This story was originally published on Aug. 21, 2017.

At the beginning of summer I declared that our “big” plans were, basically, to do nothing.

I didn’t mean nothing nothing…I just meant that while in my third trimester with my third baby and wrangling a 3.5 year old and 18-month-old, I didn’t want to put a ton of pressure on myself to create the “perfect” most magical summer ever for my family.

(TBH, I kind of wanted to set the bar low for myself so that if we went higher than my expectations, I’d feel good about it. I mean, either way, I knew my kids were going to have a lot of fun.)

And we did end up checking off a few items from our minimalist start-of-summer bucket list which is exciting to look back on now.

We played in our own backyard—a ton. ✔️

We went raspberry picking. ✔️

We ate a LOT of ice cream. ✔️ (Lucky for my kids, it turns out summer pregnancies equals lots of mom-fueled ice cream runs.)

We got messy. ✔️

We grilled a lot of hamburgers. ✔️

We swam in friends’ pools. ✔️

We had lots of lazy pj mornings. ✔️

It wasn’t Pinterest-perfect, but it was fun, carefree, and full of happiness.

We really did have a great summer. But even though it was a success—I still feel the summertime sadness (as Lana Del Ray says) looming as August quickly comes to an end.

I live in New England and fear the snow will come sooner than I want. So, I’m inspired to squeeze every last bit of life out of our summer possible. ?

I want to plan a few more fun adventures before school starts, before the weather cools down and before baby number three arrives.

Because, in the blink of an eye, lazy pj mornings will turn into school prep time, the warm summer breeze will change to falling leaves and pumpkin spice everything, and we’ll grow our family by one more little girl.

Every season has its beauty, of course. So while I look forward to welcoming fall, I also want to make sure I’m ready to say goodbye to summer when the time comes. My mini end of summer bucket list will help me do just that.

Here’s what I’ll focus on these next few weeks—

Attend an outdoor concert (one for kids and one for the adults—mom and dad need a date night!)

Go mini golfing at this amazing looking dinosaur place near us that we’ve always wanted to try.

Shop for our vegetables at our local farm stand. (Maybe next time we’ll pick up a delicious looking pie, too. And what goes better with pie than ice cream….?)

Pick veggies from our garden (if our tomatoes ever turn red! ?).

Squeeze in one more beach day.

Visit the spray park.

Enjoy a few more later-than-normal bedtimes and lazy pj mornings.

Go kayaking one last time.

Grill as much as possible.

Go on coffee-store-walks with our cousins.

And yes—eat even more ice cream. For sure. 100%. ?

I may not have planned big elaborate outings every week for my girls. I may not have made that DIY water table for our backyard that I wanted to. And we may not have gone on a big family vacation.

BUT—we did enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

We spent time outdoors, my kids tried to get away with as little clothing as possible, and we were more relaxed with our regular routine. We tried to be spontaneous, we didn’t feel bad about “just” playing at home and we ate dinner outside. We played in the hot sweaty sun, we watched movies, and we spent time with our family.

I feel pretty good about what we’ve accomplished so far this summer .

And you should, too. ? What’s on your end-of-summer bucket list?