I'm not excited that school will be out this week because of this: 1. "Mom, I'm bored! There's nothing to do!" 2. "Mom, I'm still bored." 3. "Mom, this is so boring."
Do you remember driving your mother insane with proclamations of boredom when you were a kid? I'm sure I did, but I never remember being bored. Childhood summer memories are like looking at life through lemonade scented glasses. (Wait for it.) (You can never accuse me of using the same old boring cliches.) (You got it, right?) Anyway, when I think of summer as a child, I think of:
Playing in sprinklers and on slip-n-slides
Staying in a swim suit from sunup to sundown.
Riding bikes pretty much everywhere.
Making a sidewalk city out of chalk.
Taking classes at Art in the Park
Playing for hours in my refrigerator box house that was painted at Art in the Park.
What we thought we looked like:
What we really looked like:
As I think back on my youth, I realize how carefree and simplistic it was, yet it was perfect in every way. Because of my memories of unencumbered days (I like that word. It makes me want a cucumber.), I think I equate (I like that word too. It makes me think of visiting the equator.) summer with RELAXATION. Summers shouldn't be about shuttling kids back and forth to sports camps and lessons. Summer days shouldn't have to follow a rigid schedule; we should be able to take time to stop and smell the suncreen! (Wait for it. Oh, never mind. That one was explanatory. Hey, I like that word. It makes me think of planets. ... Wait for it.)
What were your childhood summers like? What are your favorite memories?
But, since kids these days are accustomed to (I like that ... never mind, I'll stop now. But it makes me think of a cuss word. ... You don't get it, do you? That's because it makes me think of the word cuss. My gosh, I think I've been sniffing too much school glue. Thank goodness it's summer.) higher levels of entertainment and endless opportunities, they do have a harder time entertaining themselves. (This means we have given them ADHD.) What are some fun activities you like to do to entertain yourself/your children/your neighbors?
Our very favorite thing is to spend long days on the shore of the lake. One thing I've always meant to do is visit a different lake every week and since we have dozens close by, it should be easy to do. Will you guys hold me to it this summer?
We also like to BBQ and Dutch oven cook. We like to roast marshmallows in the backyard.
We like to hike to waterfalls.
We like to eat fresh cherries.
We like to visit Sweet Peaks Ice Cream. (Avocado Ice Cream! Yes way!)
We like to have company come visit us! (Hint hint!) (But that hint is taken away if you found my blog by searching "naked family picture." You may not come visit. Sorry sicko.)
Prettiest picture I've ever seen of Lake McDonald. Taken from Wikipedia, sadly no photo credit.
What do you like to do in the summertime (when all the world is green?) Do you have any big adventures planned? If you are staying home, what will you do to entertain the troops during your staycation? What's one thing you can never get enough of during the summer? For me it's sun. I love that big bright yellow thing, especially since it hides from us 270 days of the year. You might have to call me freckles by the end of the summer. :)
Oh and who knows what mistake I made? I didn't give out a prize for May! How could I? So, rather than giving a prize this week and again 2 weeks from now (remember how I am only posting every other week now?) I'll just make the June prize 2wice as awesome! Deal? (You have no choice but to accept. I'm a harsh dictator.) Deal!
46 comments:
I love summers! As a kid, our summers were spent swimming at the Hamilton pool every day. Literally. Our very blonde hair would turn green from the chlorine and we had to wash it with a special shampoo to get it out. Once I was old enough to work, I worked at Pigman with my Dad and Uncle, which was a blast. I loved being on the construction sites and then doing landscaping once I got into college.
Now, my summers are fairly lazy. My first summer married I spent the summer job searching and waiting for school to start. The next summer was mostly hanging out at home. Last summer I taught summer school and worked on the house and this summer.... well, I think I'm going to be pretty busy snuggling a gorgeous little girl. We love to go camping during the summer and fishing, but I don't think we're really going camping this summer. We will take plenty of mountain picnics though! We've still got to get our fix!
I love summer too! I can attest to being in a swimsuit day and night because my birthday is on July 3rd and every single picture of me on my birthday 'til I was 13 or 14 was me in my swim suit. I love all the fun things we do! My mom schedules us FULL of stuff to do and if you say you're bored, she'll find something unpleasant to do( like weeding!) My almost 16 year old brother tends to say "I'm bored" most often but he just doesn't know what to do with himself most of the time. We go camping. on family trips, have family reunions, water fights, and hikes. Some of these are not so pleasant for me because they're physical things but I like them all for the most part.
