10 minute read
Making Summertime Fun
Photo by Isaac Hale
From splashing in the water to road trips, summertime is what you make of it.
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Making Summertime Memories
By Arianne Brown
Summer can mean something different for everyone. It means lounging on the beach with a good book, lake trips, boating, pools, pool noodles, swim goggles, chlorine, sunscreen, suntans, sunburns, aloe vera. Umbrellas and beach towels. Waves, sand, and serenity.
It’s sitting around campfires in the company of friends and family. Marshmallows toasted golden and placed with precision into the perfect smore.
It’s setting up tents, unrolling sleeping bags. Telling scary stories under the light of the moon. Flashlights and shadow puppets. Summer camps and meeting new friends.
It’s warm, sleepy sunrises with no alarms and no immediate obligations. Episode after episode of early morning cartoons while slurping children’s cereal.
Running through the sprinklers in the backyard. Grass-stained knees. Slippin’ slides and plastic pools. Wiffleball games and riding bikes around the neighborhood.
It’s ice cream trucks and sticky fingers. Watermelon and ice-cold water in tall sweaty glasses. Lemonade stands and treehouses. Walks in the park. Tire swings and jungle gyms. Slides, monkey bars, woodchips, and gravel.
It’s vacations to new locales. Road trips. Getting lost. Finding your way back. Chill playlists with windows rolled down. Wind blowing through your hair. Structured plans or spontaneous spur of the moment outings.
It’s lying on the couch decompressing after a long day at work. Streaming movies and TV shows you haven’t watched yet. Fingers covered in Cheeto dust. Letting the AC run while you’re wrapped up tight in a blanket just because you can. Staying in the same position for hours because, frankly, you deserve it.
It’s a break from school for at least a few months. Putting down the pencils, the pens, and giving your mind a rest.
Privacy and personal space. R&R. Time to recuperate and take stock of your mental and emotional health. Time to heal, recover, rejuvenate, and restart.
It’s night games: capture the flag, red rover, ghost in the graveyard, sardines. The orange glow of streetlamps blooming at the same time like clockwork. Warm evenings and sleepovers.
It’s sleeping on the trampoline under a clear night sky naming constellations. It’s watching a meteor shower and wishing on a shooting star.
It’s long days and short nights. Staying up all night to watch the sunrise. Staying up all night watching movies. Summer blockbusters on the big screen. Popcorn, Mike ‘n Ikes, and large sodas with two, maybe even three straws each.
It’s late afternoon barbecues in the backyard with family, friends, and neighbors. Block parties and chicken on the grill. Ruffled potato chips and Styrofoam plates. Coolers full of ice and refreshing canned soda. Hamburgers and hotdogs. Macaroni salad and coleslaw.
It’s sitting on hillsides on blankets getting ready to watch fireworks at dusk. Celebrating our freedom and those who’ve sacrificed so much to protect it.
It’s independence.
It’s freedom. Freedom to choose. Freedom to worship, to vote, to speak, to love, to exist. Freedom to be who we are without judgement. Freedom to just be.
Whoever you are, you have the freedom to define what summer means to you, so whatever it ends up being, make it count. (Brown is a Serve Daily contributor.)
Parks are the perfect place to socialize your toddlers post-pandemic
By Arianne Brown
It was a sight unseen for what seemed like forever. Kids were playing at a splash pad — like, lots of kids were playing in the same general vicinity.
I mean, it was almost something out of a movie. I almost didn’t know what to make of it, but yet I was there with my kids, hoping against hope that my kids would play well with others.
Last summer, the COVID -19 pandemic reached peak numbers, and parks were closed with the yellow “danger” tape to boot. Kids were forced indoors and away from other kids their ages.
For over a year, kids (particularly those in the toddler age) spent day in and day out, away from other kids who didn’t belong to their family.
As a mom of three toddler-aged boys, and as someone who also has a degree in early childhood development, I worried for the social well-being of my children.
I feared that they would miss critical milestones in their social and emotional development. Because seeing the same faces over and over again would likely cause them to be uneasy around other people — yes, even other kids their age — when the chance presented itself.
My assumption was verified when I took my tiny tots to the splash pad. Every one of them stayed right close to me as we entered. Heck, even my 7-year-old who I ended up homeschooling during first grade this past year was uneasy around other people.
