Ugggh! This is the LONGEST DAY EVER....

Well, scientifically it IS....the longest.... for the year!

June 21st is the summer solstice....and some people PARTY! Go ahead...click on that word...scroll through those pics....glad I am not at that "party"....

Has summer changed? Or is it just me?

When I was little, I felt like summer lasted forever!! now it is only a couple of months (out of school)..

When I was little, I got up.. ate, and then played all day...
I hear parents talk and they have their kids in camps all day and all summer...

When I was little, I drank out of the hose if I got thirsty, I rode my bike, I made my own PB&J and ate it outside.....not because my mom wouldn't...but because I was busy playing!!
I have to lock my kids out of the house and give them chores or reading to do if I find them in the house!!
I know kids that never go outside because they don't like the heat.....WHAT???

I filled garbage cans up with water and stood in them, I made holes all over my yard with a pogo stick (as a game), I slid on garbage bags with water and soap (slip-n-slide), I made trails in the woods for my BMX dirt bike (non-motorized).....by the way...I lived in Chattanooga, not Memphis!! I climbed trees, I hollowed out play areas in briar bushes, I jumped on a mini trampoline and sang songs at the top of my lungs in my room (sorry family), I made cities out of boxes for my hot wheels, my parent's shower (with sliding door) was an elevator (sorry dad..probably why it was off track a lot!), my best friend and I spent an entire afternoon balanced on the edge of her chain-linked fence pretending we were surrounded by sharks AND we had her plastic horse with us that was broken off (used to be a jumpy/bouncy horse), we also cut a hole in a cardboard box...made it a TV....and we got in it MAKING TV shows, commercials, etc.....(most of these things I was 10yr-14yr! could be why Jeff was my only boyfriend!)

BRING BACK SUMMER!!!!
Get your kids off TV, games, and whatever else they sit behind!!! Teach them to play! (you may have to retrain yourself!)
Get them sticks, rocks, cardboard, ropes, trees, dirt, bugs, water......lock the doors...turn off technology

Use the rest of this summer to grow BRILLIANT and HAPPIER kids!!

By the way, as I am typing this....my oldest is on a youth trip and my youngest is sick and sleeping on the couch......but it IS a good idea!! At least I think so...