I grew up in a tiny town on the Mississippi River. We had a pump (left over from the "olden days") out on the street. We'd go to the one store in town and buy a package of balloons. We would pump cold water in and throw them at each other to cool off. It was much cooler at the river's edge, so we'd stand down there and skip rocks across the surface. The kid whose rock skipped the most times before sinking, won. We just had to stay within "hollering" distance of our parents when they wanted us to come in for a meal or for the night. I rode my bike everywhere. We climbed the hills and pretended we were the early explorers. We had no T-ball or Little League; we just played baseball. One dad would drive all of us 20 miles away to the nearest pool for swimming lessons. We had Bible school where we brought our own lunches in lunch boxes (the only time of the year I got summer sausage, and milk in a paper carton). We had no sprinklers, but we had garden hoses. We waved as the Delta Queen Riverboat went by playing its calliope music going up or down the Mississippi. We stood and waved at the train engineer as the train went by, and at the guy leaning out the door of the caboose. We had weenie roasts and made s’mores, and drew hopscotch with chalk. And we played hide-and-go-seek. It was a safer time, and I wish kids today could experience this! Lisa
 
Anyone still experience summers like this? Maybe it’s because I still live in a small town; a lot of the stuff Lisa mentioned is a staple in our summertime activities, such as skipping rocks and riding bikes, sidewalk chalk and water balloon wars. It’s just that you have to put down the smart phone first. Put down the phone! And go build yourself a gooey s’more over a fire pit or a barbecue…make sure you at least do that much and let the kid inside you come out and play.