by Jannita Simpson

Created on: May 01, 2008   Last Updated: May 03, 2008

I have many wonderful memories of my childhood. Growing up on the outskirts of a small town, I grew up in the fresh, country air. We lived next to a field in which a local farmer alternated between planting corn, beans and wheat. When it was the summer for corn, the stalks would get so tall that we would be afraid to venture too far into the field lest we get lost.

We had an above ground pool in our backyard for a while. What fun it was to walk out the back door and jump into the pool. Spending hot summer days in the pool was the perfect way for a kid to cool off. We had a long, cement driveway. Unusual as it may sound, there was one spot on that cement driveway that was always hotter than the rest of the driveway. The "hot spot" is what we named it. After hours in the pool, we would rush to the "hot spot" and lay our towels down and bake ourselves. After laying there for a few minutes, the spot we were laying in would get cold, and we would have to move to a different area of the "hot spot".

We also had a lot of fun camping every summer. We had a pickup camper, you know, the kind that sits on the bed of a pickup truck. We would go up north for a couple weeks at a time with friends of ours. We would set up our campsite, and then hit the beach. The lake we camped at was great! The beach was nice and you could walk out in the water quite far before it got deep. It was on that lake where I learned to water ski. We had a small boat, and Dad would drive, and us kids would take turns trying to ski. I wasn't great, by any stretch, but it was quite an accomplishment just to be able to get up on the skis and stay there for more than two seconds.

Evenings at the campground meant campfires. We would make a fire and roast marshmallows, or cook popcorn and other snacks on the fire. There were always lots of funny stories and many late nights of laughing and joking around.

Of course, summer also meant a trip to Cedar Point. Cedar Point is an amusement park in Ohio. We would make the trip every summer and spend the day riding roller coasters and other fun rides. There is even a campground there that we camped in. Each summer, as we grew, we could ride more rides as we got tall enough for the height requirements.

Now, I am a mom. We have a pool in our backyard, but we don't have the "hot spot" in our driveway. Nonetheless, my kids have a blast spending lazy summer days in the pool. We don't have a camper, but we do take trips up north. Most places we stay have the beaches like the campground we stayed at in my youth, and some even have fires on the beach at night. We also take the kids to Cedar Point in the summer. It has grown tremendously since the days of my youth, and my kids love it! In many ways, I am reliving my youthful summer days through my own kids. Summer memories are awesome!

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