Summer Memories

I have always loved summer. I love the sun. I love the pool. I love the beach. And, I love the freedom of the lazy days. Here are a few of my photo memories from my younger summer days.

The summer I was a beach attendant. One of my most physically demanding jobs and one of the most coveted jobs for teenage girls who live at the beach.

The Ruesch girls at Busch Gardens---1979

Me and my bike. I loved that thing and I would ride it all over Pembroke Meadows on those hot summer days.

We spent several summers at our cottage in Pennsylvania. Here's the ol' station wagon with the bikes loaded on the back for fun.

My dad planted this awesome garden at our old house in Virginia Beach and I can remember picking lettuce and green onions. It's the inspiration for my many attempts at summer gardening.

Summer of 1984 with my friend Veronique. We loved hanging out at the pool and talking about boys. We also loved having matching bathing suits.

My sisters and I with our dog, Lucy, at the cottage in Pennsylvania.

Summer of 1975 and I am thinking this is where my love of the beach began. See those chairs in the back? Well, eight years later I would be lugging those around on the beach as a beach attendant.

My Aunt Sue's dog, Max, was one of my favorite companions in the summer when we would go to our cottage in PA. I spent a couple of summers there without my sisters (they were home working summer jobs) and this dog kept me company.

John and I took a trip to NYC in the summer of '97.

Another summer at Busch Gardens with my sister, Kathy. I love BG and love continuing the tradition with my own girls.

Pool Fun

We have purchased several fun floats for the pool this year. One of our favorites is the cute doughnut we got at Five Below. 

The girls and John were hanging out in the pool enjoying a fun round of monkey in the middle! Summer time fun!!

My Very Happy Place

The girls and I got away for a week to enjoy our family and friends in Virginia Beach. Boy, I sure do miss living in this town. One of the things I notice about being in VB is how comfortable I feel in this area. Everything just feels familiar and easy. I like that. Of course, I lived in Virginia Beach for 28 years. So that explains the feelings of home I have when I'm there.

82nd Street Fun

Happy

The girls loved the beach time

Silly

The girls and I visited with friends. We had lunch at Big Sam's with their aunts, cousins, Bestemor, and uncle. We met friends for lunch at YNot pizza. We had dinner with my dad, sister, and the cousins at Plaza Azteca where I get my favorite white sauce (not cheese dip...it's a whole different thing). We stopped at Taste Unlimited three times for sandwiches, cookies, and their awesome house dressing. We got sandwiches at WaWa to take to the beach. We spent a day at 82nd street soaking up the sun and using the boogie board. We went to Busch Gardens and Shelly was a champ on the ultimate scary roller coaster rides. We all had a ton of fun that day. We did some shopping and went to the Navy Exchange (always a favorite of ours). We stopped at WRV and found some really cute Van's for Lily and a fun crop top for Shelly. Oh, and I got a new WRV sticker for the new car. We swam in my dad's pool and helped him complete several crossword puzzles. We ate dinner at Harold's where we all shared the best Greek salad around. We watched the US tie Portugal in soccer and attempted to develop an interest in the game. We laughed a ton. 

Boogie board fun

The bottom line---we had a great time. We loved spending time with our family and friends and we miss all of it so much!!!

Toes in the sand

Berry Pie

I found a recipe for a really yummy berry pie on Pinterest. So, Shelly and I whipped it up on Father's Day for John (and the family).

I improvised a little with the recipe because I didn't have any raspberries. So, I just threw in a few frozen berries to the mix. And, I didn't add the marmalade glaze on top because John isn't a fan of orange marmalade. 

When I served it I added a dollop of whip cream. It was really delicious!