One of Nate’s favorite books is Summer, by Alice Low. It was mine when I was little, and I love it too. It follows a brother and sister (and their dog, or “pup,” depending on what he needs to rhyme with) through an idealized summer, circa 1963. I decided to use it as a blueprint for Nate’s summer this year, and I think I did pretty well.

In June, we celebrated Zoë’s birthday at Scrabblebrook Farm. Heather and Dan threw a big cookout with lots of delicious food. They had an inflatable bouncy castle, by which Nate was completely horrified, and a little red wagon, of which he couldn’t get enough. I think the highlight of the day was when Uncle Dan took Nate for a ride on the ATV.

We also went to Par Fore the Cure, a charity golf tournament organized by my friend Mike to benefit the Jimmy Fund. Sarah always loved this event. Neither of us had any interest in golf; it was all about the cookout. We would each get one lobster and Sarah would eat both of them, while I stuffed myself with Fuddrucker’s burgers. This year I had to find someone else to eat my lobster, so we invited Amadis, Lisa, and Keith. Nate’s favorite part was sitting in a golf cart and pretending to drive us to the aquarium.

Next was a double celebration, Susan’s birthday and Father’s Day, at Tish & Francis’s house. Uncle Dan brought his powerboat and took everyone for a cruise up the river to Battleship Cove. Nate went along, but he announced that he was all done about halfway there, so they had to come back and drop him off before heading out again.

We wrapped up the month with a visit to Battleship Cove that did not involve zooming around on a powerboat: we drove there. My dad, Tish, and Francis came too. It was raining, but Nate had a grand old time shooting down enemy aircraft and clambering up and down the companionways. We also visited the Fall River Carousel.

Coming soon: July!

What did you do this summer?