The Last Days of Summer!

Summer gathers up her robes of glory,
And, like a dream, glides away.
~ Sarah Helen Whitman

When I was a child, I was saddened to blow a goodbye kiss to the last days summer. Even today, I am a bit melancholy when summer ends. Are you? Below are some summer plans for your family to celebrate the last days of summer! I have added some special summer memories that should explain why I am sad at the end of the summers. Share your precious summer memories with me!

10 THINGS TO DO

BEFORE SUMMER ENDS

1. Celebrate the end of summer! Throw an end of the summer party . . . a cookout, a swimming party, a picnic, or an outdoor tea!

2. Enjoy a family camping trip in your backyard under the stars.

3. Spend a day going through the closets and drawers to analyze the family's fall wardrobes. Remove any clothes and shoes that no longer fit to take to a charity. Less fortunate shoppers will be looking for school wardrobes for their families so get them your things there in time to benefit them! And don't forget any summer duds that were outgrown over the summer. Old backpacks are appreciated too!

4. Once you analyze wardrobes, schedule a back to school shopping trip. Even if your kids wear uniforms to school they will still need new Fall clothes, shoes, and accessories.

5. Take a 1-day vacation locally---drive to the beach of the lake or visit a museum, go to an outdoor concert.

6. Try an ethnic restaurant to introduce the family to new food. Or plan an ethnic dinner.

7. Plan a family end of the summer picnic, and have each family member be responsible for a dish. Even the youngest kid can suggest a dish.

8. Make a summer memory book together. Include photos and have each family member contribute one or more pages of written memories of "What I did this summer." Also, have each family member write a poem about summer.

9. Take the family to a garden or a farm where you can pick your own strawberries, blueberries, grapes or vegetables, and then make a special dessert together.

10. Schedule a night to make plans for the Fall. . . which football games you will attend, pick out Halloween costumes, choose a Family Fall service project for charity, etc.

I have made a list of all the reasons I've been sad to see summer fade away and all the things I enjoy and miss when the summertime is over. Do you have any lingering summer memories? Please share them with us!

50 THINGS MISSED WHEN SUMMER ENDS

SOME MEMORIES FROM MY CHILDHOOD

SUMMERTIME DELIGHTS

• School's out! Summer vacation!
• Warm sunny days.
• Chilly air conditioning.
• Daylight Savings Time.
• Play outside until dark!
• Lazy mornings/late bedtimes.
• Nighttime frog and cricket symphonies outside your bedroom window.
• Awakened to birds singing.
• June bugs.
• Bumblebees.
• Squished mosquitos and dead snakes
• Summer flowers and flowering shrubs.
• Green trees and grass.
• The smell of fresh mown grass.
• Screened porches.
• Summer breezes.
• Sandals and flip-flops.
• Shorts and halter tops.
• White linen
• Ice cold watermelon.
• Frosty iced tea with a sprig of mint.
• Tomato sandwiches.
• Fresh corn on the cob or cut off.
• Cherry Cokes and lime or lemon sours at Roanoke City Pharmacy.
• Green plums.
• Green apples.
• Peaches
• Fruit cobblers.
• Lime sherbet punch.
• Fresh-squeezed lemonade or limeade.
• Fresh summer vegetables right off the vines. Picking them too!
• Hand-cranked homemade ice cream.
• Frozen Snickers.
• Frozen Cokes that sometimes explode in the freezer when you forget them.
• Ice cubes with salt on them.
• Melon balls.
• Barbecues.
• Frozen Margaritas and Daiquries.
• Strawberry Shortcake.

SUMMER MEMORIES

• Opening day of the Roanoke, AL City Pool.
• Dancing to the juke box under the stars at the Pavilion in Roanoke, AL.
• Summer romances.
• Cruising the Dairy Queen to see who's hanging out.
• Climbing Potash Tower, even though we didn't make it to the top!
• Overnight shopping trips in Atlanta.
• Buying a new bathing suit each summer at McGilvary's Dress Shop in Roanoke.
• Modeling bathing suits and shorts at McGilvary's and earning money!
• Gay Braden's Roanoke, AL store for Coca Cola, Snickers candy bars, and ice cream.
• Driving by your boyfriend's house.
• Sunday afternoon drives in the country.
• J.U.G. Club initiation.
• J.U.G. Club Summer Trip to Panama City, FL.
• Sliding down Big Rock in Big Springs at the spring fed creek.
• Climbing trees and building tree houses.
• Reading comic books and movie magazines in the drugstore.
• Riding bikes on Allen Avenue day and night.
• Cookouts with the neighbors.
• Digging in the sandbox, but never getting never getting to China.
• Cleaning the cemetery and placing flowers on the graves.
• Swinging on the branch of the mimosa tree.
• Catching lightening bugs in a jar at night.
• Counting and wishing on falling stars.
• Junior Garden Club meetings . . .Death to the Weeds . . .Life to the Flowers!
• Summer slumber parties.
• Sunday afternoon drives in the country.
• Visits to grandparents' houses.
• Cousins.
• Badminton in the backyard.
• Croquet in the backyard.
• Watching summer football practices.
• Swimming and golfing at the Roanoke County Club.
• Flirting with the lifeguards at the pool.
• Going off the high dive.
• Floating down the river.
• Vacation Bible School at Roanoke Alabama First Baptist Church.
• Summer camp . . . not always good memories! LOL!
• Callaway Gardens . . .paddle boats, the beach, the water ski shows, the FSU Circus, bike rides around the lake.
• Playing in the sprinkler.

OTHER SUMMER ACTIVITIES

• Planting seeds and plants in the garden
• Putting up vegetables for the wintertime and making fruit preserves.
• Afternoon summer showers and occasional thunderstorms.
• Swinging in a porch swing.
• Sleeping in a hammock.
• Watching summer football practice.
• Shelling peas and snapping green beans.
• Fishing.
• Tennis
• Softball games.
• Sitting on the porch waving at everyone who drives by.
• Going to the beach, the lake, or the mountains.
• Summer weddings.
• Summer parties and teas.

What are you memories from the summertime? Please share them with us!

XOX