We All Scream for Ice Cream

Rachel Birdsell

Rachel Birdsell

By Rachel Birdsell

It will officially be summer on Saturday and for the past couple of years, I’ve written about things to do that will bring back your childhood summers. I’m going to continue that tradition with this week’s column. So, here is my 2014 list of things to do that will have your inner child happier than a Corgi on stilts.

1. Play with bubbles. But, don’t settle for the small bottle and wand. For bigger bubbles, make your own soap solution and bend a wire hanger into a big loop to use as the wand . For ginormous bubbles, you can put the solution into a plastic swimming pool, and use a hula hoop for your wand.

2. Walk barefoot in the grass. You should have Supertramp blaring from the speakers and a glass of grape Kool-aid in your hand wouldn’t hurt, either.

3. Eat watermelon and don’t worry if the juice is running down your chin.

4. Go to the drive-in. It’s a scientific fact that movies are 126% better at a drive-in than they are in an indoor theater. Even Tyler Perry movies are good at the drive-in. Okay maybe good is an exaggeration, but they are watchable alfresco.

5. Have a party and play hide and go seek or midnight, kick the can or any other game you played as a child. When you get a bunch of adults together who may have had one too many Long Island Iced Teas, the games are a lot more fun than you had as a kid.

6. Build a fire and roast hotdogs and marshmallows. I’ve already done this twice so far this year and I was instantly 12 again and fighting my sister over the last marshmallow. Probably because my sister and I were actually fighting over the last marshmallow.

7. Go outside and find things to make crafts out of. It’ll be like being back at summer camp when you made a sailboat out of sticks, leaves and dried bubble gum you found on the bottom side of the swimming pool bench.

8. Plan a scavenger hunt. It can be an outdoor, back-to-nature type hunt or an urban hunt where the participants have to find signs, landmarks, etc.

9. Find a lake that has a rope swing and flail yourself off of it a few times. Just remember that you’re older now and your body won’t bounce back like it did when you were 10. In other words, a complete rubdown with Ben-Gay post rope swing adventure is probably in order.

10. Chase down the ice cream truck. There’s one that hits my neighborhood every evening around seven o’clock. Bomb Pops have gone way up in price, but they taste exactly the same. Fake, sweet and delicious.

BONUS: Play hopscotch, foursquare, build a fort, spend the night in a tent in the backyard, throw a Frisbee and play in the sprinkler.

So, there’s this year’s installment of how to bring back your childhood summers. I hope your summer is filled with adventures, love and lots of laughter.

Rachel Birdsell is a freelance writer and artist. You can reach her at rabirdsell@gmail.com

Categories: Commentary