Quincy Market
Of all the historical things in Boston ... they chose this giant macaroniSchedules are about to get nutty. September means school orientation for the kids, school orientation for the parents, no more summer Fridays, wardrobe changes, bus schedules, and just piles of stuff that I am going to have to deal with! Which leaves me to savor our recent family trip (and for that matter, the whole damn summer) as long as I can. Next weekend can't really be Labor Day Weekend, can it?

Vacations are all about making memories. In just four days in Boston we played in the Boston Common playground, watched 80 different penguins have lunch, explored the Museum of Science, and ate peanuts at Fenway ... and that's not counting the first leg of the trip in Canada. If I could have added another night to our stay at the Omni Parker House hotel, I would have (damn you mortgage) because it felt like home. The historic hotel (and location of the very first Boston Cream Pie) was upscale enough for my husband and me to feel like adults but kid-friendly enough to give little backpacks filled with toys upon arrival. 

But trip aside, we make memories every day and often it is the little things that make us smile the most. So as the days get shorter and the weather starts to cool, here is my list of memories from the summer, 2010. And when you are finished reading mine ... make a list of your own and put it somewhere safe so you can look back and smile when there is snow on the ground!

Things that left an impression ...

Going on the Superdooperlooper with my daughter at Hershey Park.

My kids playing Mini Golf for the first time (and oh, I beat my husband's score).

My kids both losing their shit while watching Open Season because the stupid bear didn't want to go back to live with the Park Ranger.

My daughter's camp performance (even if it was to Justin Bieber's song "Baby").

My son swimming in the water -- fully submerged -- for the first time.

My nephew and my kids sitting and laughing while on a glass floor 113 stories above ground, in the CN Tower in Toronto.

My daughter jumping off a diving board for the first time.

Finding out one of my oldest friends got engaged (and knowing it means a trip to L.A. next summer).

Both my kids and my husband passed out on the bed, with a baseball game on in the background. Clearly, true exhaustion had won.

Bowling on a rainy day and getting a Turkey! So what if it was recorded as one roll for each one of the kids I was with ... it was still three strikes in a row.

Going to Yankee Stadium so my kids could eat cotton candy, chocolate chip cookies, and hot dogs. Right, and watch a ballgame.

Finding out that my sister-in-law and my cousin (who is like my little sister) will both have babies in March.

My husband and kids, in the car, singing "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz.

My brother dressing up like a full-fledged pirate for my son's birthday.

Sneaking away on a day-date with my husband to a Broadway show.

Beating my dad in a water-gun fight because my kids helped me gang up on him.

Our basement flood ... and the construction that followed (no one said they all needed to be good memories!).

So much happens in one person's life over the course of two months ... what are some of the things you will remember from this summer?