Summer Bucket List: The One for 2021

What does summer sound like to you this year?

Besides the sound of Brood X, of course. (If you live in the Northeast then you know what I mean.) Cicadas aside, to me summer’s siren song is the sound of an ice cream truck coming through the neighborhood. The friendly jingle always reminds me of my childhood and hot, sticky summers in Florida; then again after I wed and my husband and I moved to Chicago, where to my delight, an ice cream truck – albeit a bit sketch – frequented our neighborhood. Though I did sometimes wonder whether it might be running another front, I didn’t hesitate to chase it down during those suffocating Midwest heat waves in the city. Now living in our suburban New Jersey neighborhood, I often think about the first couple years after we moved in and how the friendly Mr. Softee truck would roll on by every day at 4:30 and my firstborn, then around 3 years old, would run out to try to catch it. Though we haven’t seen it in recent years, at the start of every summer, I secretly anticipate this sweet siren song.

With the pandemic slowly getting under control, and the weather warming up, we’ve been indulging in getting out with the kids more often. In fact, I feel quite ready to welcome a Vaxxed Girl Summer! The mood feels lighter, parks are filling up with happy picnics, restaurants are pulling out all their outdoor seating, and even just a simple backyard dinner with a few friends feels like a chapter from a previous summer.

With a renewed spirit in mind, that’s why this year, I resumed my family’s seasonal summer bucket list here on the blog. It was nonexistent last year, due to so much of the world being in flux. And so today, as the unofficial start of summer, it feels appropriate to reinstate our annual summer bucket list if not for my own seasonal happiness – it will surely be something to look forward to in the coming months.

1 // Visit the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit when it opens in Philadelphia in August.

2 // Leisurely explore Grounds for Sculpture – I recently purchased a Family Membership and can’t wait to make good use of it!

3 // Spend a day in New York City. Whereas in the past, this would have been a normal weekend for us, ever since the pandemic locked us all down, we’ve only returned to the city one other time – and it’s time to get lit.

4 // Visit Peony’s Envy u-pick flower fields and garden. If you know me, you know peonies are my favorite flower. So naturally, I’ve been dying to see these peony fields in Basking Ridge, NJ in person and this will be the year I make it happen!

5 // Pick cherries at Terhune Orchards. Strawberry picking season is my favorite, but maybe that’s because I’ve always missed the short window for cherries. I do love eating this quintessential, tart summer fruit, so we’ll have to give it a go and see if cherry picking can trump all.

6 // Take baby Helena to Summer Courtyard Music Concerts at Princeton Shopping Center. I can tell that baby girl has rhythm and a love for music at an early age – what better way than to combine this with my favorite local summer concerts?

7 // Go to the Summer unWINED Concert Series at Shady Brook Farm in Yardley, PA. It’s family-friendly, with live music, farm fresh food, craft beer and wine, and lots of family fun! $10 online or $12 at the gate.

8 // Decorate my sunroom. Perhaps this one isn’t a true summer bucket list item, but we’ve lived in this home for 7 years this August and our lovely sunroom has been a dumping ground for the kids’ toys and random furniture that doesn’t fit anywhere else. She deserves to be pulled together, dressed up, and properly shown off.

What are you looking forward to this summer?