Long, summer days

August is drawing to a close, and I feel like I’ve barely been in this space all summer. I’ve been here, posted and shared a few snippets of life, but August has been a much more switched off month for me than usual. I’ve tried to stay off social media as much as possible and just enjoy some long, summer days with the kiddos.

While the weather may not always have been as summery as we hoped for, our days have been full. There have been festivals, picnics, park trips, river days, long drives, beach trips, castles explored, spontaneous evenings out, as well as lots of long days in the garden and of course, we got two new kittens!

It has been the first summer in ten years that we’ve had a car, and we have so enjoyed the freedom that it has given us. No more having to rely on buses/trains, the long journeys they entail as well as struggling to get places a little out of the way or having a zillion bags to carry. We’ve made the most of the car and have been out and about, exploring new to us places as well as visiting some old favourites.

While we homeschool, so aren’t stuck to traditional school holidays, we always take August ‘off’ – to enjoy the {hopefully} better weather, to have a long break which is so appreciated and also to enjoy all the festivals/holidays/activities that run through the month. These long days, without too any to-do lists, fewer places we have to be, or commitments are perfect for recharging all of our batteries. I try and work as little as I can through August and enjoy a slower pace of life. I find it gives me headspace to work out where I’m going, what we want to achieve in the next year and assess little aspects of our life to see if they are all working for us.

I think this is one of the best summer’s we’ve had for a long time… I’ve really felt like we’ve made the most of every day, you know? We’ve been to Camp Bestival and the Just So Festival.

We’ve had a few meet-ups with our home ed friends – the best being a long day at the river with a picnic lunch AND a BBQ dinner. Saturday night, we threw the kiddos in the car after dinner and headed to a nearby town to catch a friends band who were playing in a park. Last week G took us on a magical mystery tour – we headed to Criccieth, spent a few hours on the beach {and ate a very sandy picnic}, walked to the ruined castle there, had ice-creams then drove to Caernarfon to explore another castle, before heading to Colwyn Bay for a fish and chip supper.

I can already feel the nights pulling in, and the hint of Autumn waiting just around the corner. I got an itchiness for new beginnings, after a lifetime of September meaning a new school year and all the new starts that entails, this time of year still speaks of fresh starts to me. I’ve started some homeschool planning, as well as a little reorganising of our homeschool/playroom space. But I’m hanging onto a couple more weeks of summer before I’m ready to embrace a new season. We’ve one more festival {The Good Life Experience} to go, as well as Kiki’s birthday and then I’ll be ready to switch gears!