The Summer Tag!!

When temperatures roared to a scale of 86F, n just as we started mentioning the summer,lo! I get tagged by Priya..I am to write the 8 things i enjoy doing in summer..

Let me start with the summers when I was at school and like any kid, the Summer holidays were much rejoiced!!
In whichever part of the country we were, during summer, we wud be back to our home state kerala entitled "God's own country". It was fun to be at my grandparents place..I am the first born to my mom, she to her dad n he to his parents.. so in this case, i was the only one in my generation for quite a while there.. N that did the wonder.. I cud bask in the warmth of the love n care of my grandparents,my mom's 4 siblings, her uncles, aunts n cousins who were in school or college at the time. They called me "diya kutti"(diya baby :)) and thus pampered me a lot..I know i still hold that special place in their hearts.N later as the family extended, the fun was in the merriness n togetherness..
So my first best thing is goin to native place and being with all cousins and relatives..

My second best thing is also associated with my native place..my granny along with her favourite maid who was also to be addressed as granny by us, and her 2 daughters prepared a horde of sumptuous savouries, desserts n pickles.. Each day was a feast.. My favourites among them were the chips made of jack fruit, plantain, jack fruit halwa(A sweet dish), puzhukku (A south indian dish) ,the tapioca curry, the tender coconuts specially kept aside for me.. ah i cant stand to describe any more..
Also equally joyful was when we went hunting.. Not for any animal but for fruits.. It was real fun to struggle hard to pluck jamuns, peaches,sapota, mangoes etcfrom the tall trees..Whole day long we played in the yard n in the night began the "äntakshari" sessions including all the family members..It was especially fun when there was a power cut for there wudnt be the TV to distract anyone..We also enjoyed putting mehandi on each others palms plucking leaves from the mehandi tree and grinding it into a paste mixed with tea leaves n lemon juice..
And as our school vacation was a little out of sync with the state school where my granny was music teacher, i used to accompany her at times to her school.. Also some days accompany my grandpa to his grocery shop..n each place i was given a red carpet welcome ;-)

The third favourite thing is going for trips to hill stations like ooty, kodai, Gangtok, Kathmandu.. Once in 2-3 years we went for these trips and it was best enjoyed in summer when we cud eat lots of ice creams n drink copious amount of fruit juice..

But as all good things come to an end, soon we grew up n got engrossed in all the monotonous worldly affairs of attaining a degree /career and all the serious things..But even in college i did have my share of fun..
4. water theme parks.. every visit has made my day memorable n though I'm a little scared of water (no sarcasm pls :P) it has been real fun..
5. the holi festival which comes in the outset of summer.. A delightful festival full of colours and water, it is worth waiting for the summer...
6.Ice creams... I can spend an entire day in an ice cream parlour.. N chilling out summer with ice creams is my kinda treat :)
7. the beach.. actually it can be point no 1 too. for i simply love being at the beach...N summer or winter its always an affirmative for a beach trip from me.. However it becomes all the more exciting in summers as it is more active and lively..The best way to beat the heat..just be in the water lol..
8.Sleep during day n party at night.. when i was at Chennai where its almost always summer, every weekend thats how it used to be.. We wud laze in bed or in front of TV hogging till 4-5 pm after which our day wud begin ;-) Gosh i miss those days...
Hope to do many more thrilling activities this summer, my first one here in US.. will keep u posted..(hope my flashback stories didn't bore u..)