A Day in The Life at The Cabin: Summer Edition

Cabin life this summer has been a whirlwind. Here’s why:

• Summer took forever to come. It was icy in May and we had snow in June & July.
• Summer is BUSY. Now that the weather is finally beautiful, we’re spending time enjoying it outdoors.
• Summer has been full of family time. Troy is 1 year old now & we’ve been trying to do as much exploring as we can with him (mostly hiking!)

Cabin life in summer is fun, gorgeous, and hot! The days are stunning — the skies are clear, the mountains turn green, and wildflowers bloom.

Here’s a look at day of cabin life. I’ll go through one day hour-by-hour to give you an idea of cabin life in summer!

Every day looks different, but I’ll use yesterday as an example! And for a little background: I’m a stay at home mom and have a 1 year old son (Troy). We live in an 800 sqft cabin in the countryside of Jackson Hole, WY.

This is a walkthrough of a weekday – weekends look much different! Weekends are full of hiking, going into town, grilling with friends, or other adventures. Weekdays are *slightly less exciting* (even though staying home with a toddler has its own adventures haha).

MORNING

5:00 AM

GOOD MORNING! I wake up about an hour before everyone else in the house to have a quiet coffee and time to myself (so peaceful).

5:30 AM

I step outside to watch the sunrise, the mountains turn pretty shades of pink and blue in the morning light.

5:32 AM

I get distracted because I notice our bird feeder has been knocked down in the night! This has happened a few times this summer and always coincides with: our dog growling in the night and grizzly bear sightings in the neighborhood… I think it’s a bear that keeps knocking our bird feeder down, but my husband says it’s the wind. I hang the feeder back up and look for tracks (no tracks, but I’m still convinced!).

6:00 AM

Troy wakes up & I make breakfast.

6:15 AM

Morning is the coolest time of day during summer. I open all the windows and the screen door to let the cool breeze in. This is crucial. We don’t have A/C so by cooling the cabin down in the morning we keep it colder throughout the day.

7:00 AM

My husband leaves for work & I let our dog out. We live next to a wide open field that is part of a ranch. Today our dog (Kirby) spots a fox in the distance & decides to run to the outer edge of the ranch. I quickly get Kirby back & tell her never to do that again (even though she does this every other week…!)

8:00 AM

Playtime with Troy. Today playtime looks like: Troy playing with his toys in our living room for a few minutes and then deciding to explore the cabin. He loves going around to look out the windows, climbing on Kirby, and opening as many drawers as he can find. It’s adorable to watch his curiosity. And when he needs to burn off some energy…

9:00 AM

We go outside into the yard. I water the flowers, check the garden, refill the bird feeders (hopefully not to become another bear snack) and do other random maintenance for the day. Troy is my little helper, mostly he walks around trying to grab flowers or sits to examine (and try to eat) the grass.

10:00 AM – 12:30 PM

Troy goes down for a nap. I work on writing for this blog. I edit a few photos, send a couple emails, and generally use Troy’s nap as a power-hour for being productive 🙂

Afternoon

12: 45 PM

Troy wakes up & we both eat lunch. (I don’t think I realized how much Troy & my schedules are completely intertwined. Maybe this article should have been titled ‘Troy’s Day in The Life in The Cabin’ #ToddlerLife

1:00 – 2:00 PM

I go for a walk around the neighborhood. Troy sits happily in his stroller. This is a great way to get some fresh air and a little exercise. Sometimes we see moose or fox or elk on our walks, but today all we spot are the neighbor’s horses & a bunch of pretty wildflowers.

2:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Our afternoons always look different.

Sometimes Troy takes another nap, sometimes I get chores done around the cabin, and sometimes this block of time flies by without really knowing where it went.

This day Troy took another long nap. I had big plans to clean & tidy up the cabin but got distracted because:

*The part that I didn’t mention earlier about the bird feeder: at about 3:20 AM our pup growled at something outside. Convinced it was the bear I popped out of bed to look. Too dark. I couldn’t see anything. Then about an hour later our pup starts whining to go outside! I tell the husband NO, convinced our dog will be eaten by the bear which is surely still lurking outside… Eventually we have to let Kirby outside to go to the bathroom, and I about have a heart attack the whole time.

ANYWAYS.

All that to say that I was so sleepy this day and my plans of cleaning the cabin didn’t make it very far!

5:00 PM

Husband comes home. This is one of my favorite times of day! Husband, dog, baby and I all hang out on the porch or in the yard. Husband (Jonathon) came home with a baby pool last week so tonight we fill it up and let Troy splash around as a way to cool off.

Evening

6:00 PM

I cook dinner and we all eat. Troy is starting to eat more foods that I cook, which is exciting. Most of his dinner ends up on the floor, but I’m happy he tried a few bites.

Side note: It’s HOT! By now in the cabin it’s 80 or 85 degrees – the same as it is outside. We are in tank tops and shorts. I’m sipping on an ice water and Jonathon has a cold beer. This is the hottest time of day until the sun dips below the mountains at around 8:30 PM.

8:00 PM

Troy’s bed time. We put Troy to sleep and watch a show or two before bed. It stays light outside until around 9 – 9:30, which means that it stays bright in the cabin until then.

Before going to bed, I crack a window to let a cool breeze in (heavenly!). And it feels peaceful to breathe the fresh air while falling asleep. Sometimes we hear owls hooting or elk bugling at night. Or occasionally the cows on the nearby ranch wander by and they moo so loudly it sounds like they’re in the cabin. On those nights we shut the window to sleep 🙂

Does cabin life in summer sound how you would expect? Drop a comment below with your own experiences or stories!