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Unless you live under a rock, you’ve seen more than a few ice bucket challenge videos. However, just in case you somehow missed it, at the beginning of the summer the ALS association started the challenge on various social media websites to garner donations for the fight against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease — a degenerative disease that affects motor neuron cells in the brain and spinal cord. The challenge asked participants to either donate to the ALS association to fund research into treatments and cures for the disease — or else dump a bucket of ice water over themselves for all the world to see. While more people chose to drench themselves with ice water than to donate to the organization, the program was still a definite win for ALS. The association certainly received more donations than they otherwise would have, but what is significantly more important is that the challenge informed virtually everyone on social media about the disease and programs to stop its progress. This was one of the most successful marketing campaigns for a non-profit in recent memory.

For many parents, that day when their child goes to school for the first time, whether it’s pre-school, kindergarten or first grade, is a mixture of emotions. You’re so proud and happy of your baby, but you realize your “baby” isn’t your baby anymore — she’s a child who’s about to take her first big step into a wider world. It’s a tradition to take a “first day of school” picture, especially when it’s his first day ever, but you should do more than the typical to celebrate the new student in your family. Decorate your vehicle during and after the big day to celebrate.

After all the stores clear their 4th of July decorations out of the way, they bring in the school supplies. Whether you’re a teen going to high school taking charge and buying her own school supplies for the first time or a young adult headed to college who’s been there, done that, you know the routine: backpack, pencils, notebooks, rulers. Probably even a tablet, too. But you can make the back-to-school experience a lot more fun by shopping a bit “off list.”

Sometimes it feels like you blink and summer’s over. Soon there will be no more sleeping in, no more goofing off and no more pleasantly warm weather. Make every day count. In the last few weeks or days of summer, make a few pleasant memories to make sure your summer goes out with a bang. Call or text your friends and get to work having fun before most of your energy goes toward school and homework again.