Yet, as the minutes ticked on, and as each one of my children observed other kids playing and having fun, they started to (quite literally) test the waters.
Before I knew it, my kids had assimilated into a world with other kids as if the year away from others never happened.
It was a sight unseen for months and months —a sight I didn’t think I’d see for quite some time— but it was well worth the wait.
So, what are you waiting for? Take your kids to the park and see the magic for yourself.
Because children playing is what summer is all about — really, it is. (Brown is a Serve Daily Contributor.)
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Payson Native Competes at Olympic Trials
By Arianne Brown
It was the ending to a dream season that Payson native Summer Allen didn’t think would be a reality: competing in the steeplechase at the 2021 Olympic Trials.
Allen, who currently runs for Weber State University, comes from a running family. In fact, her parents are Hawk and Cheryl Harper of Orem who own Runner’s Corner and have their own stellar running resumes. Her older brother, Golden Harper is the founder of Altra running shoes, and her sisters, Amber and Krystal each had successful collegiate and post-collegiate careers.
Even so, Allen forged her own unique path in the competitive running world.
Born in Payson, Allen’s family moved to Orem, where she eventually became a star distance runner at Orem high school, earning a scholarship to Weber State in the fall of 2013. A much needed running break came in the form of an 18-month Latter-day Saint mission a year later to Roseville, Calif.
Upon her return, she took time getting back into shape, and entered her first steeplechase race in March of 2017 and according to Allen, it went poorly.
“My coach said that if my technique didn’t drastically improve I wouldn’t be doing the steeplechase,” Allen said. “I worked really hard after that using visualization and staying after practice and having people film me and give me pointers so I could improve my technique. I really wanted to do steeplechase. Part of me was also trying to avoid the 10K on the track though. I knew if I didn’t do the steeple I would most likely get put in the 10K, and so that gave me even more motivation.
Allen did well in her return to college athletics but was plagued by some nagging injuries that prevented her from progressing like she wanted to. And in 2019 and 2020, two life-changing events shifted her focus: marriage and motherhood.
“I got married in June of 2019 and got pregnant right away right when I was starting to feel really fit again,” Allen said. “We had our son Miles at the end of February 2020 right before the pandemic shut everything down. My husband also runs for Weber and was actually an All American.”
It was watching her husband compete at nationals in 2019, that gave Allen the drive she needed to get back at it.
“My husband took 14th at nationals in 2019 when I was about six months pregnant,” Allen said. “It was such an inspiring race to watch, that I decided I wanted to come back and do the same as him. He is one of my biggest inspirations and my biggest support although we both have lots of support from family and friends.”
“I didn’t know for sure that I’d go back to college and compete after having the baby, but I knew I wanted to and my husband just kept reminding me that something would work out. We knew we just needed to trust God and know he had a plan for our family. Luckily running was still part of that plan because it worked out better than we could have planned. I also drew strength from others who had had babies in college and kept running at a high level.”
That high level included competing at The NCAA national cross country meet in March where she earned the title of All-American like her husband; making the finals at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships where she earned a school and Big Sky Conference record in the steeplechase of 9:37.48. That time qualified her for the Olympic Trials.
At the Trials, Allen finished 11th place at the final that took place the evening of June 24 in Eugene, Oregon.
“It has been so incredible competing at this level,” Allen said. “I think I knew it was inside me somewhere to be able to run this well but if you would have told me I’d be where I am now a year ago, I probably would have laughed. I have always wanted to run at this level but it didn’t really all click until this year. This is better than I imagined. My husband and coach also challenged me to set bigger goals early on so that I could visualize myself running at a higher level and work towards those goals sooner. It was all a process though that took time and patience.”
Allen said that she drew inspiration from other mothers and would like to offer other mothers encouragement to not give up on their dreams.
“I would like to tell other mothers that if they have a goal that they’ve always wanted to accomplish, if they start out small and are consistent they can reach those goals,” she said. “Having a baby was super empowering for me. It taught me to be more mentally tough and to also have more balance. I realized that if I didn’t run well it wasn’t the end of the world and that I still had a family that loves me. That helped take some of the pressure off in a good way.”
As for what’s next, she is going to look back on this year with nothing but gratitude, and she looks forward to rest and time with her family.
Courtesy photo
Summer Allen with her husband, Christian, and their baby. Payson native Summer Allen (center) competes in 2021 Olympic Trials.
