Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Summer Solstice


Summer is such a short season in Vermont it really deserves a huge HOORAH when it finally arrives. For the past...hm...18 years (?) we've been celebrating the Summer Solstice and Vermont's entrance into summer. It's an event all of us look forward to..not just because it means warm weather and green grass..but because it means coming together with the people we love the most and celebrating.
The kids look forward to it just as much as the adults...we have always provided plenty of games and adventure for them and each year they look forward to the costumes and figuring out the riddles that go along with the adventure. Sometimes there is a huge dragon to slay (and his insides look just like candy!), other times there is an egg that needs to be super heated so that it cracks open and pop corn flies out...and there are always bags of goodies and necklaces.


We also have games. These have evolved over the years as well...with some staying and some going. We have always had the rock toss...yes..real rocks..and some of them are pretty darn big..and the tug of war...usually deciding the winning "team". In recent years we've added the water race (filling a jug as full as you can..running across the field...dumping the water in a bucket...then sending the bucket back for the next person to fill...the team with the most water at the end gets the points) and the egg toss...and gotten rid of the free style melee...way too many injuries in that event (even though it was a lot of fun hehehe).

Summer solstice will always hold a special place in my heart..all of the memories...rain or shine..it will always be a time of friends and family coming together celebrating the long awaited sun...listening to our growing children run and play and be themselves...a time of peace and laughs and smiles and contentment.

2 comments:

Gayle said...

That looks like such a fun time, and what great memories. We never do anything social like that.

Firefly Mom said...

You had me at candy filled dragon ;D That looks like a ton of fun!