August 2023; 10 on the 10th

 This month's 10 on the 10th is filled with all sorts of fun questions about vacations, summer, memories and the like.  I just could not resist joining in with Marsha this month!  But I have to warn you that I found so many of these questions to be quite challenging to answer! 

1. My favorite summer vacation... oh this is such a hard one to narrow down to just one!  Living right on a lake and homeschooling our boys meant we often didn't take our vacations during the summer so if I'm strictly talking about summer vacations that does narrow down the list considerably.  One that was a whole lot of fun was taking a road trip down to North Carolina when my boys were little and my parents lived there.  The boys took turns sleeping at my parents house and hanging out with Aunt Ashley and then during the day we often met up with MY Aunt Elaine as well so every day felt like a fun family reunion. 

The one that went wrong: When Ian was not quite 2 and I was pregnant with Alec we decided to spend a weekend away in Conway New Hampshire and took Ian to Santa's Village & Storyland.  Well, he got real sick and it will forever be remembered as the trip where he had his first febrile seizure-- while we were driving down the highly trafficked street and my husband and I were clueless as to what was wrong watching him convulse and start foaming at the mouth.  It was terrifying. We went right to ER (well, as fast as we could anyway) and they were quick to diagnose him and got him started on some antibiotics for the strep throat that was causing the high fevers. 

2. One activity I really enjoyed during summers as a kid that I would never think of considering now is using a slip n slide.  I remember we used to use one nearly every summer-- I can not imagine running and throwing myself onto the ground belly first now. 

My boys had one growing up and I had zero desire to take a turn

3. There are so many things I wear in the summer months that I would never wear in the colder months- my flip flops, my shorts, my tank tops, my sundresses, etc.  It's much too cold and snowy here for all those breezy light fabrics skimpy skin revealing styles. 

4. My favorite summer beverage of choice is a glass of Crystal Light Peach Mango Green tea (though I like mine far more diluted than the box calls for).  Since I pretty much only drink that and water year round most any other drink would not grace my table in summer and definitely not any alcohol (I have nothing against it but just don't like any that I've tried). 

5. I'm not sure there is much of anything I did as a kid during the summer that my own kids didn't do as well in the summer-- we always kept things nice and simple in the summer with swimming, ice cream, water guns/ balloons and lots of time for friends.  I can't think of anything that kids do today that I think of as a lost cause. 

6. There are quite a few "summer" movies that I enjoy & can watch over and over and over again-- Summer Rental, Mystic Pizza,  50 First Dates, The Parent Trap, The Great Outdoors, Dirty Dancing, etc... but I really could do without any of those scary & suspenseful horror type movies like Jaws, or I know What You Did Last Summer since I do not do well with being scared.  

7. Oh boy I am so bad with music in that I know what I like when I hear it but trying to come up with a name off the top of my head is so hard. Since Evan has been in charge of my music in the car whenever we go anywhere most of the songs of this summer come from his playlist.  Two I can think of off the top of my head are: Endless Summer by Absofacto & Wouldn't It Be Nice by the Beach Boys (he has a very eclectic taste in music!). 

A song that take me back to my childhood would be I Do It For You by Bryan Adams-- I still remember watching the movie the summer of 1991.  

8. While I rarely wear a swimsuit of any kind I will wear a 2 piece.; in fact I bought 3 new bikinis for this summer (and then it's been pretty cool and rainy and I've hardly worn them at all!). 

9. There are lots of recipes that I make over and over again each summer!  One family favorite is my classic macaroni salad with tuna.  I'll eat a cup of this all by itself for lunch. 

1 box macaroni, cooked and cooled
1 cup mayonnaise (I use light) 
1 can tuna (I prefer solid white in water but any can will do)
3 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
salt & pepper to taste

Just combine all ingredients together (though sometimes I have to add more mayo if the pasta sucks some of it). 

One summer recipe I made that I'll never attempt again would be anything with Jell-O (pudding is fine) but I do not like gelatin at all and the colors and texture of Jell-O kind of freak me out. 

10. My favorite summer smell is that of coconuts/ tanning oil that remind me of summers on the beach. One summer smell that really makes me sick is anything that smells rotting-- like the rotting smell of fish or food left in the sun and heat.. I guess. 

Linking up with: Spread the Kindness,