A Summer Filled With Wonder?

As May whizzes by me, heading directly toward June and the end of the school year, I have begun to contemplate what our summer might look like this year.

That's a bit difficult to do, mind you, because I still haven't gotten my test results back from the additional oncotype testing on the tumor that was removed, and thus still have no idea whether I'll be facing chemo or radiation next...makes it incredibly difficult to plan a summer's worth of activities for my 10 year old when I can't even make treatment plans for myself.

But because I am a planner, I'm trying to at least come up with some back-up options nonetheless.  Just in case.  And mostly because I fear we'll be stuck inside a lot due to me being exhausted from whatever treatment is thrown my way, and I want to have some fun things on hand to mitigate the eternal boredom of my wee girlie should the issue arise.

Or, at the very least, figure out some outdoorsy things we can do that won't require an enormous expenditure of energy for me.  Picnics spring to mind or outdoor tea parties or something like that, perhaps.

On my Pinterest page, I've been collecting ideas on my "Fun With My Daughter" board, and also on my "Fun and Crafty" board.  I'll be collecting ideas in earnest this week and hope to have some great possibilities to share with everyone over the weekend.

One thing we will almost certainly do at some point, and something we have done before, is a little Alice in Wonderland themed tea party.  It's our own little "girls night" ritual on evenings when dad is out of town, and The Peanut still loves to just hang out with tea sandwiches and conversation when we get time (free time hasn't been frequent of late, let me tell you, which is a really good reason to try ad make this happen a little more regularly this summer).  Our oldest niece is coming out to stay with us for a few weeks this summer, so perhaps we'll wait until she gets here and have a "tea for three" party instead.


We always pick a book or two as our summer read-aloud, and I try to make them books that are filled with wonder and fantasy elements, but are also just a little above the reading level of The Peanut so she is reaching as we read together.  That's getting harder and harder to do as her reading ability goes upward, so this summer we may dip into some science fiction classics and see where that takes her.  (I wonder if Dune is too far out for a precocious rising 5th grader?)  It is well past time to add in some really good science fiction to her reading mix, and I'll be mulling over some good selections -- if folks have suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

In fact, if you have other ideas for fun summer activities, please share in the comments.

It has been a rough year for all of us with my breast cancer diagnosis.  What I'd like for The Peanut is a summer filled with wonder, or at least enough moments that are wonderful that the whole of the summer stretches out as a fun and wondrous tapestry (even if momma has some ridiculously difficult medical hoops to jump through here and there).  How you can plan for any of this is beyond me, but I am trying very hard to keep her life as even keeled as possible where I can.

Any ideas at all would be most welcome.

(Photo via hipea.......)