Welcome to summer!  Okay, so it's hot.  We all know that.  Make yourself some lemonade and USE the heat to your romantic advantage.   Get creative – what did you enjoy, way-back-when, when you had more unstructured time available to you?  So you need a jump start on this one?  Well, here are some suggestions:

• Go for a walk in the park as it starts to cool off in the afternoon/evening.  C'mon, clown around and go for a ride on the swings!
• Watch a gorgeous sunset together.
• Go out for ice cream (Okay, fro-yo for the health-conscious).
• Dine outside for a refreshing change of pace.
• If you're nature types, go camping next to a nice, calm lake.

But true, it isn't all the "lazy days".  Summer also has its stresses.  If you have children, this can be a time of high pressure with a lot of random logistic holes that need to be covered by busy parents.  This is the reality of the situation, and aside from easing the chaos by planning well, it's just the nature of the season.  Don't let that get you down!

Before you and your partner get back together at the end of the day, take a breather.  Neither of you deserve a blow-up because you're over-stressed.  Some ideas:

• Call for a fifteen-minute quiet session in your home.  Isolate fighting children from each other if necessary.
• Treat everyone to a cool, frozen treat to get the gang in a good mood, even if you predict the bribed-bliss will be temporary.
• If you haven't done some decent planning to deal with summer logistics, take some time out and prioritize taking care of this.  You'll thank yourselves.

Summer's too big a chunk of the year for you to allow it to float away!

And of course, being able to sleep without flannel pajamas and a big, heavy comforter is also a romantic advantage of summer…