MISCELLANEOUS #1 - If I had a Summer word this year, it would be "classic."
What things did I enjoy doing as a child?
What do I remember most about those long summer days?
And these are the answers to those questions.
I LOVED catching lightning bugs, eating homemade peach ice cream at Mrs. Davis' house after church on Sunday night and playing kickball with all of the neighborhood kids late in the afternoon.
I also enjoyed riding my bike down the huge hill to the end of my street a few minutes before my Daddy was due home. A handful of us would be waiting, he would stop his truck, load the bikes and take us to the top of the hill once again.
I went to the community pool as often as the weather would allow, and since it was located next to the library, I would either go there before or after swimming to check out dozens and dozens of mystery books during the months of June, July and August.
Trixie Beldon, Meg and Nancy Drew were my favorites, but I would pretty much read anything and everything I could get my hands on.
We would take a bath, put on our pajamas, crawl into the backseat of the car and head to the drive-in on occasion. It was almost always a double feature, and Bev and I would fall asleep during the second movie and wake up just a little bit when we were carried into the house and put into our beds.
In my memory, we went to a place called Pinedale Shores almost every Friday during the Summer with a group of other moms and kids. In actuality, my Mom has told me we might have gone once or twice each Summer. It obviously made a HUGE impression on me.
We would play in the lake, go down a giant slide in the middle of the swim area for hours and hours and ride home exhausted, but happy, in the back of the car while eating gingersnaps and drinking Kool-Aid.
Heaven.
Those are some of the things I remember about my summers as a kid.
Classic.
But I want to share something with y'all, in case you have an opportunity to try it with your kiddos this year or next.
As I mentioned above, my Daddy had a pick-up truck. One day, he filled the back of the truck with pillows, blankets, sheets, etc. and all of the neighborhood kids made plans to sleep "under the stars" in the back of the truck that night.
We met after we all had dinner at our respective houses, climbed into the back of the truck, ate our snacks, told ghost stories and quickly ruined any and all plans we had to stay the entire night by scaring ourselves silly.
I think we might have made it to 9:15.
But I never forgot that couple of hours.
The anticipation.
The fun.
The adventure.
And I just think that might be something so fun to do WITH your kids (so you could actually last until the next morning). And if you did it with your own kids, you could even plan on going to the truck at 9:00 or 9:30, talk, snack, cuddle, wrestle, etc. before falling asleep safe and sound as a family.
Will the neighbors look at you a little strangely the next morning as you and yours crawl out of the back of a truck onto your driveway?
Somehow, I don't think that's what really matters.
Do you?
MISCELLANEOUS #2- Our 4th of July in Central Alabama started out very rainy. Since I had planned on outside games for the masses, I quickly called some of my peeps and made sure we had dominoes, cards and checkers aplenty.
It was an unnecessary call. By the time everyone arrived, the sun was shining, so we were able to do the whole cornhole/yard darts/spike ball thing in the driveway...
And it was fun.
We didn't do the horseshoes.
It was just a little too-too damp, and I knew the flinging of giant iron horseshoes would just leave big, ol' holes in the yard.
But next year...
Next year will be a different story!
Okay. So this is a new idea for me.
I bought a burlap canvas at Hobby Lobby and ran off a bunch of favorite 4th of July pics from 2013 in all different sizes... 10" x 13", 5" x 7" and 4" x 6".
I just made a big collage and hung them in our dining room.
When August rolls around, I am going to do the same thing with old August pics.
I plan on taking down the 2013 4th of July pics and putting them in a manila envelope to use a few years down the road.
It will just be something easy to look at and remember some of our history month to month.
Austin took the camera from me and took the following pics.
I was happy to have the help, and he did a really good job.
Mike and Judith.
Judith and Roxie.
The table.
Grandmother's birthday cake.
I am going to share the recipe with you next week. (There are doughnut holes in the center of the red velvet cake, so when you cut it you have the polka-dot thing happening.)
Katie and Roxie.
Melia.
Josh and Courtney.
Courtney and Judith won the car wash, by the way. They were the MOST festive in the red, white and blue department.
Austin and Melia.
Josh, Courtney, Austin and Roxie playing spike ball.
Grandmother about to blow out her candles.
Grandmother opening her gifts.
We did something a little different this year. Instead of just giving Grandmother Gift Certificates, we told everyone to buy her something from the Cracker Barrel Gift Store. No one bought the same thing, and she received a lot of surprises (candles, clothing, candy, dishes, etc.).
T.J. and Katie.
Stephanie and Brad.
Mike and me.
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Pinterest Stuff
Summer To-Do List
1. Visit DIFFERENT local parks. You can uncover hidden gems you haven’t visited before. You can even create a rating system for the kids so you can find the park everyone loves best.
2. Design and paint your own FAMILY customized t-shirt. Keep the design simple, but let the kids paint their own t-shirt... even if it isn't perfect.
Plan on wearing the t-shirts as a family when you do certain things together during the Summer (blueberry picking, pool cover-ups, drive-in movie, etc.).
3. Find a simple jam or jelly recipe. Pick the fruit TOGETHER, make the spread TOGETHER, can the jam or jelly TOGETHER.
4. Plant a sunflower garden and measure them throughout the Summer.
Classic Movies to Watch on a Rainy Day
An American Tail – 1986 – Rated G
Babe – 1995 – Rated G
Beethoven – 1992 – Rated PG
Charlotte’s Web – 1973 – Rated G
Free Willy – 1993 – Rated PG
The Great Muppet Caper – 1981 – Rated G
Harry and the Hendersons – 1987 – Rated PG
The Herbie Movies (The Love Bug, Herbie Rides Again, Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, Herbie Goes Bananas) – 1969, 1974, 1977, 1980 – Rated G
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids – 1989 – Rated PG
Jumanji – 1995 – Rated PG
The Karate Kid – 1984 – Rated PG
The Muppet Movie – 1979 – Rated G
The Parent Trap – 1961 – Rated PG
The Wizard of Oz – 1939 – Rated G
Weekend Happenings
1. Our family has been getting over a 4th of July bug this past week. Out of the 17 people in attendance on the 4th, seven came down with a virus.
And three of them live at this address.
We are all fine now, but we have no huge plans this Friday evening because we just want to rest and get ready for our much-anticipated, much-deserved WEEKEND.
2. Roxie and I will be shopping and gathering all day tomorrow. She is helping with a camp this next week, and as is our custom, we are not the least bit ready.
I could blame it on our illness, but with or without, Roxie and I would be shopping and gathering all day tomorrow.
3. Melia is having a paint party tomorrow night, and Bev, Roxie, Courtney and I are heading over to her Mom's house to paint Sunflower Door Hangers OR Mason Jar Door Hangers. I'll have pictures of those next Friday. (I am painting the Sunflower!)
4. Sunday is church, lunch and making sure Roxie gets to her "place" on time.
I know these week-long absences are going to help me when she leaves for college IN LESS THAN A MONTH, but right now, I could do without them.
And deep down, I think she feels the same way.
Anyway, that is what I choose to believe.
Have a delightful weekend. I'll be back next Friday with a post full of useful, pertinent and fascinating information.
Or maybe not.
Sincerely,
The Enchanting Belinda
Love reading this Belinda. I miss my family so much, the pain is almost unbeatable. But I know who my God is!
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