In Search of Summer Fun

Friday, June 12, 2009

Page 11

AT THE SIDEBAR (Column)

In Search of Summer Fun

By J’AMY PACHECO

As a straight-A student, my daughter works very hard in school. When summer comes, she loves to devote her time and energy to squeezing 12 months of fun in a two- and a half month period.

Over the past few years, we’ve established a tradition that we call our Summer Fun Wish List. Toward the end of the school year, we start listing all of the fun and exciting things we hope to do over her summer break.

We usually start each summer off with a bang. For a couple years, that meant a weekend trip to San Diego to visit Grandma, Grandpa and our favorite vintage tall ship, the Star of India.

We’ve both been so busy this past year that we decided to instead spend the first day doing something we never get to do – sleeping late, then sitting around in our pajamas watching television and DVDs all day. That’s what we did last Saturday, and if I could, I’d fill the list with nothing but that.

We’ve crossed off one list item so far – we went to see a movie called “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.” At first, it didn’t seem to be as good as the original “Night at the Museum,” but once I got started laughing, it was hard to stop.

We plan to attend our annual doll convention in Las Vegas next month. That should be fun; although I confess I’m a little scared of the Rocky Horror Picture Show theme night. We enjoy dressing in costumes for each themed meal at this convention, but I’m not really a Rocky Horror Show kind of person. I’m hoping we can come up with some simple logo t-shirts to wear.

I am, on the other hand, very much looking forward to Star Wars versus Star Trek night. I’ve always wanted to be a Jedi, and I’m really hoping that whole “use the force” thing works out for me.

I’m also excited about the 2001: A Space Odyssey dinner. I know my daughter’s going dressed as one of the flight attendants with the big white hats, but haven’t figured out what I’ll go as. One of those pre-man apes could be fun, but I’m not sure the casino guards at the convention resort will agree.

Superhero night could be fun too, but my daughter wants to go as the bird-girl Maximum Ride. I can’t figure out how to make folding wings, so that’s giving me some stress.

My favorite part of the doll convention — besides being with friends from all over the world that I only see once a year — is the midnight pajama bowling tournament. I put lots of thought into finding just the right pajamas every year, and never fail to have a good time wearing them in public. There’s something very liberating about bowling in one’s pajamas.

We’re hoping to make a day trip to San Jose to see the Winchester Mystery House. My daughter has longed to see that for years, and we found a friend who is willing to fly up with us for the day, tour the house and fly home that night. I’m not sure we’ll actually get around to it, but it sure sounds like fun.

One thing I can always count on for the list is swimming. My daughter loves to swim, and wishes we had a swimming pool. Instead, we beg our friends to let us swim at their homes, hopeful that if we rotate our begging enough, nobody will grow tired of us. As insurance, we always bring a nifty melon salad.

Another sure thing is Disneyland. No summer would be complete without a couple trips to the Happiest Place on Earth, even if summer weekends also make it the Most Crowded Place on Earth. I can take it.

This summer, my daughter intends to write a novel. That’s probably not as far fetched as it sounds – she’s already written two stories that each exceed 100 pages.

The summer fun wish list isn’t just a way to make sure we do more than sit around in our pajamas every weekend during the summer. When school starts again in August, I always feel like it’s too soon to let someone else have my child five days a week, plus homework.

When we complete an item on the wish list, we cross it off and write the date on which we did it. Sometimes, we add items only to cross them off and date them at the same time.

The end of summer always comes too quickly. But by the time we’re buying backpacks and notebook paper, we usually have a pretty marked-up list that allows us to go back and say, “Oh, that’s what we did.” Somehow, it makes the summer seem more fulfilling to see a long list of checkmarks and dates taped to the front of the refrigerator.

We’ve got a long list, and a short summer. There’s one thing I’m going to have to move to the top: pajama shopping.

It looks like we’re going to need them.