I feel the warmth against my skin of the sun beating down on me. It burns because I’ve been outside so much recently. I open my eyes from my little poolside nap and everything is so bright. I put on my sunglasses and instantly I can see. My attention is focused on the smell of the burgers and brats coming from the grill, it makes me so hungry. The yells and laughs of kids playing in the street behind me are so loud and I realize how awesome it is to be off of school for three months. I get up to go get in the pool and my body instantly cools off as the sharpshooting cold water goes into my legs and up the rest of my body. I keep submerging myself into the water knowing how refreshing it will be once I get all the way in.  

SLAM! My dad comes out of the house to get back on the grill and flip the patties. I had invited some friends over for the cookout and they were just starting to show up. I hear the revs of the engines as they start to pull up into the driveway. I ran up to the driveway to see who it was. I start guessing which one of them it will be however; it is none of them it was just the boring UPS driver who was dropping off a package. My dog starts barking at him, so I take the package and bring it inside. I find my brother in his swim trunks ready to get in the pool with me, but then all of a sudden my friends show up in the same car and they’re with my friend from Texas. I was super surprised to see him because I had no idea he would be coming up to hang out with us for a couple of weeks. This had me so excited for the night that was to come.

About 15 min later my dad said all the food was ready. We ate outside on the deck where we had juicy burgers, glorious mac and cheese, and some delicious watermelon. This night was just getting started as we had a ton of laughs at dinner and some great food to start the night. We all looked at the pool as it glistened under the sun and we were all sweating from just being in the sun during dinner so we all wanted to jump in. 

As soon as we got in it was chaos, water splashing everywhere, the basketball flying, and boys being tackled. It was so much fun. About a few minutes later my brothers both came down and asked if they could join us and of course, we said yes. We made new teams so they would be fair with the addition of my brothers and played for hours. 

It was getting darker out so we decided to take a break from the pool and get a bonfire started. We tried and tried to get it started but it just wouldn't stay lit. After about ten minutes we got it. The fire began to blaze and was hot on our skin. But this darkness brought bugs out. We were getting bitten like crazy and told stories about this past school year. I had texted my dad to ask him if he could bring out bug spray which he did reluctantly. Pshhh! The bug spray was everywhere and we could smell that horrendous smell and it was getting in our mouths. I thought to myself, All of this bug spray for the bugs to just continue biting me and flying in my face. 

For a few more hours the fire danced brightly. As it died down we got out the smore supplies and roasted smores. I like mine burnt to a crisp and all my friends thought I was crazy but I said to them, “It’s the best way.” They all looked at me with their eyes wide, but they wouldn’t even try it. 

It was getting late and we were all getting very tired so we decided to put the fire out and head inside for the rest of the night. We played ping pong and games in my basement with baseball games playing in the background. This was a great way to kick off my summer and it was an amazing night.