10 Things I Love About Summer

1. Buttons. I love watching her love summer. The sandbox and her little pool are two of her most favorite things. She also has a fondness for bopping carpenter bees with her father. That's their thing not mine, but I'm glad they have a "thing".

2. Music. Windows down, volume up, singing loudly. Blondie, Abba, Erasure...anything I can sing along with in the car and know at least the chorus very well.

3. Movies. There is something heavenly about going into a cold movie theater in the middle of the hottest summer day and needing a sweater when you're inside. I love coming out with the memory of the movie while the sun blinds me with its bright beauty. Sometimes the movies are even pretty good.

4. Gardens. I love seeing the flowers and picking veggies out of a garden. In fact, we need to plant some flowers soon. We just have our perennials up right now. The beauty of the flowers and the grass reminds me of when we lived in San Diego.5. Swimming. Yes, Buttons and I do it all year long indoors, but there's something about being outside at a lake, pool, or even just your own backyard mini-pool that screams summer.

6. Camping. Not that I've really done much of it since I married, but I love it. My family went camping every summer usually in a pretty nice but modest trailer. Hubby and I don't have a trailer, but we have a tent with very few camping supplies. I hope that as Buttons gets a little older, we'll go camping just as I did as a kid. Campfires? Hiking? S'mores? Sleeping hard in your sleeping bag? Oh yeah baby, I'm so there.
7. Grilling. Love the taste of charcoal, but with the ease of gas we wind up doing it more often. Ok, Hubby winds up doing it more often. Veggies and chicken are my fave, but I like grilled bananas too. Yes, you read that correctly...grilled bananas.

8. Shorts. Not on me, but I love to see Buttons and Hubby in shorts. I get to see how much she's grown from last summer when her legs are bare. Last year is was mostly knees and feet. Now she has legs! And Hubby in shorts? He has great legs.

9. Anniversary. Ok, technically ours was a spring wedding, but it's in June so I count it as a summer wedding. We were married on my grandparents farm on the most beautiful day in Michigan in 1994. I got the best one. (Raising Arizona quote.)

10. Food of summer. Watermelon, lemonade, sun tea, corn on the cob, potato salad. Need I say more? I am a foodie after all.

What's your favorite part of summer?