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summer lovin’

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I love summer!!  Everything about summer…swimming, camping, outdoors, bike riding…I could go on and on.

As a kid, there were so many things that meant “summer.”
School ending.
Summer vacation.
Summer camp.
Outdoor swimming lessons.
Camping.

More sleep-overs at friends’ houses.

Photo by BigDaddyKreativ

As an adult, the seasons almost seem to blend from one to the other.  Ya, sure the weather changes, but those key triggers are gone.

See my mom was a teacher so she had the same summer vacation that I did.  Summer days were spent riding my bike, playing outside, running through the sprinkler and various other things with my friends.  I wish I could give that to Munchkin and Peanut but I don’t get a nice long summer break. At my job, I get 20 days vacation a year. By no means am I complaining about that because not everyone gets that much vacation time. I wish I could save all of those vacation days and take them all during the summer, but that’s impossible.

Photo by BigDaddyKreativ

At the park this afternoon, I had a conversation with a stay-at-home-mom and a teacher.  Their kids go to school with Munchkin.  Part way thru the conversation they started planning playdates for over the summer.  Hopefully we can find some weekend things to do with them so that Munchkin and Peanut get to see their friends.

As the girls get older, I want them to experience summer camp and some of those other things that I remember as “summer”, plus we will make some amazing memories for our own family.

What things trigger that summer feeling?  What memories do you have from your summer vacations as a kid?

camping in a different world

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I don’t mean to be rude and my mother did teach me that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all, but some of the things that I saw while we were camping just blew my mind.

We went to Erie, Pennsylvania and had a great time!  Very relaxing…lots of swimming, going to hte park, naps and, of course, shopping.  How can you not shop when there is no tax on clothes or shoes?!?!

When we stopped for gas in Hamburg, NY, there was a U-Haul truck beside us.  The Dad was pumping gas.  In the cab of the truck was Mom, daughter and baby.  And yep, you guessed it!  NO CARSEATS!!!  The daughter may have been old enough to not need a booster, but baby on mommy’s lap should have been in a rear-facing car seat.  No way would I have ever done that.  I would have found another way to get everyone one and everything from point A to point B.  Wow.

When we were in PA, we noticed motorcyclists without helmets.  Are they crazy????

We went to a resaurant that had a “Smoking Section”.  Huh??

It’s amost like we went back in time.  It’s been a really long time since any of those things were allowed in Ontario.  I found it all very weird.

now what?

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Okay, so the Olympics are over.  Canada did better than I thought they would.  It was a slow start.

But now what do I watch on TV?

Big Brother and Canadian Idol are still on?  Wow.  BB10 is a little dull this year.  I’ll have to check it out to see if things have picked up since I last watched.   Canadian Idol must be almost over…I wonder how many people are left.

I’m really liking Flashpoint.  It’s on Thursday nights.  Today they were filming at Toronto City Hall.  If you haven’t seen it, you have to check it out!

Well I’m off to fold laundry and start packing for the last camping trip of the summer.  *pout*