As I was finishing it, I got to the end where Alice is at court with the royalty of hearts. That scene contains one of my all-time favorite quotes, but this time, I was struck by another phrase. The last lines of the story are, "and how she would feel with all their simple sorrows, and find a pleasure in all their simple joys, remembering her own child-life, and the happy summer days. "

I have read those lines many times before, but this was the first time I really read the words, instead of just seeing them. And I thought how interesting it is that Lewis Carroll thought summer so important that he set his masterpiece during the time and made it important to the plot and moral of the story.

It got me thinking about my friend Kelly and a conversation we had a few weeks back. She was just finishing school for the summer and was so excited. She said she couldn't understand why people said they loved summer so much, when they had to work every day. I told her that I don't get summers off, but I still love it for the beautiful weather, the opportunity to be outdoors on my breaks, because my drive doesn't suck every day like in winter, and I don't have to take a jacket everywhere. It might sound silly, but that's what I like about summer.

As all of this was rolling 'round in my head, I was uploading new photos to my Flickr account when I noticed that I have several pictures of my friends' kids enjoying the summer in different ways. So I thought I would share them with you...the joys of summer.

This is Lewie driving a car at Como Zoo...his first ride EVER!