This post is part of my Simple Summer Projects series
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In January 2010, after having baby number four, I came to the realization that I was going have to switch gears with the way I had scrapbooked in the past. Like it or not, I just couldn't find the time like I used to. I still wanted to record our family memories, but had a lot less time to do it & what resulted was a memory keeping approach that focused a little more on journaling & lot less on actual scrapbook pages. You can read more of my thoughts on the whole switch-a-roo here. 

This different approach to scrapbooking {I still like to call it that} involved four leather journals that I purchased for my kids. I figured, the photos would still be there after they were a little bit older and I had more time to make pages, but the memories...those I might forget. So I began to focus on writing things down whenever I could find 2-3 spare minutes throughout the day & throwing a few pieces of memorabilia in the journals here and there. I've loved this so much! Seriously! It's been such a relief to let go of the expectations I had on myself and jot down our memories whenever I get a chance. I feel like I'm still doing something to record our family history and I know that these journals are going to be such a treasure years down the road.

This summer I've decided to get the kids involved with recording in their journals & they're so excited about it! This is a unique summer for us...next year we'll be back to regular life in the US or Canada, so I really wanted them to record their memories from their summer spent here on the island. Summer is such a magical time for kids and recording the memories they're making, from their perspective and in their own words, is such a rewarding experience.

We're going to keep this little summer journaling project as simple as we can. We've started out with a sentence or two a day, but if that becomes too much we'll just make journal writing a weekly activity. You could even choose to wait and have your kids write in their journal at the end of summer to reminisce on all the fun they had before the beginning of the next school year. However you decide to encourage your child to journal this summer, here are a few
 summer journaling prompts to get you started:

 

Click here to download your free JOURNAL MY SUMMER list.

sources: crystal wilkerson artisan labels | odestemplik font | orator std font

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This list of journaling prompts coordinates with my summer photo checklist. Together they are a great tool to get you started with photographing and recording your precious summer memories!  

Enjoy everyone!

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