I found out exactly WHY I was so irritable on Sunday evening - I was sick. And then I proceeded to get even more sick to such an exciting extent that I actually lost 8 pounds over the last 24 hours - not precisely a weight-loss method I would recommend, however. I'm feeling much better today, although I'm still not feeling exactly well.
Yesterday was Midsummer's Eve, which we utterly skipped over - the kids had spent all of Sunday evening building fairy houses (and squabbling), so I imagine the fairies WILL pay them a visit sometime this week and leave them little gifts (seashells and glass beads). I don't feel the same need to jam so many holidays into the summer as I do in the winter, because summer is quite nice enough on its own. No school, late bedtimes, lazy meals outside, playing in the pool for hours - there really just isn't as much need for special days when each day is so much fun. But we do have some special cupcakes planned - mini fairy mushrooms, the kind with the red and white tops - and I think that we'll have a picnic outside, just for fun.
I like summer better in theory than I do in practice. I'm either complaining that I'm DYING in the heat or complaining that it's cold out and WHAT SORT OF SUMMER IS THAT? And my kids are home all the time, which takes away somewhat from that relaxed summertime feeling that one likes. I do my best, though, sitting in a lawn chair with a cold drink, reading a magazine and telling my kids "I'm watching you, honey!" while they perform acts of daring in the pool. Which is a foot deep and has an inflatable slide.
And then there's summertime food - slices of watermelon the porch, sptting the seeds into the yard; homemade popsicles, something tasty on the barbecue - these easy light foods. This week, I'm planning on making a strawberry tart on puff pastry, a silly jell-o dessert for Canada Day at Great-Grandpa's, a picnic with french bread and cheeses and salads - and tonight is marinated chicken on the barbecue. Assuming I feel well enough.
How do YOU do it - how do you capture that summery feeling at your house? Do you change bedtimes? What's your favorite summertime foods? And what, more than anything, says summer for you?
I LOVE summer and everything about it. We spend as much time outside as humanly possible. We eat TONS of fruit and fresh veggies and stay up a little later than normal too. Summer always makes me wistful and swoony, it seems. Perfect for lying around on the grass watching my boys play.
We eat later than we do during the fall and winter, and if it's not too humid, we always eat on our screened-in porch and light lots of candles, so our table looks like some strange altar!
And the summer foods really help the cause: we do lighter meals, lots of fruit, raw veggies, cold, fruity drinks...
I hope you feel even better today!
Summer here is really only great when it is technically spring after that it is just too stinkin hot and I lament that I have to find summer-y type things to do that are can be done indoors.
That aside, I would say the one thing that really feels like summer to me is evenings. We go out after dinner when the sun low in the sky and it's not so hot and play until the lightning bugs come to join us. Bug spray and sticky kids and neighbors strolling by walking dogs or pulling kids in wagons in the fading light. It's what really feels like summer to me. Those relaxed evenings on summer when bedtimes are more a suggestion than a rule
Summer to me has always brought along mixed feelings for me. While it is more lazy in a way, I'm still doing the dayhome and so comes the guilt feelings that my home is not quite as lazy and peaceful during the summer holidays for my kids.
I hope you are feeling better and can enjoy some summer already! For us, it's about me being home fulltime with the kiddos, so summer is a whole different world than schooltime. Lots of outings, a kiddie pool, lots of general lounging. I do love lounging.
The best summer feeling was last week for me. We sat on a hotel balcony each night and ate a late supper overlooking the ocean with a sea breeze ruffling our hair. PERFECT.
Strawberry pie. My mother made the world's best strawberry pie. No lie. It will be the food of heaven. It is summer in a pie crust.
Swimming says summer for me...the smell of sunscreen and chlorine mostly.
We do change bedtimes in the summer. BubTar used to be at 8:30 sharp...now it is 9pm, but he is allowed to stay up reading for a while.
summer time to me is all about the salads--couscous, three bean, pasta, orzo, rice, quinoa. . .it goes on and on!
Summertime is just awesome. There are few, if any, rules. Bedtime is variable and much more relaxed. We don't (usually) have to wake up and rush anywhere, so mornings are more relaxed. We love watermelon, grilling, fresh fruits, corn on the cob, grilled veggies. I love the smell of chlorine and coconut sunscreen. I just love the relaxedness (word??) of summer.
Hope you're feeling better.
Three bean salad, and extended park hours for us.
Your complaints about too hot/too cold sound exactly like mine. Ha, ha!
Summer is all about bbq and salads. Relaxing, no fuss. Warm, late evenings. Mmmmm...perfect.
8 pounds?!?!?! holy cow. i hope you're feeling better!
You are the second blogger I've read tonight with the stomach bug.
Now I feel doomed. What could be worse than being sick - in the SUMMER?
Hope you're all better soon - AND I hope you manage to keep those 8 pounds away. Small recompenses.
What do we do, what do we do in summertime????....
It used to be hanging with friends every day at the pool. Then one set of friends got too busy, and the other moved away. No fair.
When I think of summer I think of all the fruit that is suddenly available - and farmer's markets on the square, and sprinklers in the backyard. This year we have the back porch. What could be more summery than kids in the sprinklers, and mom on the porch with a good boook and some iced tea? Throw a daddy in, grilling dinner, and voila, you have SUMMERTIME in the South. :)
For us, summer means soccer, lots of outdoor play and lots of salads. We still have a routine where we have to get the kids off to their respective camps/daycare/babysitter, but at least I don't have to pack lunches or shuffle them off to the bus stop.
hmm not there yet, summer for us is when it gets all crowded at the library, the pool, the fun places ... we actually do less .... making fairy hosues sounds mighty cool though!