How Do You Celebrate the End of Summer?

We do a lot of fun stuff all through summer. This year the kids got to visit Nashville for a week, spend some time in VA Beach and Pennsylvania. We also did lots of pool time, movies, library, etc. I LOATHE school and hate when summer is over, but the kids are normally excited. We always start on a Wednesday here, so Monday is usually hair appointments and last minute errands, and Tuesday is open house.

So really I guess we just celebrate summer all summer long.

Banana Splits for dinner with the whole family & all the neighborhood kids/friends they've been playing with all summer. Usually one last sleepover on the same night.

*Dont fret, I always have meat, cheese, veggie & bread plates out for nibbling...I don't force only sugar that day...it's more the silliness of it that makes it special.

They leave the house, walk down to the bus stop, and I sit with my coffee and bask in the silence.

when you put it that way, it's kind of funny that we DIDN'T have any traditions. we all love summer so much. okay, me more than most. :)
the one sure-fire way to get us all past the summer's-over blues and amp up some autumn excitement was a little back-to-school shopping. we loved it so much that we did it even when we were stupidly broke, and kept it up when we homeschooled. it's amazing what a couple of new (even from goodwill) outfits and those wonderful clean empty notebooks and a new pair of sneakers will do!
:) khairete
S.

We held a "Farewell to Freedom" party.

The rules for attending were: hair had to be crazy (messy, half in a pony tail half not, sticking up wild, temporary spray on wild color if the parent permitted that), clothes should clash as badly as possible, clothes couldn't be neat (buttoned improperly, one pants leg rolled up and one not), mismatched socks and shoes, etc. Smudged faces were encouraged. We informed parents that this would be a good opportunity for the kids to wear a cheap t shirt from the thrift store and clothes that would get messy.

Food was anything NOT natural, not healthy, not school-lunch or healthy after-school-snack approved and definitely not the kind of food that was normally in our pantry or fridge. We made blue Jello jigglers, mixed popcorn with a little blue food coloring, bought lots of penny candy things like wax lips and neon colored candy sticks and gummy worms, and had spray cheese from the can. (We informed parents that only desserts and treats would be served, so they didn't expect burgers and hot dogs or picnic type food). We tried to use up mismatched left-over paper plates, from assorted birthday parties and cookouts.

Games were not really planned. We just provided silly string, water balloons, cheap squirt guns from the dollar store, and let the kids run around.

Our only rule was "clean hands for eating" and we provided lots of wipes and hand sanitizers.

My kids are grown now, and so are their neighbors who came to these parties, but they all still fondly remember the Farewell to Freedom parties.

Somehow the end of summer isn't exactly a celebration.
If it were up to me, I'd like to roll it all back and have all the summer fun all over again!
School is a return to a pretty ridged schedule.
Also, the 1st weekend after school starts is always a major black belt test for our son - so he's preparing and worrying about that - rather than the start of school.

Hmm, well since summer itself was always such a celebration (vacations, beach/pool time, camps, amusement parks, extra time with friends and family, staying up late, etc.) I guess I never really thought about it.
Kind of like having a party after a party...???

A visit to the Great Minnesota Get Together (the state fair). Schools in the state don't start until after the fair. It's state law.

I did one fun thing a day.
It doesn't have to cost anything:
-going to different parks in the area you don't normally go to
-free activities in your area
-outdoor malls
-check out movies from the library, make popcorn
-playdate w/a friend
-hike/walk (keep it light, can even take a jog stroller. take your phone & not
anywhere remote)
-plan your Halloween costumes together
-balloon toss in the backyard
-make a fair at home complete w/games & little prizes
-reading time at the library
-check out parks or outdoor malls that have those water spouts coming out of the ground

Things that cost:
-the zoo
-$1 movies in your area
-out to a cheap lunch at a fun place
-cupcake shop for a sweet treat
-or a snowcone
-swimming
-shopping for a toy from the dollar store

We mourn the end of summer. We do a few family trips in late August.

I can't say we celebrated the end of summer in as much as the first day of school for which I prepared a favorite meal and dessert.. my son now says that for each new school year, he wants that specific meal.. that tells me we created a nice memory for him :)
also, we do tend to go away for a couple days prior to school beginning.. it's usually just a short coastal trip.. but something about the dog days of summer ending somehow make us even more appreciative of this short stint than some of our longer vacations..

We don't have a specific tradition, but but I might take her for one more froyo or something the weekend before school starts.

I organize a back to school lunch on the first day for all my girlfriends and we show up and do a little happy dance with a few bottles of wine. It's bliss :)

I never celebrated the end of summer. It just means that winter is coming and I hate that.

We always have a beach day on the last, or second to last, day of summer. This year, we did a beach day on the second to last, and a family movie night on the last evening.

For the first day of school, we usually go to yogurtland or some other special treat.

We go away on one last week long camping/canoe trip for the season.

If my schedule permits, I take the last day of summer vacation off from work and do an outing with my kids. Sometimes we go to the beach, sometimes we go to a museum, the zoo, the aquarium or something similar, have a picnic lunch or go out to lunch, etc. I try to get all 3 sons to go (even the teenager) so we usually end up having some of his friends tag along too. My oldest is going into senior year of HS so I'm hoping that he can get the day off from work and join us one last time this year!

I celebrate end of summer! It is an awesome time to regroup with the kids; my own plus my nieces and nephews. Not to sound too corny, but I like to start and end the summer as the cool mom / aunt. I figure that is a good way to keep their attention all year. We end with a trip to the local water park and a grill out with cupcakes, always a hit. Good luck!

changed each year, depending on age group....

once the supplies & clothes were bought, we made sure to connect with friends...swimming, park, sleepover, etc

the night before school, we did a favorite dinner & usually a new movie.

& it was ALWAYS a celebration of good things to come....never considered an end to freedom. :)

no traditions, but the end of my first trimester, cooler weather, less driving (we live next door to the school but 30 minutes away from summer childcare) fall coming, and my favorite holiday, Halloween, are all reasons I am one happy mama. back-to-school isn't nearly as fun for the kids as for us - I don't think my son was really interested in celebrating it lol. I'm a fall girl. I OUGHT to come up with some fun traditions to celebrate it!

*Although, come to think of it, my Aunt did have a pool party, and then another Aunt took my son for that whole Sunday to play video games at her house. So that was kind of a last-weekend-of-the-summer celebration. So there ya go :)

I don't have a tradition as such but I know we are into autumn when the coffee shops start carrying pumpkin spice lattes.

I used to celebrate the end of summer by taking off the kids first day back to school and just relaxing and enjoying the house minus the kids. Oh the good times.

My daughters birthday is 4 days before mine at the end of August so that is our celebration. Summer never really ends here in Florida, it stays hot until November.

We don't do "back to school" since we home-school and do lessons all year.