Sweet Summertime

   My heart belongs to Fall, but Summer ranks a close second. Summer always brings back memories of being a kid and having the time of your life for three whole months!
 

I love the sounds and the smells of the season. Fresh cut grass, flowers and tanning oil. Wouldn't that make a great Scentsy?! Although I'm not a fan of the scorching heat (A fair-skinned redhead and the blistering sun just don't get along!) I do enjoy the longer days, star-filled nights with fireflies and sno-cones!
  I spent a lot of time at the swimming pool. Some of you may remember an earlier post about my brush with death on high dive. If you have not read it, look back in the archives and you will get a good laugh! I can remember being so tired from being in the pool, I thought I would drown a time or two. There was always that one boy who thought it was cool to dunk the girls and hold their head under water. At the time, it made me mad and I wanted to punch their lights out. Looking back, it's just a boys way of flirting! Nothing says love like trying to drown the girl your heart yearns for!
   Riding bicycles was also on the list during those three months of freedom. My friends and I would ride all over town without a care in the world. We told our parents we were going riding and that was it. No cellphones to contact us, they just trusted we would be back before sunset and we always were. One summer my friend and I noticed a white van with black windows going through the park. Of course we had to concoct an elaborate conspiracy theory about who was in the van and what they were doing. I'm pretty sure we thought they were kidnapping kids and throwing them in the back of their van and taking them to Mexico!
   When we didn't make it to the swimming pool, there was always the sprinkler or slip-n-slide. Who didn't love the slip-n-slide? When you did happen to catch it on just the right part, you could zoom across the yard. However, land on a part without water and you would get a burn on your knee like no other! For the most bang for your slip-n-slide buck, a bottle of dish washing detergent would really make things interesting! It was always hard to get rid of the huge hole of mud and dead grass on your lawn, but hey, all in the name of fun!
  On the weekends, we would spend time camping at the lake. I'm not sure how my Dad kept his sanity all those years taking us to the lake. Tangled fishing lines, sleeping in a tent and kids fussing in the heat of the day were enough to drive someone berserk.  I guess you just don't notice those things when you are making memories.
   Parades, cookouts, homemade ice cream and the sound of locusts. Please tell me I was not the only kid who would see how many locust shells would cling to my shirt......
   Summer memories that won't soon be forgotten. What are yours?