Water, summer and kids having fun are synonymous. That was true for me when I was young, whether it involved a swimming pool, the ocean or even a big scoop of water ice in my native Philadelphia.
National Organizations for Youth Safety hosted a Twitter Chat, inviting partner organizations, parents and youth leaders to join a conversation about the state of youth traffic safety today – and what we can do to improve it.
The calendar tells us that summer starts on June 21. But for me, summer starts on Memorial Day weekend, when I join aunts, uncles and cousins at the beach to open our old family cottage for the season.
Whether it’s in motorboats, sailboats, kayaks or canoes, there’s a good chance most of us will be hanging out in some kind of boat this spring or summer. After all, it’s one of the best ways for family and friends to spend time together and experience the freedom that comes from cruising on lakes, rivers and oceans.
My family has always been large, but in the last few years we’ve grown significantly as my generation has made the transition from being the kids to being the parents. This just makes our time together even more enjoyable especially when we head to one of our favorite places: the beach.
There is nothing that I can remember loving more as a kid than riding my bike with all of my friends. Every ride was an adventure and we would stay out as long as we could.
Now as an adult, I still hop on a bike every opportunity I get – and it’s especially fun to ride with my nephews, Jake, 4, and Nathan, 7, who are actually starting to keep up with me, which is saying something.
There are so many good things that come from riding a bike – good exercise, a sense of freedom, it’s good for the environment – so we want to encourage all kids to strap helmets on their heads and pedal off to the park, to a friend’s house or to school.
Every spring, weather nerds like me wait anxiously for cold air from Canada to collide with the warm air rising out of the Gulf of Mexico. And like clockwork, we watch mesocyclones (big thunderstorms to most people) build and build until they drop one of nature’s most deadly events, the tornado.