in the past years, we’ve been asking ourselves about each and every holiday and celebration: “what would truly excite us about this day? what do we want do together? what would be fun to do now and as our family grows? how can we make this day a special celebration? what traditions do we want to have as a family?” and while, yeah, it was because we now had a child and I wanted our lives peppered with joyful traditions and intentional celebrations, there’s also another added bonus: simplification.
because, as one of my favorite books ever talked about, there is power and freedom in deciding once. because we waste energy when doing the whole dance of, “I don’t, know, what do you want to do this year fo {insert holiday or celebration here}?” if you can pinpoint right now what you authentically love for that holiday and what would genuinely get you excited for, say, valentine’s day, assign it to that day. do it every year. decide once. no need to reinvent the wheel every year if you can figure out now what you’d love - we have plentyyyy of other things in our life to have to think about.
(of course - like our routines - the minute something is no longer serving us in our current season, we let it go and we reevaluate. so it’s totally fine if and when traditions need to change!)
but for now, that deciding once makes things so easy. so even when I’m not feeling well or man, I’m tired, or hi, i have a toddler and a six-month old, those family traditions are automated, guaranteeing us a special celebration.
and i want my kids to grow up and know that their mom loved her daily life, but she also loved holidays, traditions, and birthdays.
and because life is short. and i want mine peppered with joyful rituals and intentional celebrations.
here’s what we do for july 4th.
we get Decide Once red white and blue outfits
see the quick instagram post on that here - but the gist is, I buy one go-to holiday outfit for every holiday. because I like being festive, but I don’t like reinventing the wheel every time. my favorite things to do is search the holiday’s name + “monogrammed” on Etsy, so for a lot of holidays I have super cute monogrammed shirts like this. and for Memorial Day/July Fourth, I have red white and blue monogrammed bows from Etsy for both KK and me. perfect!
we only wear certain colors - see the quick post here about that - and each of us have blue and white in our color schemes, so doing a July Fourth-esque outfit is super easy. investing in red white and blue monogrammed bows - and festive hats for the boys - will serve us well for years to come! (the Dollar Spot had some star-shaped kids sunglasses I grabbed last year, too.)
what also helps is my capsule wardrobe for the pool is navy and white, so automatically I’m pretty close to a July Fourth-esque outfit. (see my favorite things to wear to the pool here!) Brett also has these swim shorts in navy, Joey has a navy swimsuit, and KK has this rashguard set in navy. so take those aforementioned hats/bows/sunglasses and we’re festive - easy peasy!
and know I store our red white and blue things in our Summer Box so that they’re all in one place. you’re welcome, Future Haley!
we plan some local adventure and invite loved ones
the best! in my 10 Things I Did for a Great Summer blogpost, I mention that we learned our summers go better when we overplan and edit as needed, so I created a Weekly Summer Schedule, decided that Saturdays were for Adventures, and I assigned a local adventure to every Saturday between now and September. I ordered tickets, I made reservations, I bought gear, I invited loved ones. it took a lotttt of time and mental space, but allllllll summer I’m so grateful for Past Haley for doing this.
and I give the same treatment to July Fourth - no matter what day of the week it falls on. what local adventure would we like to try on that day? I order tickets, I make reservations, I buy gear, I invite loved ones.
ps I keep a running list of local places I’d love to try - places I’d love to go for family adventures, for toddler outings, for Date Nights. it is the handiest, most joyful list. and it came in super handy when planning a July Fourth adventure.
pps if you’re local, I share in my “fam adventures” highlight my favorite resources I use to find local kid-friendly adventures!
maybe one year we’ll go away for July Fourth - but in this season of a toddler and a baby, we’re loving these local adventures. and then sleeping in our own bed that night. :)
or we head to the pool
always an easy, beloved celebration.
we enjoy an epic hot dog spread
one of our favorite food traditions. for July Fourth (and for the New Year!) we do an epic hot dog spread. We get good hot dogs, we make homemade buns (or buy goooood buns), we make cheese sauce, and we invest in some fun toppings. I won’t inundate you with all the topping possibilities here, but I do encourage you to google topping ideas for a hot dog bar. The possibilities are beautifully endless. We love this tradition - an excuse to do hot dogs well. And the leftovers for lunch all week are awesome.
and we use our s’mores kit
see more about our s’mores kit here! fireworks are usually involved, too.
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