Big girl!

Still no crawling, but I am beginning to think we may move directly from scooting to walking. Standing up is suddenly very fun! It's hilarious because Jane is so tall that when she pulls herself up onto something like the edge of her crib, she has to bend slightly to rest her hands on top. She is going to look extremely funny when she starts to walk.
This summer is turning out to be a huge disappointment. The weather is so consistently nasty that we are able to spend very little time outdoors. This is not at all what I had envisioned. I should be dressing my daughter in rompers and taking her outside every day after work, not dressing her in long sleeves and being cooped up indoors! I am really hoping it starts to warm up soon. We are hoping to go to the cabin for a few days next month. I can't wait to take Jane to the place where I spent so many summer days growing up. Speaking of summer, I've been reminiscing this week about summers past.

I know I’ll never have those lazy childhood summers back again, but once in a while something—a smell or a sound or a song—can carry me back there for a split second. Usually it is smells that trigger memories for me the most. I don’t know why that is or if it is true for others as well.

There was always excitement in the air on the last days of school. We’d often have a water fight on the last day. Already the school building felt different as we turned in our books and said goodbye to our teacher and classroom.

One memory that always springs to mind when I think about summer is rhubarb sauce. My mom would made a huge batch of it and I’d eat a ton. I believe I even ate it for breakfast. I don’t know if I was supposed to or not, so don’t tell my mom.

Other summer foods were corn on the cob and, of course, watermelon. I remember waiting for the corn to be ready and that first delicious bite. Every year we’d freeze corn and it was quite a project. We always made sun tea, too, and would make giant glasses of it. I like it without sugar now, but back then I’d load it with sugar. It makes me shudder a little at the thought.

I was a farm kid but I did get to spend time in town, playing summer recreation softball and hanging out with friends. Sometimes I’d bring my bike in to town and leave it at my grandparents’ house. I’d ride it at home, too, but gravel roads and 10-speeds aren’t the best combination and my knees sometimes paid the price.

Another vivid summer memory is of swimming lessons. I didn’t really enjoy swimming lessons, I must admit. I was fine until we got to the part where they made us dive. Eventually I just quit because I hated diving so much.

There were good memories, too. I attended swimming lessons at the college in Marshall. The bus rides were fun and afterward we’d stop by the vending machines and get a treat. Every once in a while when I was attending college at SMSU I’d get a whiff of chlorine when I was walking outside and it would bring me rushing back to those summer days.

Going to the cabin was—and still is—a favorite summer activity of mine. When I was little I’d spend hours playing in the sand or floating on inner tubes with my cousins. There was nothing quite like the feeling of spending an entire day on the lake and then coming in, getting dressed, and crawling into bed. You could almost still feel yourself floating on the water. I remember the elaborate sand castles we’d build, creating moats around them.

What I wouldn’t give now to spend a week in one of those childhood summers. Even just one lazy, get-up-when-you-want day with not a care in the world would feel luxurious.