Comments on: The 2024 Summer Fun List

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Mon, 10 Jun 2024 11:55:30 +0000

In reply to Holly. @Holly- great list! And yes, basically being outdoors is a big goal of mine this summer. Love the idea of death and a sandwich...

By: Holly

Holly — Sat, 08 Jun 2024 19:38:57 +0000

My summer fun list includes visiting 3 botanical gardens (I have a list of 15 to choose from, mostly regional though one in Rochester, NY, where I’m visiting next week.

DEATH and a Sandwich lunch event in a historic cemetery in my city. You listen to a docent and lounge around on your blanket, eating your lunch and sipping wine or beverage of choice.

Go on at least one long hike. Train for said long hike.

Day trip to a fun fishing community.

Picnic in a State Park.

Enjoy our patio after two summers which fell apart due to family and health issues (not mine).

Explore our state capitol where spending 4-5 days the beginning of July.

My husband and me to get together with two friend couples we don’t see that often. Not at one time.

August week on the shore in Door County (WI).

Pick fruit

And the usual eat outdoors, listen to music outdoors, basically BE OUTDOORS!

By: Cindy O

Cindy O — Mon, 27 May 2024 23:52:37 +0000

In reply to BethC.. What an amazing book club!!

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Mon, 27 May 2024 22:31:11 +0000

In reply to Megan.

@Megan — ooh, the glow stick pool party sounds fun! I might get some glow sticks for that 🙂 I’m tempted by the camping one, it sounds cool in theory and I’ve done camping at other stages of my life but…we shall see.

By: Megan

Megan — Fri, 24 May 2024 18:07:10 +0000

Some similar items as mentioned: eating outside at restaurants and home, visiting brewery patios, listening to music outdoors (purchased tickets or local Mpls/St. Paul parks put on frequent free events). Other additions: kayaking with one of the kids, camping and doing a glow stick pool party. We did one last year and it is a definite repeat summer fun list item now.

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Fri, 24 May 2024 00:25:15 +0000

In reply to Coree. @Coree- fascinated by your den! We shall see how that turns out. And I'm always a fan of visiting beaches.

By: Laura Vanderkam

Laura Vanderkam — Fri, 24 May 2024 00:24:19 +0000

In reply to BethC..

@BethC- I love these! Nice work on 20 ballparks – that is a fun project to complete that set. And also nice work on getting the strawberries on the calendar. There were definitely some years I didn’t think about it until late June and that just…doesn’t work.

By: BethC.

BethC. — Fri, 24 May 2024 00:11:22 +0000

Here’s my list:
1. Visit 2 long time friends this summer. Already planned. We traveled a ton on long trios this winter and early spring. While I’m looking forward to being home more over the summer, I know that spending a couple of long weekends with some of my favorite people will fill my soul.
2. Pick strawberries. Already done. This has been on my list for a few years, but I always wake up and think about it too late in the season. The strawberry place is around the corner from me, so I put it on the calendar for the first time this year and got there in time.
3. Get to the beach at least 5 times. We spent today at a sometimes light rainy Long Beach Island, NJ beach today. Had a free night certificate from IHG in my husband’s account so we booked a Holiday Inn not far from the LBI causeway. We’re only an hour from home, but we had a great meal at a little restaurant nearby (Mud City Crab House) and I got to walk the beach today.
4. Go to some events with a Meetup group that I joined. It’s called the Novel Tourist Book Club-they are Philadelphia-based. They pick several suggestions of books to read and pair meetups that are tied to the theme of the book. I’ll be reading a lot in June, since I will be going out for lunch at an Indian restaurant and reading a novel set in India, visiting the largest Indian temple on the East Coast after reading Indian folk tales, and attending a performance of “Our Town” and then discussing Ann Patchett’s “Tom Lake.” This will help me fulfill my desire to explore more things in the Philadelphia area while feeding my voracious reading appetite.
5. Take a tour with the Central Park Conservancy in New York. This has been on my wish list for years. I will be doing this with my sister and niece in June.
6 Go to the Mary Cassatt Exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and attend the Friday night cocktail event at the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia with my adult daughter. I’ve been to the Rodin Museum in Paris multiple times, but never visited the one in my own area.
7. Go to my 20th Major League Baseball stadium (Washington Nationals) and take in a game. My husband and I are on a mission to visit every major league stadium. We knocked off the 3 SoCal teams on a recent trip, so I’m excited that we’ll be 2/3 done with our quest. Of course, I’m not as excited about the prospect of planning future trips to Houston, Dallas and Atlanta in the heat of the summer….
8. Explore one or more new to us ice cream places in our area. My family enthusiastically supports this one!
9. Go to an outdoor concert.
10. Walk outdoors more. We have a trip to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone planned around Labor Day, so I know that we’ll walk a lot then.

By: BethC.

BethC. — Thu, 23 May 2024 23:33:28 +0000

In reply to Laura Vanderkam. I love, love, love Liverpool! Thanks for taking the time to share what you bought!

By: Coree

Coree — Thu, 23 May 2024 20:08:38 +0000

We’ve had torrential rain and flood alerts this week so it feels very unsummery, but we will get there. Only 7 weeks of school holidays but we try to start eating outside, and generally spending time outdoors as much as we can.

Build a den – I’ve got the stuff for my secret squirrel den stuff (no one has noticed the pile of 6ft waste pipes) and now I need it to stop raining and everyone to leave my house. Love my husband, but this is a me project, it would grow legs if he was involved, and really we just need a frame we can throw a sunshade over.

Go glamping – booked, prepitched tent with air mattresses, and a nice restaurant.

Go to the Oceanarium in Lisbon – a yearly highlight

Eating outside every day the weather permits. Our table is just outside the kitchen door so this is easy. And the birds / squirrels eat every crumb.

Go to the pump track for a cycle.

Visit some new beaches – we live on Scotland’s east coast and there are beaches within 30 minutes we haven’t visited yet. And go back to the one with the spectacular caves.

I want to do a few long bike rides along the railway path.

Sleep in a tent – at my parents’ house, which annoyingly has the most comfortable beds… why do I have to sleep outside?

And some prebooked stuff, T and I will decamp to Portugal for a few weeks.