Summer Smiles

When I was a kid, on the last day of school, if we weren't headed to camp, we were packing the station wagon to go the next day.

My sister, Valerie, and me; I was about age 5

I always thought that "Sandy Pond," was our family 'insider' name that meant 'camp' for the summer. But "Sandy Pond" is an actual place on the map, a short drive north from our house in Syracuse.

Our little 'camp' is located on a sand dune peninsula on the east shore of Lake Ontario, just north of Pulaski, New York. The camp is accessible by boat or by foot path. No cars, and very few amenities. Over the years, the landscape has changed a bit. But 'camp' was and still is the definition of summer in my book.

The pond is in front of the camp.

And a short walk between two sand dunes behind the camp brings you to the lake where a sandy beach awaits.

It is like two different worlds all in one!

Since my birthday falls at the very beginning of summer, as a kid I always received summer clothes, butterfly nets (perfectly suited for catching frogs and small fish, too!), and beach toys to start out the summer on a high note.

This is a picture of me and my dad at the beach. He's holding an old Polaroid camera (well, it wasn't old then), so I'm not sure who is taking the picture. I don't think there's a photograph of my dad at the beach without his cigar! They were a weird color green and pretty stinky! I must be about 3 or 4 years old.

That red and white polka dot swim suit I'm wearing was the BEST!

A day at the beach included boating, swimming, floating, body surfing on windy, wavy days, making sand castles, and long walks collecting tiny shells. A day at the pond included fishing (not necessarily catching), picking wild blueberries, discovering new things in the woods, and feeding handfuls of nuts to the birds, squirrels and chipmunks that visited the patio.

My sister, Valerie, my cousin, Jeannie, and me. I'm wearing the fashion-forward black and white number and white sailor hat!

Here's a picture of my mom and dad on the beach right around sunset. This photo is from about 20 years ago. Mom was a red-head, and her fair skin burned easily, so it was pretty unusual to see her at the beach. She preferred the shady-trees on the pond-side.

What more could a kid ask for?

This past weekend, my sister and I took some time to relax on the beach (Smiley tagged along too, but needed some sunscreen), and I finally took some time out to sew - just for me!

And we watched the sun set.

Peaches (my blue-fronted amazon parrot) came along for a little R&R, too.

How about you? Did you take some time out to relax this past weekend? Enjoy family and friends? A little stitching, perhaps? Ain't summer grand?

Okay, enough nostalgia, time to forge ahead into quilting season. . .