I remember for my sweet sixteen we were camping and my dad mad a carrot cake in the dutch oven because that one of my favorites and it was GOOOOOD! We go camping a lot but I feel like we didn't do anything super fun the last two summers because my mom didn't want to do anything without Noble while he was on his mission. Now he's back and we're in school most of the summer! BLEH!
Summertime, ah! There are so many things to love...so it's funny how much I'm dreading it ;). For the same reasons you listed in the beginning, plus the extra meals to fix, the extra messes to work around, and the extra fighting and chaos. Blah. But on to the silver lining...
I love the sights and sounds of kids playing so joyfully out in the sunshine in our own neighborhood. We have the best neighborhood I could ask for, with the elementary school's playgrounds as our back yard, and lots of neighbors with young kids but no through-traffic in our front yard. I love where we live. It's perfect for our kids when the sun is shining.
I do remember whining about being bored when I was a kid, but even more I remember all of the fun adventures outside. We used to pull out our sleeping bags and sleep on our driveway (comfy!), looking at the stars until we fell asleep. And we did lots of swimming lessons and slip-n-slides and sprinklers, too. I wish I could feel as comfortable parading around in a bathing suit as I did when I was a kid, ha ha!
The one thing I can never get enough of in the summer is the gorgeous clouds in the sky. I love those fluffy white floating bodies of softness! They make me feel so relaxed seeing them around, along with the blue skies. Beautiful.
Good luck with your transition to the full-time full house!
Nicole: this will be a summer you will remember forever! I'm jealous of all the snuggling you will get to do--baby loves are the best! My hair turned green in high school when I was babysitting kids who had a pool. I think I liked to swim more than they did.
Devree: I like your mom's style. Pulling weeds is more boring than watching sunscreen dry! We used to have to clip the grass around the fence and house BY HAND. That's back in the day before weedwackers. Yes, I'm that old! I'm sorry that you will still be in school most of the summer, but at least you don't have to worry about one of your wigs turning green. :)
Jenna: I've already been stressing about lunches. My kids aren't keen to have a protein shake and munch on almonds like I do! I agree, I haven't been excited about wearing a swim suit since I was 20. In fact, recent shopping trips have made me wonder why guys get to be the ones with long shorts when they never have ugly legs! So unfair!
Lori, just get yourself a long pair of "board shorts," and all of the other ladies will be jealous of your good idea. We can be the trend setters. Oh wait, my other girlfriend here already thought of this (and wears cute long shorts with her suit), that's why I knew about that genius plan. Modest swimwear-wearers unite!
Jenna: I love the bored shorts idea, but sadly I think I need the coverage of yoga pants. Or maybe just a muumuu. And I wish you would have left your duplicate comment: it made our comment thread seem less lonely. In fact, next time, let's all leave on word comments, but still leave complete comments. We could have 50 or even 100 comments under one post! People would think I was a REAL blogger then! Do you need an example?
It
would
look
this ...
etc,
etc,
etc.
Awesome, right? ;)
Ha, I just looked at the number of comments and said, "wow, Lori's really racking it up this week"! I love summer too, (but I also love winter and spring and fall, basically I like change, but only gradual change). Summers growing up where all about bikes and rope swings in/over the canal and camping. My kids are pretty good at self entertaining especially if they can be outside and since we are usually off hiking or floating somewhere they are happy to just be at home when we are. If the word bored is even uttered, they hear things like go get 10 pieces of wood. It helps with fighting too! You could fulfill your new lake every week just by coming to Many Lakes, you'd never have to leave. But that would be boring and there are much prettier lakes to see just up the hill from your lovely home. Happy Summer!
bigskyboys: You were impressed for about a half a second, and then you realized, no, Lori's just up to her normal abnormalities. I had never considered your lakes as part of my summer lake tour, as I didn't think I was invited; but know that I know ... you will see me frequently. :) I'll bring the worms.
I
am
taking
advice.
(This will take a while...)
I like
to
give
the
neighborhood
kids
rides
shoulders.
I like to
read
LOTS LOTS LOTS LOTS
at
parks
and
spend
time
with
relatives.
I also like to
spend
time
friends.
There is a lot more to my summer than listed, but I think the computer might overheat or explode before I finish. (If not, I will overheat or explode! :)) Some summer things I didn't say include: I have a new job doing house work, I am planning to take part in some summer reading programs, and a park program. I love to swim,and I agree, sleeping in is #1!!! :)
Didi: you rock girlfriend! You get an A+++ on your assignment! I hope both your brain and your computer were able to quickly recover. Your summer sounds like it will be fun and busy! Wish you lived here and I'd hire you to do my housework, but then you'd get disgusted and/or mortified by my housekeeping skills and you would run away screaming and never come back!
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