Summertime always gets me nostalgic. Probably because, as a kid, summer was always the BEST! Am I right? Some of my most fond memories come from my summers as a kid. So, naturally, I want the very same thing for my boys. Here is our recipe for an extraordinary summer.
For the purpose of this post, the boys and I spent a day last week, being present in the moment and just doing anything and everything that I could think of that made me think of my childhood summers. It was the best! Plus, the temps were in the 80s, so it pretty much felt like summer, without our high humidity!
First on our list:
1. ICE CREAM!
I’m pretty sure my love of ice cream started when I was a kid. Although ice cream has never been confined to summertime for me, when the weather warmed up, my mom would take me for more special ice cream dates. We would go to a local ice cream shop on warm summer evenings, or we would build our own sundaes at home. Ice cream always brings back fond memories.
So, our first stop was Martin’s for a couple pints of Häagen-Dazs® Ice Cream Trio and a pack of waffle cones.
The boys helped me pick out Triple Chocolate and Salted Caramel. Well, I’ll be honest, I picked out Salted Caramel.
Then we headed back home to build our cones. Although the boys wanted to top their cones with sprinkles and gummy worms, I convinced them to just try the ice cream as is. Mixed with crispy belgian choclate and white and milk chocolate ice cream, Häagen-Dazs Trio is already pretty extraordinary on its own. After one bite, they agreed, worms weren’t necessary.
I had them eat the cones outside, because let’s be real, summertime calls for outdoor eating and also, I needed to hose them down afterwards.
After they were both covered in chocolate from head to toe (the baby mostly), I cleaned them up and set them loose in the yard to burn off that sugar high. Which takes me to the second part of an extraordinary summer.
2. Outdoor Play:
When I was a kid, summer meant you were outdoors. I would spend the day with my best friend and neighbor, riding bikes, making random make believe things like forts and grass soup and of course hanging at the pool. My boys aren’t quite the age to be set loose in the woods with a bike yet, but they do love to play outside.
We break out the chalk paint, bubbles, water table and a few balls and those boys could play all day.
We currently have a new home being built across the street from us, so mostly we hang out in the front yard and watch the big tractors do their thing.
3. Movie Nights:
We finished up our day of summer fun with a movie.
My mom loves movies and she passed that love down to me. Growing up, we had frequent movie nights. We would hit up Blockbuster and rent a handful of movies, it was the best! I sure do miss Blockbuster, but it is easier now, just streaming. We pulled out the popcorn, picked a movie and before long, both of my littles were worn out and ready for bed.
A successful day of summer fun. I can’t wait for a multitude of extraordinary summer days with these two. What makes you think of your childhood summer? Are you an ice cream fan like me?
– Brooke
