Reminiscing on the Summer season can bring either of two cases, remembering how dreadfully hot the temperatures would get, or thinking only of the activities you had planned to make the school break worth it. For me as a kid, I thought only of what I could do with friends, and the possibilities of what could be done to play outside. But where to start? there's so much to do!

Growing up I lived in a mobile home park with a culdesac right smack dab in the center. It was pretty much the main point of where I would hang out with any friends if they were around and that little patch of land in the middle is usually where I would have "pretend battles" with my friends, pretending to be hero versus villain, or going up against an imaginary foe (the fire hydrant was usually the dummy).

If the days got excruciatingly hot (around the 90s temperatures) I'd take a water gun or water balloon battle to the back yard of either my house or a friend's house, then cool off inside. 

A personal favorite water balloon design were the ones colored like war grenades, it made sense since our water guns were beginning to look like rifles.

If my friends found it too hot to do anything outside, there was the alternative of being inside the air conditioned house to enjoy a rousing two player video game, whether it was the likes of Super Mario Kart, Sonic 2's versus mode, or any other game we could find with a competitive edge to it. Sometimes the temperatures even ramped up to 95, way too hot to walk barefoot on the sidewalks.

If my folks had enough money saved up at this time there were at least a few locations that we always came back to, whether it was a camping trail, theme park, a mall that was in another part of the state, etc., there were many places to go instead of being stuck in the house doing the same thing day after day.

Northwest River Park was one example, having a picnic table area, a walking trail, and even a river to cruise on a motorboat. But there was also....

The Busch Gardens Williamsburg theme park. Filled to the brim with amusement rides, roller coasters, live stage shows and even 4-D movies, it was great being able to revisit any chance that we could afford to make the trip, and pay for admission for a year pass. The only downside to the experience was my stepdad egging me on to get on a ride that went way over the ground. If we couldn't be bothered to walk all around Busch Gardens though, we could at least go out and watch some movies from time to time at....

Regal Cinema, THE place for watching fun family movies on the big screen, whether they were the likes of Disney movies, Universal, Miramax, Warner Bros. or any other film company churning out great movies. Unfortunately one of the last times of going there was to see The Rugrats Movie.

Even though there was the usual option of sodas and regular fruit juices to drink during this time of the year, I occasionally had other forms of thirst quenching beverages such as Capri Sun and Kool-Aid Bursts when I wanted to take a break from drinking water.

With so much to do, it was only a matter of time before getting to August, and seeing those dreaded "Back to School" sections at stores like Wal-Mart, selling trapper keepers, pencils, rulers, and the like to get kids prepared for the next year of school, but while those uncomfortable wooden chairs awaited us, the memories of Summer would live on in our mind. What activities did you do during the Summer season? Leave a comment and see you next article!