A while back I wrote an article about the 101 days of Summer. For me, Summer runs from the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend until Labor Day – this year that is 101 days. Today is the half way point, or the 50^th day. I decided to take a look back at the last 50 days to see how fully I am living my summer. Today I am taking photos at Art in the Park in Plymouth, Michigan. If you are in Southeast Michigan, you should stop by at this art fair and say hello. Here is a look back at the highlights of the last 49 days.

I went Fairy Hunting. My wife and I went with a friend and her two daughters to Ann Arbor, Michigan to hunt for the fairy doors there. We have done this a few times before with various families. It is always a magical, fun day.

I worked on cleaning my garage. If your house is like mine, the garage becomes the catch-all for the various items in your life. Mine is certainly no exception. The process of doing a deep cleaning of the garage involves going through a lot of boxes to determine what is junk, and what is treasure. We aren’t completely done, but we have come a long way.

My wife and I did some serious yard work. We spent a few days working through the yard. We removed a bush, closed a hole in the fence, put a razor edge on the lawn, planted flowers, and generally had fun making the yard look great. They were great days in the sun working with my wife.

My kids took me to Flat Rock Speedway to see School Bus Figure 8 racing. What a fun night. I think this may become something of a Father’s day weekend tradition for us.

We camped in Interlochen State Park near Traverse City Michigan. This was a trip that combined camping with a visit to a Graduation Party. While there we renewed friendships, enjoyed perfect weather, had a great campfire, and an overall very enjoyable weekend. My wife was getting over a cold, so some of her activities were limited, but we still mad the most of a great opportunity.

My son came to town for a week! While he was here we went on a multi-family vacation in Cadillac, Michigan. It’s an event we’ve been attending for nearly 20 years, and each year we have a great time. This year was no exception. Having all my children together for part of that trip was truly the highlight for me.

I went to the Tall Ships Festival in Bay City, Michigan and visited the Saginaw River Rear Range Lighthouse. It is only the 3^rd time that light has been open to the public, and I seized the opportunity to make the trip with a friend. We also got to see some amazing tall ships, and it put my mind back to the 19^th century when hundreds of these ships plied the Great Lakes helping build this region to greatness.

There have been other highlights like barbecues, Graduation Parties, dinners with friends, neighborhood walks, Spirit Week at work, Scrabble games, and more. I would give myself a B+ grade for the first half of the summer. While I have done a lot, there have also been far too many evenings when I was just too tired to make the day matter. Some of that is because work has been busy to be sure, but some has just been because I haven’t taken the opportunities at hand.

There are still 51 days to go, and I am renewing my commitment to make my summer matter. I have more camping trips, more lighthouse visits, barbecues, photography, and even some more garage cleaning to do. I will be checking back in later in the summer to tell you how it is going. In the meantime, my advice to you is to get out there, wherever you live, and make your days matter.