited amounts of chilled Arnold Palmers and ice cream cones needed to beat the heat.  It’s bliss and I must admit it’s always over much quicker than I ever like. I try holding on to summer as long as I can, so I will continue to wear my open toes and ignore pants for as long as I possibly can. This summer was a bit different due to Covid. We didn’t have a big trip just lots of time in the sun by the beach or the pool and a little getaway to the Catskills towards the middle of summer when things opened up a bit due to low Covid rates in NY. I stopped doing my weekend recaps, because I was already sharing it via Instagram and I was afraid it was too much of the same thing, but I know some people only read the blog and are missing out on our little adventures. So, here is a snapshot of what we were up to this summer!

We spent lots of weekends out at Jon’s parents house. The moved about an hour away 2 years ago so, now when we visit them we make a weekend of it and spend the night. The put in a pool and it is heaven. The boys became fish this summer! The best part is the pool heater! I have also been lucky enough to bring my family out as well to spend some weekends which means Sebastian has gotten to enjoy it all as well!

Asher took relaxation to a new level!

Jon also got in on the action:

We also wore lots of matching bathing suits!

We took many family selfies to remember all of our fun in the sun! 

An occasional glamour shot a la Slim Aarons by the pool.

Ate lots of yellow watermelon!

Towards the end of the summer we finally ventured out to a restaurant for some outdoor eating.

I also visited quite a bit of farm stands to pick corn and fruit and let’s face it, pie and flowers!!!!

When we weren’t out in Riverhead we spent lots of time at the beach. We have a drive on permit for fishing and it’s amazing! So nice to have everything in the trunk of the car and no long walk to the water.  Of course I had more matching bathing suits for the boys. I was so bummed they were sold out of the women’s bathing suit in this pattern.

So many fish were caught!

We also dug lots of holes, went in the water and feed many birds!

I bought many books and magazines to try and read, but let’s face it the boys would only relax like this for a few mins. So, I didn’t read as many books as I would have liked this summer.

We even made a sand castle or two! Again short lived, because they would rather be in the water and while this momma loves the beach she does not love actually going in the water.

In the end of July we rented a house in the Catskills and went away with my family. We were hoping to head to our typical house, but it had been fully booked for months. So, we tried out a new home that didn’t have a pool, but had the Delaware river near by. It was super easy to take a dip!

Our view from the balcony:

Within minutes they had found a snake! Heaven for my boys.

I was even able to keep the matching going when I found matching pj’s and was able to snag a pair for Sebastian as well!

Since we didn’t have a pool at this house we rented a boat for a day! It was so fun and a great way to see more and cool off.

Jon is convinced Uncle Jon’s need a boat so he was super happy to captain us around and introduce Sebastian’s to the world of boating.

It was a nice getaway. We didn’t go out to eat because of Covid, but it was amazing to explore the rivers, hike in the backyard, and cook with everyone. That was pretty much our summer in a nutshell. We kept busy with lots of pool and beach time. Lots of family too! We opened up our pod in June to Jon’s immediate family and my immediate family and it helped make socially distancing and Covid much more doable.

I have no idea what the Fall is going to hold so I’m holding on to Summer for a bit longer. The funny thing is that I actually love fall too. There is nothing better than a crisp fall day where you need a sweater and apple picking, pumpkin picking and pies oh my! Now that fall has unofficially arrived with the start of school last week it’s time to get back to my somewhat normal routine. We chose to start the boys off with remote learning so, our days are going to look a bit like they did back in March, but we are hoping that school protocols work and that they will be able to attend in person soon. Fingers crossed we get somewhat or a normal school year. How are you doing with Covid? Any better? Worse? Here in NY are levels of positive cases have been 1% or lower for the past couple of weeks. However since school just opened in person last week and NYC school open on Sept 21st I’m hoping things don’t change too negatively. 

Happy Monday, all! We can do this!