Summer has begun

Yesterday, I had the perfect summer day. The days I felt like I used to have as a child all the time. Even then, I could recognize a great summer day and I don't think I took too many of them for granted. I spent most of my summer days outside at the lake, pool, riding bikes, and playing outside. Now, as an adult, I have to orchestrate a day like that and maybe I can plan a day a week like that. Even that is pushing it. Now all these adult responsibilities creep into my weekend and try to push out the fun. I know have tons of dishes to clean, an apt to straighten, oil to change in my car, grocery shopping, etc. As a kid, the only thing that would get in the way of a fun summer day was getting grounded. Ugh. John and I were talking about the differences of summer now and then. Now, you have to plan ahead with friends when you want "play" and almost everything costs money. Our lives are so busy that it is even hard to get together a group outing. It took nothing as a kid to find yourself outside playing night games with a bunch of kids. Everyone was available and had nothing else to do.

Yesterday, I had one of those days. A day when I felt like a kid again and could not have been happier. I can't believe I am old enough to say the phrase I felt like a kid again. Our day started real early. I was up shortly after 6:00am. John and I were meeting our friends, Mike and Lindsay, and their dog, Roxy, at 7 to spend the day rafting! I didn't even think twice about not wanting to get out of bed. We were so excited when we arrived and couldn't wait to get on the river! I got a little worried when we all piled on a school bus with about 50 other people. All the guys were obnoxious, cursing at every single chance they could get. The donned beer bongs, one that was shaped like skull and the beer flowed down the spine. That same man had a home-made tattoo of Tweety smoking pot. I got a little worried because I felt like John, Mike, Lindsay, and I were outnumbered by these interesting folk. I whispered to John, "I think we are surround by a bunch of Roosters." They always provided a bit of comedy as we passed. We got on the river a little after 9am and were ready to roll. I don't think the river was ready for us to roll. We barely moved at times, but that did not concern me. We leisurely drifted down the river...for over 6 hours. We ran into Roosters every once and a while, but they provided some humor to the day as we passed them on the river. The sun was out all day and it was so nice to float, swim, and be with friends. Roxy had the most adorable "extra extra small" life jacket that she wore all day. Whenever we weren't looking, she would dive off the edge of our raft and paddle around. That girl can swim & it was the cutest thing. On our way home, we topped off the afternoon with a little bit of ice cream and for the first time, my summer actually felt like summer.

We went home and got all cleaned up for the evening. I felt "good tired" - the kind of tired after a long day in the sun and fresh air. John and I headed over to Mike and Lindsay's for some pizza and deck top fireworks. The fireworks were great and I hope to see more on the 4th. I hope all of you got a little taste of true summer this weekend. Have a wonderful 4th of July!