Yesterday felt like “SUMMER” with capital letters. Specifically, a “summer night”. And every time I say the words “summer night”, I inevitably think of the song “Summer Nights” and the movie “Grease”.
You see, when I was growing up, maybe around 13ish?, my sister, best friend and I went through a period of time where we were obsessed with the movie “Grease” (and the soundtrack). We watched the movie on repeat, learned every word to every song and then spent HOURS in my basement rec room putting together these little “shows”, or skits, reenacting various scenes from the movie and singing the songs. Our lucky parents then got to gather to watch our most outstanding theatrical performances. 😊 LOL!
Ah, those were happy times. I can’t think about it without smiling. And, I still love the movie (and the music!) It’s just so great.
I actually heard that a drive-in theatre nearby is going to be showing “Grease” some weekend coming up soon. I am thinking about leaving the kids home and having Ivan take me for an old-fashioned drive-in movie date, like in the good ‘ol days. We have never been “to the drive in” on a date, since, well, that’s just not really a thing anymore too much. The one time we went was last summer and we had the boys and my parents along and we watched the new version of “The Lion King!” Haha.
But anyway, to me, yesterday felt like a true…..”summer day, drifting away to…oh oh the summer nights…ah well a well a well a..uh- tell me more, tell me more…” (Okay, okay, I’ll stop… Gosh that is just SUCH A GREAT SONG!) 😊 😊
We finally got our little garden planted which ended up all taking longer than I had originally anticipated. The boys helped though and it was fun and the sun was hot. We weeded a bunch of flower beds together too and spread some new mulch in some areas. I won’t say that yard work or gardening is necessarily my dream way to spend a summer day, but it always just feels very “summery” whenever we do it. Shorts, tank tops, dirt on our hands and faces, kids running around in the yard, birds chirping, sun shining and green leaves on the trees….
The boys got pretty into planting and part way through Asher looked up and exclaimed, “This is one of my most favorite things to do in the summertime!” That melted my heart a little bit, as I have just so many various fond memories of my own childhood and summertime, so I am so happy to see my boys experiencing some of the same simple joys.
Later in the evening we had our first bonfire of the season. We have a really lovely firepit area in our yard, nestled under some huge spruce trees. It always feels kind of like a private little campsite to me. We string lights between the trees and I just love how it looks. We don’t actually have bonfires that often since it’s all just kind of a hassle to get everything all set up and out there. But on the nights we do, I always feel very content and just happy that we have this special little place at our home. It’s all so cozy and I think these memories and images will stick with the boys (and me) forever.
Daily Gratitude:
I am grateful for memories. I’m grateful for the amazing times I’ve lived, experiences I’ve had and the mere fact that our brains are capable of holding memories. I’m so grateful that we get to keep those special moments tucked away to bring out again and again, like those wonderful memories of singing along to the “Grease” soundtrack with my sister and friend.
GRATEFUL KAE 
wooo!!! the whole post feels like summer! I'm so jealous of your garden and bonfire? My girls would be sooo excited!It's so nice you have those memories about movie with your sister. My daughter asked me yesterday what's my favorite movie (I have one but it's about love) is when I'm adult already, I wonder what will be their favorite movie in few years.
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Hahaha!! Oh I remember that so well! In fairness it think we were a little younger, like 10 and 12 or so, but those rehearsals and performances filled weeks and months of our lives! And you’re right – it’s still such a great movie filled with fab songs. This was a fun post – glad you had such a fun summery day. Wish I could have had one of those smores! 🙂
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Were we that young?? Maybe! I can't remember. If we were, parts of that movie were DEFINITELY probably a bit inappropriate!! Hahahaha! Thinking of some Rizzo and Kenickie scenes…lol!
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Your day was fairly similar to mine as I also worked in my garden. I did not have any helpers, though! That's really cool that your boys helped and enjoyed it. My mom had a HUGE garden when I was young. It was probably 1/2 the size of a football field? It was enormous. But I'm 1 of 5 and she grew up on a farm so she was used to having lots of fresh produce. She also did a ton of canning, which I helped with, and now I can some years. I kind of whined about having to work in the garden when I was a kid but now I love it. It's very satisfying to eat the fruits of your labor! I was also a huge fan of Grease! Going to that at a drive-in would be a really fun date!
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Oh I know we were too young. I distinctly remember a look of strong discomfort on your friend's mother's face when she performed the "Worse Things I Could Do" song…. LOL!
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