The First Taste of Summer

The First Taste of Summer: Burger Bowls, Backyard Gatherings, and Family Traditions

I love the in-between space of early June. Summer hasn’t fully unfolded yet, but you can feel it in the air. It’s like standing in a doorway. It’s not really about the date on the calendar (though that last day of school certainly has something big to do with it). It’s more about the shift in rhythm. The settling in. Returning to yourself. Feeling a little more childlike. Opening your heart to a fresh season.

The schedule loosens. Old rituals return.

I want a summer I remember being present for.

For the past nine years, we were a year-round school family with a shortened summer break … just four or five weeks off in July. For a long time, it worked well for us. But, truthfully, it never felt like the summers of my childhood. Because summer was never just a season. It was a feeling. An attitude. A way of living.

This past year we moved to a traditional school calendar, and we’re stepping into our first full summer since the preschool years. My kids aren’t quite so little anymore, but I’m determined to embrace the summer-ness of it all anyway.

One of the ways we’re doing that is with what I’m calling our “Summer of Life” lists. At 15 and 12, it felt like the perfect time to lean into a few life lessons and teaching moments … while also making plenty of room for rest and fun. These lists are simply a collection of things we want to do, notice, read, watch, make, learn, enjoy, and remember throughout the season. A mix of simple experiences, mini adventures, and things we’re curious about. It’s less about checking boxes and more about creating a summer filled with small, meaningful moments.

Now, I know good intentions tend to get lost in the shuffle as the weeks go by. I might be full of false hope at this point. Am I right? 😉 There will be boredom. There will be complaints. There will be afternoons when everyone ends up staring at a screen. That’s just reality. But. Still. I love beginning the season this way … with a little hope and a lot of good intentions.

There are always things that mark the start of summer around here … 

Spring activities come to an end. Dinner moves outside. Evenings slow down. We linger on the front porch at sunset. After-dinner walks become routine. Ice cream runs become a perfectly reasonable Tuesday activity. We spend more time in the yard, listen to thunderstorms roll in, drive around in our golf cart and sometimes we even talk about what we want this season to feel like before it slips away …

Once the dinner table moves outside, everything feels less complicated. We stay seated a little longer. Conversations wander. Nobody seems quite as eager to clear the dishes and rush off to the next thing. The food hardly matters.

This week, that looked like burger bowls on the patio. An easy, relaxed dinner. Flowers from the yard (or Trader Joes), a pretty tablescape and my favorite people.

The truth is, I won’t remember the burger bowls (well, maybeee I will, they are pretty tastey). I won’t remember most of the dinners. But, I will remember the way an evening can unfold in simplicity. I will remember the lightning bugs returning to the yard … a sure sign that summer has arrived. I will remember our happy puppies … always hoping someone will throw the ball one more time. And, I might remember the way a thoughtful tablescape can add to the feeling of home and welcome. Most important of all, I will definitely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, remember the love we share.

I want a summer I remember being present for. Maybe that’s what I’m really hoping for this summer … not a perfect one, but a present one.

To recreate the burger bowls … here’s the recipe. It’s really more of a guide than a hard recipe. Follow it loosely and make it your own. Happy Summer-ing!