When we got out of school, we'd sit around the house all summer, go to the pool when my BFFLTF's family would take us onto the military base (this was before 9/11, the rules weren't as strict), and we'd go to St. Louis to visit my mom's family for a week or two at the end of June and beginning of July.
We would be out of school at the end of May, and we would complain about how hot it was (hey, Central Texas gets pretty damn hot in the summer!!). We would go to Girl Scout Day Camp not too long after school let out for a week. The first few years, I was a camper. Then I became whatever it is the older kids become (I forget, it's been a while, they help with the younger kids). Liz and I did this together. I remember one year getting really, REALLY sick during camp, and I had to miss the rest of camp that year. I miss being out there in the 115F degree heat (I have no idea why, but I do).
A few years, I got to go to the week long camp where we stayed in tents away from home, with Liz and Sarah and some other girls from my Girl Scout troop. That was excellent! That was when I was at the age where you could sell Girl Scout cookies with a cute smile :) but then I grew up, and you had to have some marketing skills to beat out the young kids. Either that, or you had to have parents willing to pay for the overnight camp. Since I had neither, I never went back to the overnight camp past a certain age. I did, though, go to the Day Camp up until the time when we moved away.
After day camp, before the trip to Missouri, and after the trip to Missouri, we were pretty typical bored kids during the summer. We went to the pool on base a lot, because it was about the only interesting thing to do that was free. When I was in middle school, I played softball (for a small fee) for a couple years. Given my excellent athletic skills lack of athletic ability, I ended up playing right field. When we moved here and I joined colorguard in high school, I got the torture joy of going to band camp for all of August, when the temperatures are highest. Otherwise, for the most part, our summers were pretty uneventful, except for, of course, that trip to Missouri.
Living in Killeen, that trip to Missouri was a good 14-15 hour trip (depending on how often we stopped- remember, they were (at the time) towing along 3 children younger than 13, all in a minivan, with 2 dogs. That long of a trip is bound to last forever, and therefore, bound to require quite a few stops. At the time, we actually made the trip twice a year- once in the summer, and once over our Christmas break. That tradition died when I got a job, and had to work over the Christmas holidays. That was kind of my fault. :/
While we were in Missouri, we did a lot of the same stuff we did at home, but we did a lot of tourist-y stuff too. We would go to the Science Museum (which is a lot more fun when you're younger), the Magic Museum (I think that's what it's called- haven't been in a while); we'd go watch fireworks at this place where my grandparents...volunteered? I think that's what they did. They've moved since then, and now we have our own firework show *near St. Peters. Basically, they tried to make it a fun week for us while we were there, and we usually had some fun. They also went to the casino on occasion, leaving us with a babysitter (sometimes a cousin), which was actually kind of fun. This was, of course, before I was of age to babysit, or, of course, tag along to the casino and forget the babysitting gig. We went to the Gateway Arch a few times, and I think we've been inside once (if it was more than once, I forgot the other times). We went to a few St. Louis Cardinals baseball games. Then we went home, and spent the rest of the summer complaining about how hot and bored we were. Man, it was nice to get to Missouri, where it was at least a little bit cooler!!
Now, things are different. We have to coordinate my school (and sometimes a work) schedule, with my brother's work schedule, with my dad's work schedule, with my mom's schedule (which is usually open in the summer...and soon enough, my sister will have a schedule too. I had to work my school schedule for my last semester around trying to get back in time for the 2nd five week session, and realizing that I'd have to miss one class, the day after Independence Day. I have yet to discuss this with my professor, whom I'll be meeting with next week to discuss the issue. I'll be 800 miles away, so I won't exactly be able to be there, and I can't change that, unless she wants to pay for the gas for me to drive back. Ha! Yeah right.
We don't do the same things. Since my grandparents now live in St. Peters, a bit farther from St. Louis, we don't go to the same places. Plus, the places we used to go don't have the same...appeal. They're geared for children of a younger age. I'm 23 now, and I don't like the same things I liked when I was 9. That's okay- St. Peters has plenty to do. They have what's called the Rec-Plex- this place actually has like...5? diving platforms. They've held Olympic diving trials there before. Now, they don't let anyone but swimmers dive off any but the first two platforms, but it's still pretty darn cool. They also have a hot tub, a kiddie pool, a lap pool (for the serious swimmers), a sauna, then they have other activities altogether. I don't know what all they have, but the building itself is huge, and they have summer programs. We don't live in St. Peters, so we can't sign up, but it seems like a place I'd go if we did live there.
I also like to go to the casino, even though the machines like to eat up my money really quickly. They have several to choose from. Isn't that nice?? I can let one eat my money, and if I don't like that, I can choose another!! I can say that I'm not addicted because I can go back to Texas, where there are no casinos, and not suffer withdrawals, or cravings to cross the state line and go to the casinos there.
St. Peters also has a really nice mall, and my aunt and uncle have a nice house too. My uncle has some arcade-esque games in his basement/lower level of his house. Well, actually, they just have a lot of really nice stuff. In home theatre, hot tub, Coca-Cola bar...and they live on a cul-de-sac, where we hold our little fireworks show. It's really nice, and it beats staying home all the time.
Plus, this summer, I have my internship and the volunteer stuff I'm doing to keep me busy, so it's not too bad. I like keeping myself busy, because it keeps me from picking at my thoughts too much, because that can really be a bad thing. Now I just need a good swimsuit so I can go out one day and get my tan, and my summer will be complete. And trust me, it'll only take one day, one burn, and a few days of "ow, don't touch me, I'm sunburnt!!" before I have a really good tan going on. I'm excited!! We've had a few good days of sun, and only sun in the forecast (no rain or tornadoes!!) and I hope it stays that way.
It's summertime in Texas.
*I forget what the exact name of the place is. It's actually at my aunt's house, and it's close to St. Peters, but not in St. Peters.
1 comment:
I miss summer camp sometimes.
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