Old-Fashioned Summer

With 40 weeks coming and going, and as I wait patiently for our little girl to grace us with her presence, I have been enjoying time relaxing and hanging out with my parents and treasuring the moments John and I have with just the two of us until she becomes part of the family. While John works during the day, my parents and I have enjoyed lounging around and doing some good reminiscing like we usually do :)

This morning as I checked my email, I received an article from Real Simple, my favorite magazine, about how to have good old-fashioned fun in the summer. This sparked another conversation of reminiscing with my mom. Memories of summers in Michigan flooded my mind as I was brought back to those long, wonderful days. Summers in Florida are not quite the same. We really utilized our summers in Michigan, mainly because they were not as hot as here in Florida (although some days did reach into the 90s) but also because they were short. Part of June, July, and August were the three months during which it was hot enough to really go out and enjoy the heat. As we thought back on these summers, my mom and I began to go through my scrapbook that she so lovingly put together for my high school graduation. The book contains many pictures of those summers. I have scanned some below, although the quality might not be so good, they still hold so many wonderful memories behind them.

Lemonade Stands

Running through the sprinkler

Playing on the swing set
(with my cousins Jamie and Shannan)

In those days, we played outside all day. My brother Charlie, and our neighbors Jeff and Jill would spend many days together. I had other friends that lived close by--Lori, Chelsea, Liz-- and many days we'd meet on our bikes and then have wonderful adventures. We'd go out and do all sorts of great things, come inside for dinner and as soon as we were dismissed, head back out until night came and we could no longer see the ball we were playing with or whatever game we made up. Well, most times...daylight hours in Michigan reach well into the evening: at the height of summer, we had light until between 10 and 11pm!

We were also very fortunate to live close to Lake Michigan. If you have never seen one of the great lakes, it's hard to describe the beauty of it. Imagine an ocean, but with fresh water. I have a shirt that says "Lake Michigan: Unsalted" because it looks as vast as the ocean, but is still only a lake. It's also different than the ocean because despite the summer heat at times, the water never really got that warm. It was always refreshing to take a dip in the Big Lake. My mom, brother, and I spent many days going out to the beach, especially with our cousins Sarah and John David and our Aunt Sandy (the dads were still working...) and playing for hours in the water. Blessed with a boat my whole life, we spent many summer days out on the lake as well.

Our family went on summer camping trips, almost without fail, every summer. Our favorite place to go was Burt Lake State Park, way up in Northern Michigan. Even to this day, my parents rent a cottage on the lake. John and I are excited to go for a trip up there next summer...with our daughter who will be a 1-year-old by that time! (crazy to think about especially when she's not even here yet :))

"Summertime in Northern Michigan"

Today my parents and I re-lived some of those memories. We went for a walk down at the new Baywalk park down by the river in downtown Tampa. It was a beautiful day, even though it was in the mid-90s. It felt good to walk around (hopefully getting this little girl to move down!). We did get a bit toasty though, so, like the children-at-heart that we are, we splashed around in the little water park area for awhile :)

Then, after plopping our soaking-wet selves into the car with childish grins on our faces, we headed off to the Dairy Joy to get some ice cream.


















Ahh...what a refreshing summer day remembering those good days of running around barefoot in the cool grass, biking around the neighborhood, and playing games til dusk while the crickets chirped in the background.