Poolside Napping

Have you done your 50 Things You Must Do This Summer, yet?  #7 - Find a hammock.  Take a nap.

Our hammock is still snuggled safely in our garage where it has been taking a long winters nap.  For the second year in a row.  Hammock found?  Check.  Hammock used?  Unchecked.  There's always next summer, right?

Now the second part of this, though.  The take a nap part.  I am most successful at Vitamin D napping.  The kind where I lay on a blanket in the front yard.  Or where I lay poolside while the boys are playing at our local aquatic center.  Take a nap?  Triple check.

Today we made what quite possibly is our last visit to the pool before it shuts down over Labor Day weekend.  This time of year always gets me kind of sad.

It's Too Complicated

Have you done your 50 Things You Must Do This Summer, yet?  #6 - Make this refreshing Watermelon Granita recipe.

6 c seedless watermelon chunks or balls

1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp lime juice
½ c ginger ale



1. PUREE the watermelon, lemon juice, and lime juice in a blender. Slowly pour into the ginger ale and mix.



2. POUR into an 8" x 8" metal pan (not nonstick). Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 1 hour.


3. STIR with a fork, breaking up the chunks. Cover and return to the freezer. Stir every 30 minutes for 2½ hours or until the mixture is evenly icy and granular.


4. SPOON into dessert bowls.

NUTRITION (per serving) 81.6 cal, 1.4 g pro, 20.8 g carb, 1 g fiber, 0.4 g fat, 0 g sat fat, 4.6 mg sodium

... but give me straight up watermelon as a complement to the "best ribs ever" made by this man on a recent vacation to visit my baby sister, and I'm all in.  And no.  He does not share his secret recipe with admirers.

Love me some sweet, juicy, sticky dripping down my forearms to my elbows watermelon in the summertime.  Brings back good memories of working in the fields... walking beans, detasseling corn and/or baling hay... nothing more refreshing than having Grandma come out to the field with a watermelon that splits open with a crack at the touch of a knife.  Try the recipe if you must, but I'll stick to eating slices of watermelon and spitting seeds.

Or buying a frozen slushy treat from the local ice cream truck.

Why make enjoying summer more complicated than it needs to be?  If I have time, though.  I might try it.

Frankincense and Myrhh

Have you done your 50 Things You Must Do This Summer, yet?  #5 - Pamper yourself with a DIY pedicure.

You had me at frankincense and myrhh.  My bright blue toenail polish was down to just chips, but I have been too lazy to do anything about.  Thank goodness for a little "50 things you must do this summer" list for a kick in the seat of my pants to pamper my feet.  Walking around all day on the rough cement at a water park a week ago Tuesday did wonders for my calluses, but I was still needing a little help.  I hadn't given myself a DIY pedicure in too long.  Strangely enough, it also motivated me to clean my tub.  And soak in it.  Life is good.

This past year during the long winter... the one that just drug on and on and on and would never end... really had me using my tub again.  As I get older, I appreciate those luxurious, quiet soaks more and more.  Pretty sure that's how my Mom survived our childhood.  She had this huge claw foot tub and she would fill it to the brim, lock the bathroom door, and sink down and soak.

Since having kids, I enjoy those "quiet" soaks more and more.  For example, let me illustrate with an excerpt from how bubble baths go around here from this past January...  Gollum (and may I just say... Gavyn plays a convincing Gollum) appeared bath side and started fishing for "Precious" in my bubble bath water (no worries, Mommy was completely hidden in bubbles).  Then, Mommy got kicked out of the tub so her two boys could take a bubble bath instead.  *sigh* No wonder my Mom used to lock the bathroom door.  Someone bought me this book.  Maybe I should buy it for my Mother.

The Toxic Terror

Have you done your 50 Things You Must Do This Summer, yet?  #4 - Go to an old-fashioned drive-in movie theater.

Do you remember outdoor theaters?  I never went to one, but I remember driving by them and seeing the large screens playing the latest movie... a giant shot of a man and woman on a huge outdoor screen kissing passionately, in particular.  Vague memories, really.  There happens to be one not too far away from us, and I suggested it to Craig this summer, but he informed me they really aren't all they're cracked up to be unless, of course, you are watching a horror movie in the back seat of your car with your girlfriend.  Apparently there's good reason their popularity waned.  But who needs an outdoor theater when you can create your own dinner theater by telling scary stories around the campfire.

It took all night for Gavyn to tell us the very dramatic tale of the "Toxic Terror" whose seaweed fingers dripped acid.  A very ominous scary lake seaweed monster, for sure.  Made even better when sitting with your back to a lake in the dark.  Doesn't get any better than good old-fashioned imagination now, does it?  And the entertainment is free.

Moonlight Swim

Have you done your 50 Things You Must Do This Summer, yet?  #3 - Swim naked at night.

“Love calls - everywhere and always. 

We're sky bound.
Are you coming?”
― Rumi

We've had some pretty amazing full moons and some pretty amazing summer evenings this year.  I enjoyed the first night swim I've had in awhile on a beautiful evening in July.  It was a little too cool for most so I was quite alone in my experience, but not much can trump floating on your back and looking up at a night sky full of stars with a full moon peeking over the tops of the backyard trees.  And no, I wasn't naked.  So maybe I should try to figure out a way to do it again?  That doesn't sound like a bad idea.  At all.  Summer's not over yet.

Glass of 1983, I Mean... Class

Have you done your 50 Things You Must Do This Summer, yet?  #2 -Drink a little bit more wine than you should.

Craig had his 30th class reunion this weekend.  Which means these boys united... the boys from Parkview Heights.  Was so good to see Craig reunited with his "brothers" again.

In the meantime, what do the spouses, do?  Well, THIS, of course...

A little photo bombing fun...

#1 - Lie Face Down in the Grass and Smell It

Have you done your 50 Things You Must Do This Summer, yet?  #1 - Lie face down in the grass and smell it.

Does this count?  I laid down, but I think I forgot to smell it.  We made an evening run to Roosevelt Summer Sundays for some jazz one evening a few Sundays ago.  A beautiful, unusually cool evening in the middle of July.  With summer being so busy, we don't get there often, but when we do, it's always worth it.  And yes... Gavyn does have cucumber slices on his eyes.  Isn't that how you listen to jazz on a nice summer evening?