Tomorrow is July 1st, and that means our Scotland trip is past the halfway mark. I’m keeping my July goals focused on making the most of summer vacation! I love this precious open-ended family time. I hope my children will have wonderful memories of family fun, self-discovery, and simple relaxation from our summer vacations. So far, we are enjoying a truly magical summer, and I love seeing the Scotland influence on my children’s play.
How I’m Making the Most of Summer Vacation with My July Goals
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I intentionally set very simple June goals for 2016. We had a wonderful time at my brother’s wedding, and our trip to Scotland has been amazing. We got over jetlag in record time. If our strategy works as well on the way home, I’ll write it up in a blog post.
Setting Goals for July 2016
I know July is busy. Two too-short weeks of sight-seeing and meeting up with family and friends here in Edinburgh. Then two weeks to get over jetlag, un-pack, and re-adjust to life in California. August starts with half our family’s birthdays (Mike, Lily, and Anna). We have back to school shopping to do, and school starts mid-August. The three older kids each have a few days of gymnastics camp in there, too.
And so I’m focusing on making the most of summer vacation as I set my goals for July 2016.
July 2016 Goals: Making the Most of Summer Vacation
As always, goal focus areas are in italics
- Make the most of every moment of our final two weeks in Edinburgh. I know these weeks will fly by. I hope to balance educational outings with time with people we love and also downtime for the kids. I know from personal experience traveling as a child that there is a lot to learn from playing on local playgrounds, wandering local streets, and perusing local grocery stores. These casual encounters with a new place create the connection, setting the foundation for a lifetime of learning. Gratitude, learning, and mindful living.
- Get over jetlag as quickly as possible once we return home. Mindful living.
That’s it.
How are you making the most of summer vacation with your family?
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MaryAnne is a craft loving educator, musician, photographer, and writer who lives in Silicon Valley with her husband Mike and their four children.
I hope you were able to make the best of the end of your trip and settle back in as smoothly as possible. I think the idea of just getting the most our of summer as we can is becoming the heart of our summer plans too.
We’ve just returned home from Thailand with 3 of us down with stomach problems! Ugh! I think our goal this month is to get over that and get back into the routine of every day life.
Oh no! I’m sorry! I hope you all feel better soon.
I love how you have been able to keep blogging regularly even while traveling. Our summer vacations are so long this year.
Hope you enjoy a wonderful vacation! Love that you’re focusing your goals just on that and not trying to multitask the world. Definitely helps the vacation be more fun :)
Would love for you to come link this up to #GratitudeGoals when you have a moment.
It feels like your summer is about to end when ours is just beginning. We end school late; June 23 but we start back after Labor Day. We’ve just had a little over one week of summer vacation so far. It seems longer though!
Wonderful goals! And happy birthday. :)
Thank you, Elisa!
I need to sit down and get an official list for what I want to do this month. June seems to of rushed by me.
I’d love to hear more about Scottish playgrounds. It is fascinating to see what different communities prioritize for their children.
Simplifying summer is my ultimate goal and I am trying very hard not to load it up with unnecessary stuff.
Have a fun trip!
It’s really hard to keep life simple!
I hope your second 2 weeks will be just as great! Summer flies by way too quickly. We are hoping for a fun-filled travel month too.
I love how simple the goals are for you this month. I think my next month will be like that.
I hope you have a fun July! Your trip sounds wonderful!