Summer it's crickets and cicadas and a glass of lemonade…

Okay, I know this show if for kids, but damn…I do love Phineas and Ferb. And those are lines from their awesome SUMMER song. I actually have it on a playlist.

So obviously, it's Wednesday, which means another episode of Randomness. And this week's topic—Favourite Summer Memories.

My initial thoughts are simple. NO SCHOOL. NO LUNCHES, NO DRIVING BACK AND FORTH. NO TELLING KIDS TO GO TO BED OR TRYING TO WAKE THEM UP. Just glorious peace.

Of course, that's not quite reality, but I will say, that since having kids, that is my most favourite aspect of summer. Having no schedules. No true obligations. I know this may shock some of you, but I'm not a big Schedule girl ;) I like to just go with it. So having to follow one, even as pathetic as we are at actually making it places according to that schedule, is a huge stressor for me. Now you know part of the reason I work from home, lol.

But let's move away from that. Here's a list of some favourite memories in no particular order…

Writer's Retreat in the UP!

Hands down, these are and will be some of the best memories I'll ever have. Cards Against Humanity, Eject eject, Samantha, and Jess...where the hell was his helmet! Skin graft....

These might not mean anything to anyone else, but damn, us ladies will laugh about them for years to come. Thanks to the fab gals that make that week memorable. I love you ladies.

And since I rarely post pics of myself...I'm working on it people...just go with me on this. Here's one from our annual pilgrimage up to Cooper Harbour. Bought the obligatory socks and got the kids some cool shirts. And hell, I'm smiling in this and well, I don't look totally on drugs, so....proof I actually went.

I think part of the reason I love this trip so much is also that I never really went lots of places during the summer when I was a kid. We had a cottage on Georgian Bay—about 3 hours north of Toronto—but my folks sold that when I was young. We had another retreat for a few years after that, but by the time I might have actually enjoyed it, it was gone, too. So summer became just a break from school. Or a summer job.

However one of my favourite memories of summer from those younger years was going to horse camp. Getting to spend a few weeks riding...it was like being in another world for me. Probably why I love horses now. I only wish I had one... a ranch for that matter. Ohhh, maybe a lonely cowboy will come my way…hey, just saying. I can dream...






Another great memory—drive-in movies. God, do you guys even remember those? I freaking loved them, and the summer was really the only time we ever got to go. Mostly because it was still a big thing in the smaller towns, not Toronto, so being up north on vacation meant a trip to the drive-in. Which is my perfect excuse to post some pretty pictures...

Other memories…swimming, water skiing, bonfires, fishing. Those all from childhood.

I did have a cool trip a couple of years ago. I got the chance to do the TransRockies Challenge. It's a 7-day mountain bike race. And it was as epic as you'd think it was. It started off in Fernie, BC... and ended in Canmore, Alberta, which is hands down one of the most beautiful places in all of Canada...I'm betting the world. It's a picture-perfect postcard. And just being able to say I did that race...rode my bike for 7 days... okay, I pushed it far more than I thought. But I pushed it up freaking mountains. Mountains, people. But it's something I'll never forget and think helped define me in some ways. Or maybe it just allowed me to see who I really was. And seeing as it was during a pretty shitty time in my life, well...yeah, it's one of those times I'll cherish. 

Funny what sticks with you. Pain and suffering, lol.. but in a great way. Please hop on over to the other ladies' blogs and see what comes to their minds. I'm sure they'll have far more exciting ones...

Bronwyn Green

Jessica Jarman

Gwendolyn Cease