Every year as school goes back, I feel sadness creeping in. Did we do enough? Did we make enough memories? Will my kids look back at the images I took of them and still smell the salty air at the beach? Will they remember late nights roasting marshmallows around a fire? Will they remember how the cool summer breeze felt as the sun dipped below the horizon? Will they remember the first time they conquered the diving board. Will this be a summer to remember?

The whole “18 summers” thing seems to be drilled into us. We are faced with such an enormous pressure to make every summer memorable and momentous. I’ve thought about this a lot lately and the unnecessary expectations we place on ourselves as parents. Should summers be laid back and fun and a time to make memories? Of course. But there are 9 others months each year that we can make memories with our kids too. Think back to your own favorite childhood memories. Were they all from the summer? Can you even remember what season they happened? And does it really matter? We really don’t have just “18 summers” with our kids. We have 18 years. And although we know those 18 years will pass by way quicker than we wish, it is still plenty of time to enjoy making memories.

So while I am still a little sad for summer to be over, it’s now time to move onto fall and start creating fall memories. There is still so much to look forward to. Enjoy those 18 years parents.

And because this wouldn’t be a post without pictures, here are some of the memories we made this summer.