FIRST DAY OF SUMMER 2019!!!!!

I just can't contain my excitement on the first day of Summer!  It IS my season!  I was born in the summer and I come to bloom again each summer, just like a perennial plant... HELLO SUMMER (insert emoji with wide open hugging arms) It's me, It's me It's Vickie G and here I am to enjoy every glorious day of this season.

What is not to like about summer I ask?  Sunshine, warm rain, thunder storms, fireworks, hotdogs, hamburgers, GRILLING, watermelon, flowers, swimming in pools/lakes/oceans/ponds, picnics, fireflies, suntan lotion, topless days and topless nights (talking about my convertible... but that one is free for imagination), cookouts, family/friend gatherings, boating, skiing, tubing, sand castle building (much preferred over snowman building), outdoor concerts... basically Summer feels like a 3 month long celebration of Sunshine.

Sunshine is ,and ALWAYS will be on the top of my list of MOST FAVORITE THINGS!  I seek it like a sunflower follows its face to the sun.  Sunshine smells good... it feels good... it just makes my soul smile.  I have been known (as in actually being caught in the act) to just lie on the concrete driveway with my arms and legs splayed out like I am making a snowangel, just to soak up the warmth that is still held in the concrete at the end of the day.  I might add that the driveway and porch where I would lie splayed out was when we lived in Hutchinson KS, on a cul-de-sac street, very wooded, and we were the only house on the street... it was a private location... however... cars would occasionally drive down the road looking at the available lots, and there I would be, caught like a deer in headlights, laying splayed out soaking up the sun.  Usually though, I would hear the car approaching before it could view my sun soaking activity and I would just be sitting there sipping my ice tea and waving... the times I got caught were because I had fallen asleep while splayed out in my sun soaking... which falling asleep happens often when I lie in the sun.

This is my first summer that I have the opportunity to spend with all of my grandchildren. We recently moved from Portland OR to KY... or moved 'back home' is how we feel.  Its been 9 years since we lived in this area.  The week we found out about our relocation move is the same week we found out about our first 2 grandchildren pregnancies (the first 2 are only 3 weeks apart).  It was hard moving away from my clan just as my clan was expanding and I would have a forever new role as Grandmother... or in my clan Gigi, I role I had waited 10 years for.  The 9 years we were away I traveled every 6 weeks to spend time with my clan... those were tough years, but priceless reward for the closeness we all share, and worth every mile traveled.  The eldest grands are 8 years old and ready to spend quality time with us.  The youngest is 9 months old, so the youngest grands will never remember we ever lived away.  Life is sooooo good and I am sooooo blessed to have this opportunity to be back in the nest of my precious clan.  The summer time plans we have this year will be memorable for us all.

I am dancing a jig all day with excitement that TODAY is the longest day of 2019, and on this first day of summer 2019 the sun IS shining quite brightly and warmly!!!!  May all of you who read this post also have sunshine to celebrate today!

Holding up my glass to yours in a Cheer/Toast to SUMMER 2019!!!!!!!!