What's Up Wednesday: August 2026

August is always a bit of whiplash around here as I start the month on summer break and end it by getting back to work. The kids are still on break though so it's a few weeks of juggling schedules. This year our schools start a bit later, due to Labour Day being really late, so I'm just heading off for my third day of work today. Sam is up at camp and Rachel is volunteering for dance camp this week. Did I mention it's a bit "what's going on now?" around here?!?! Anyways, on with 'what's up Wednesday.'

Answering these questions monthly helps me reflect on the past month and I really appreciate having a record of what we've been up to. The questions come from Shay at Mix and Match Mama and Sheaffer at Sheaffer Told Me Too.

image from here; since I'm posting late, I can use the new graphic :)

 

What we're eating this week... Rachel and I spent a bunch of time this weekend baking muffins. I always like to do a blitz towards the end of August so we have easy breakfasts and snacks to get us through the first weeks of school. This year we made pumpkin cream cheese, lime, zucchini chocolate chip, and chocolate chip muffins.

It's also bean and tomato season with our CSA so I've made my bean salad recipe. I made it up and you just boil the beans, cool them off, and then add tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese, and avocado, if you have one on hand. This year I've also been adding fresh basil. I use balsamic vinagerette dressing and it's so good!

 

What I'm reminiscing about... In two weeks Sam starts Grade 12. I can't even believe it. It doesn't feel like all that long ago he was starting Junior Kindergarten. So I've been reminiscing about Sam's school career. It's gone by really fast.

 

 

What I'm loving... I've been looking for ways to not rush through August and soak up all the August fun. A few weeks ago, we were with Tim and Janice and they recommended we go play a quick round of disc golf. Dave and I had forgotten how much we enjoy disc golf, and how many courses there are around us, so we played again with Rachel this past Friday. She had so much fun, we're going to try and play again this weekend. We're not good at it but we laugh a lot!

 

 

What we've been up to... August was full of all the fun things!!! Sam and I started out the month in Saskatchewan.

Since coming home, we've seen two movies outdoors -- one on the side of a barn and one at a drive in.

We've enjoyed things in our city like the Night Market at the library and a surprise concert at sunset.

 

We've enjoyed playing games with Tim and Janice...

...and quiet moments in our back yard.

We enjoyed a flower farm and apple picking adventure with a friend...

,,,and a brunch with goats with Dave's parents.

Did I mention August has been full of fun?!?!?

What I'm dreading... Well I started back at work on Monday so I'm no longer dreading the end of summer break; I'm slowly easing back into work. So I don't know if I'm dreading anything right now. It's a nice place to be :)

What I'm working on... My August project was to deep clean our laundry room after the renovation. And I did it!!! Dave helped a lot too. It was slow going but our laundry room has never looked better!

This was after I'd been working for an hour. Absolutely everything had to be wiped down and every piece of floor had to be swept about three times.

  

Look how clean and fresh it looks now! We just need to figure out how to hide the pink walls as we can't paint them... That will be a future project!

What I'm excited about... I'm excited about having the kids put together IKEA furniture! We had to buy a few more things from IKEA in July and I got the kids to assemble it! Sam did a shelf for our music books and Rachel did a table for our reading nook.

I'm also excited to spend some cozy winter hours reading in this nook we've created in a corner of our bedroom. I really need to stack some books on that table now!!!

 

What I'm watching/reading... I've been watching some Blue Jays baseball (are they going to snag the last Wild Card spot?!?!?!?) and we watched Spider Man: Brand New Day at the drive in last week. Other than that, I haven't been watching much of anything.

 

As for reading, last week I read Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley (who I just figured out wrote The Guncle!!!) I loved Lily and the Octopus but I don't know who to recommend it to as it's going to be too heartbreaking for anyone who really loves dogs...

 

What I'm listening to... I didn't know what sounds defined August (maybe "quiet") but, as of yesterday, I know I'm going to be listening to a lot of Dolly Parton. I didn't realize how many of her songs reminded me of my childhood.

What I'm wearing... This week, I'm easing into wearing work clothes by wearing capris with fun t-shirts. Next week I'll be meeting with families so I'll have to step up my game a bit but this week it's more casual. Thankfully the weather has gotten cooler so I'm not missing my shorts too much.

 

What I'm doing this weekend... We're picking Sam up from his last stint at camp and then spending some time with friends. We'll probably try and play some disc golf and watch some baseball! Then we're sending Rachel off on one last summer adventure. It's going to be a full weekend.

 

What I'm looking forward to next month... We always hit the ground running in September and every weekend is booked! I'm looking forward to LUMEN, a festival of light and technology in our uptown. I'm looking forward to Gathering Sunday at church and the High Holidays at the synagogue. I'm looking forward to seeing what our fall routine looks like. September brings a lot to look forward too!

 

So that's what's up with us this last Wednesday in August -- a lot of summer fun and some hints of fall. I hope you have a good Wednesday and listen to a classic Dolly song today. For me, it's going to be "9 to 5" in honour of heading back to work this week :)