Sweet Summertime

Isn't summertime the best when you are a little kid? I remember when I was growing up that summers seemed like they lasted forEVER. For us, summer started on the last day of school - Dad would pick us up from school in his convertible (which we thought was pretty much the coolest thing ever) and we would drive home with the top down (also the coolest thing). Then we would get out the wading pool (which always seemed HUGE to us, for some reason - maybe we were just all really petite) and play outside ALL day and get sunburned.

We literally LIVED out in our backyard during the summer - either in the wading pool (seriously, for HOURS at a time), or in our tent. We loved setting the tent up and sleeping out in the backyard, literally for days and DAYS at a time. We just couldn't take it down! We even made a little chart to show our sleeping position rotation (because of course it is always nice to get a chance to sleep on each side of the tent).

I also recall many, many hours playing with my sisters in the backyard, making up all sorts of games (we were - still are - very easily entertained). Annie and I once sent away for some awesome walkie-talkies from a Honeycomb cereal box. We made up an entire code using the letters of the alphabet in morse code (which, of course, was written on the walkie talkies for easy reference).

Also, I have to mention one of my favorite summertime activities - going for drives at night in Dad's convertible while listening to Oldies 94.1. Because of this, I not only have some great memories with my Dad, but I also know all of the lyrics to a lot of Beach Boys songs. Thanks, Dad :)

Some of my fondest memories of summertime when I was little was when our family would have what we called "Gibbons Days." We didn't even realize it then, but this was my parents' way of having a family "vacation" when we didn't have a ton of money - we just thought it was like the best thing ever, and didn't even care that we didn't travel anywhere. For Gibbons Days my Dad would get a week or so off of work, and we would basically have a mini-vacation right at home. Before "Gibbons Days" started, we all sat down and decided what we wanted to do, and assigned an activity to each day. For example, we had Water Day (we basically played outside in the wading pool ALL DAY), Zoo Day, Picnic Day, and Nintendo Day (yes, my sisters and I always loved Nintendo - on this day we'd go and rent about 5 [old school] Nintendo games and just play all day - it was such a blast). I wouldn't have traded our "Gibbons Days" for any fancy, exotic vacation.

Music always triggers my memory to remember good times and great memories. Here are some of my favorite songs that remind me of my childhood, especially summertime. Anything James Taylor reminds me of growing up - my Dad always listened to him. The third song was our "Gibbons Days" theme song, for some reason. The fourth one is on there because it reminds me of my Dad - I learned to love classical music because of him, and this is one of my favorites from when I was little. Enjoy!








I am so grateful for my parents for letting me have such a wonderful childhood. They just had a wonderful knack for making everyday things exciting. It is in large part because of all of these wonderful memories of MY childhood that I am so excited and happy to help MY kids have a happy, happy childhood, too.

This morning it was beautiful and sunny and HOT. My boys and I decided to set up our new little wading pool and go for a "swim!" James was SO excited, and once he got up the courage to get into the semi-cold water, he had a blast! His favorite thing was to get out of the pool and stand a little ways away, then we would say "ready, set, GO!" and he would RUN as FAST as he could and "jump" in the pool. What a cutie. Mama and Daddy even got in the TINY pool, too - but I won't share any of those pictures. It was a little ridiculous-looking ;) What a fun day.

ready to run and "jump" in the pool!