10 on the 10th is hosted by Marsha from Marsha in the Middle!

Summer. I am not a super fan of summer. If you have visited me before, you probably know that since I say it way too much. I just really don’t like being hot and can be a little bit of a grump about it. However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t have lots of special memories of summer because there have been some fun and wonderful moments that have taken place in the summertime. I may not actually get to ten because I am going to clump things all together.

I’m going to be honest, I would still wear this outfit.

Proposal:

Billy proposed to me in the summertime! It was a summer night and we were at the park and there was a band in the park playing (not for us but in general lol) and they were playing Kiss the Girl from Little Mermaid at the time.

Childhood Memories:

All the good nostalgic 1980s summertime things. Swimming in pools, eating soggy sandwiches and chips after, running through sprinklers and playing frozen tag with the neighbor kids. Riding our bikes to the library, reading in cool air-conditioned rooms. Watching The Monkees reruns with my cousin Brian and playing in his clubhouse that now would be considered a tiny house and he could probably rent it out.

The Street Fair:

It is timely that this post takes place during the week of our annual street fair. I have gone almost every single year of my life, with my mom and dad, with friends, with Billy, with Wyatt, and for many years I even worked 12 hour days the week of street fair at the job I had while I was in college. I have always loved it. The music coming at you from all directions and different areas, the smell of the fried food, the streets filled with booths crammed with art. The past few years I have been going twice – once with Wyatt in the morning as everyone is just starting for the day, and once with Billy for a date night. I can’t wait to do that again this year, although it will be a little more tricky as the weather is supposed to be stormy this week due to Beryl!

This is from Wyatt’s first street fair! Look how tiny. We were still at home here, and I was getting him ready to go. It feels like yesterday!

All those summer vacations…

When I was a kid, we used to go away for my grandmother’s birthday every July, my whole family. I have such good memories of playing in the pool with my cousins and hoarding my game room quarters like a baby dragon. And of course, going up north is a huge thing for Michiganders in the summer! I have so many memories of that as well through the years, again as a child with my family, with Billy as I got older, with my family again after Wyatt was born. Our family trip to the tiny house on the farm a few years ago was very special as well.

Look at little Wyatt and little Mermaid Girl. My heart!

Those teenage years:

One summer in particular stands out. I was maybe just 15 or 16, and I was hanging out with two friends I didn’t really hang out with too often. And then all of a sudden were hanging out all the time at night for some reason. Things are weird as a teen. One of them would borrow his dad’s convertible Mustang and we would drive around all over, the top down and listen to music. Once it was so hot we went swimming at night, floating around the pool watching the bats fly overhead. I only hung out with them for a maybe a month but it was memorable just for that. Although maybe I am still confused about it. Lol.

Billy and I also started dating in the summertime. We saw Jurassic Park in the theater when it first came out (yeppp) as our first date!

We also took many trips to Cedar Point. We would all pile into cars, multiple cars, and would make the road trip to the amusement park where we would spend the day, a huge group of us. I remember when The Raptor first opened at the park, and we got on it. Billy literally saved my life. My seat/shoulder doodad did not lock, and I was swinging it up and yelling to the ride worker who either did not see or hear me and we were in motion. Now this ride immediately starts out wild and keeps going, flipping upside down. Billy told me to sit back, and whammed the safety bar down so hard that it finally locked. I couldn’t breathe maybe but I didn’t fall out!

The Zoo:

We love going to the zoo! We would always go to the night out at the zoo events, which were adult only before we had Wyatt, and they were so fun. They were inexpensive too, and they sold adult beverages and food and you could stroll around the zoo during the twilight hours. It was so cool. The animals were all out and we had so much fun. After Wyatt, it was our first date night out after he was born! I remember we left him with my mom, stepdad, and aunt and uncle and I was super nervous the whole night. We also would do their Bike Safari nights, where people could ride their bikes around the zoo. Unfortunately, like everything, the price for this event skyrocketed so we no longer go but it was fun while we did. Then last year we went to Dream Night at the Zoo, which was for special needs children and their families. We had a blast!

As I sit here and think back, there are just so many memories. Time certainly flies doesn’t it? So many summer trips, day trips to Greenfield Village, peach picking, blueberry picking. Camping. The county fair filled with the sounds of the auctioneer, the cows mooing, the pigs, the goats. The smell of barnyard mixed with fried food. Just lazy days and lazy nights around the house or in the yard. My cousin Michael’s Fourth of July parties. For someone who doesn’t really like summer, I certainly have many many wonderful memories from summers past.