As a teacher, I look forward to my summers off. It’s a chance to recharge my batteries, spend time with friends and family, and enjoy a schedule-free couple of months.
Except, of course, we always schedule a ton of activities over the summer in order to make the most of the time we have. In some ways, this makes it hard to go back to the structure of a typical school day; in other ways, heading back to school is a welcome return to familiarity and routine, with the novelty of having new students and new opportunities to make connections and see kids grow.
If that promise of possibility isn’t enough to get me excited for another school year, there’s a tradition I have that helps me transition much more willingly from summer to school. I call it my “Summer Recap,” and all I do is make a list of ALL the fun, unique, memorable things I experienced over the summer.
So, here’s my 2022 Summer Recap:
- Week-long trip to Anna Maria Island, Florida, including:
- Four beautiful beach days with warm, calm, clear-blue water
- Morning workouts by the heated pool while the girls happily swam
- A day-trip to Disney’s Animal Kingdom
- Kayaking on Tampa Bay and in the canals behind our beach house
- A visit from Liz’s cousin Billy
- Great meals at The Sandbar, Swordfish Grille, and Rod & Reel
- Golfing with my son 🏌🏼♂️🏌🏼♂️⛳
- Cookout with my buddy, Karl 🍔🍴🍖🍗🍕
- Hosted a great Fourth of July family gathering
- Fiona’s first sleepover camp
- A trip to Raleigh, NC, including:
- A feast at Liz’s aunt and uncle’s house when we arrived (during pouring rain)
- A late game night with Liz’s cousins and their friends
- A trip to the Natural Science Museum with the cousins
- Grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s 😀
- A surprise birthday party for a friend of Liz’s cousin
- Many rounds of awesome tapas at Bodega in Wake Forest
- A trip to Virginia, including:
- A walk through Colonial Williamsburg
- A day at Busch Gardens 🎢🥨😁
- Three beautiful days on our own stretch of semi-private beach
- More amazing dinners at Longboard’s, Captain Groovy’s, and Stony’s Dockside Bar and Grill
- Great ice cream at Gelati Celesti
- A long anniversary weekend in Jim Thorpe, including:
- Whitewater rafting!
- Chill lunch at Stone Row
- Beautiful church tour ⛪
- Upgrade to the best suite at our favorite B&B, The Dolon House 🏡
- Two of the most amazing breakfasts 🤩🍳🥣🥓🥐
- Tours of a coal mine and a mining village 🛤⛏
- Scenic train ride 🚂
- Wonderful anniversary dinner at Moya 🐟🌽🥦🍝
- Fun wine tasting🍷
- Longwood Gardens 🌷🌸🌹🌺🌼🌳 and La Michoacana 🍨🍦🤤
- Pretend travel days to Malaysia and Germany
- Fiona’s Outpour musical performance 📣👯♀️🎶
- VBS for the kids, with their end-of-the-week celebration 🎶👯♂️🌭
- A weekend in Philly, including:
- Lunch at Reading Terminal Market
- A beautiful walk downtown 🏛🏨🏦
- Dinner at Talula’s Garden
- A freakin’ Black Keys concert! 🤘🏼🎸🎤
- Breakfast at Green Eggs Cafe 😇
- Barbacoa take-out 🌮
- The immersive Van Gogh Experience 🎨🌻
- A Kidz Bop Concert 👩🏼🎤👨🏼🎤🎤🎶
- HersheyPark
- Living room redesign 🏡
- A kayak-and-picnic date at Muddy Run 🛶
- An early Labor Day gathering with extended family 🍔🍰🍉🍑🥗👨🏼🦳🧓🏼👩🏼👧🏼🧑🏽👦🏻👩🏻🦰🧑🏻👨🏻👩🏻🦳🧔🏻
- Plus:
- Posted an episode on Kindle Vella every day ✍🏼
- Received my first hardcover copies of Unburnt 📙
- Learned a lot about marketing my books
- Went to Cherry Crest a few times
- Hit up Dutch Wonderland
- Went tubing with Karl 🍩
- Voice and piano lessons for the girls 🎹🎤
- Bike rides around the neighborhood 🚲
- Choo Choo Barn with Farah 🚂
- Fiona’s dance recital 👯♂️
- Farah’s dance recital 🩰
- Farah lost her first tooth! 🦷☝🏼
- Double date with some newlyweds 💑💑
- Planned a trip to Red Rocks, CO for this September
- Planned five possible trips to Europe for Liz’s birthday 🏰🌍🥐💃🏼🌊
- Went to Trader Joe’s twice
- Drove a convertible to the movie theater and saw Top Gun ✈
- Kayak with girls, picnic by creek
- Started The Stand
- Started Twitter streak
- Revisited OYTMI
- Physical therapy
- Deck lights
- Worked on the audiobook for Locked In
- Unburnt revisions (relaunching soon!)
- Plus I “read” (listened to) my first Stephen King novel, The Stand (just a quick little 47+ hours of audio 😲👍🏻👍🏻)
This simple list reminds me that I had a very full and exciting summer, that I accomplished many things I intended to do, and that I didn’t waste my precious time off. After looking the list over a few times, it’s easy for me to put another great summer behind me and set my sights on the upcoming rollercoaster of another school year.
M. J. Lau 