Summer on my mind

Summertime,
And the livin' is easy

Summer is officially on my mind. I am dreaming of the beach, hot days at
Hershey Park, and hanging laundry on the line while the kids have water gun fights in the yard. No "official" school work (just stealth schooling / unschooling). No working every evening. Yes, summer is here.

Here are my favorite things summer:

• Going to the beach with family (in actuality I don't like sand or salt water, but the memories with the family make it worth the ick factor)
• Hershey Park every week (this is a tradition for us, and we love going to HP- it really gets us in shape walking around all over the place!)
• Water gun fights, water balloon fights, water bucket fights, wet towel fights... basically we like to fight using water.
• Laundry on the line!  My favorite summer smell.
• TIGERLILIES! My favorite flower. (explanation in this post)
• Pedicures.
• Walking the dog with the family. 
• Fresh tomatoes!
• Birthdays (mine, my son, and my daughter- although hers marks the end of summer, so it is bittersweet)
• Playground days
• Messy arts and crafts taken outside
• Pudding fingerpaint (see above bullet point)
• Sun tans, freckles, and plenty of vitamin D
• Camping in our tent (in our own yard, of course)
• Hiking on trails and geocaching on occasion
• Fireworks
• Smores and banana boats over the firepit

Summer is my new favorite season. It used to be winter, but since having kids winter has been too cramped up for my liking. In the summer they can run amok outside and they sleep better too. What are your favorite things in the summer? Are you vacationing at all?