Friends, camp, water skiing, and birthdays are all very memorable moments of the year, and all of them take place in my favorite season, summer. Going to camp and congregating with old friends from Louisiana, Tennessee, and Alabama is a great experience. Darden, my lake house, is a common destination in the summer for my family. Summer birthdays also provide a great amount of excitement and joy in the summer. Those are some of the reasons summer is the greatest time of the year.

            During the summer I go to Camp Alpine, an extremely amusing all boys summer camp. We drive a long and hard five-hour drive (Which is good time) from Memphis, Tennessee to Mentone, Alabama with my mom and brother, Jack. After that ride must pack ourselves into a quite expensive Hampton Inn room. Waking up early, getting a shower, and eating a hearty breakfast are required of us on that early June morning. Anticipation builds up as we drive up to the welcoming green gates, while either a counselor or camp director tells my brother and I what cabins we are in. I feel as if I have just won a war when I hear that Murray and many other friends are in my cabin. My mom meets our counselors and we say a warm goodbye as she departs from us for a month. From this point on I will have no electronics, no snacks whenever I want, and no parents, just friendly counselors and campers surrounding me.

             Many exciting things happen at camp and that is exactly what happens at my lake house on a small lake called Darden in the small town of New Albany, Mississippi, excitement everywhere. My family enjoys going down there during the summer and spending time with family. My brother loves fishing on the dock, but my sisters and I enjoy skiing, tubing, and just cruising in the green Four Winns boat. Jack also likes cruising and will soon be driving the boat. My older sister and I started to ski about two or three summers ago and now love it so much that we double ski whenever we have a chance. While we fly on the smooth glass like lake my sister yells at me, “Over the wake, Rob. Get over the wake!” Double skiing is an immense amount of fun, but sometimes we get in quite a predicament while striving to get up on the skis. Tubing is entertaining with the high flying inflatable tube, but the water from the rope splashes like nails on our faces. My grandmother just turned 82, but she still joins us at the lake house an awful lot. We are very lucky that she is still as healthy and fit as she is. My grandmother is a great lady and her lake house is great fun. This is one of the reasons summer is the best season of all.

           Almost everybody in my family has a summer birthday, including me. My little sister, Kate, has the first birthday of the summer on a very special day, July the Fourth. My older sister, my brother, and I are usually at camp for her birthday, but this year we will be back from Alpine and Desoto in time to celebrate. Darden is a usual destination for the special day when America and my little sis share their birthdays. My brother and dad’s birthdays are very close to each other. My dad recently turned fifty and we threw an enormous party with a saxophone player, soda bar, and many close friends. Most of our guests brought gag gifts, like my favorite one a cane with a horn, dentures on a string, and a sign that read, ‘Over the hill Xing.’ Some people brought good gifts like wine and a Baskin Robbins coupon. One of the funny things about this enormous party was that it was on Jack’s real birthday. Jack decided that we would go to Texas De Brazil, a meat buffet restaurant in downtown Memphis. We enjoyed that dinner and ate a substantial amount of meat. The next birthday is my mom’s, but I am going to skip to August 20, my birthday. I love waking up on that morning feeling like am ready to explode. My mom and dad say happy birthday and I eat some breakfast. The worst part of this morning probably is the long wait for my siblings to wake up and my family to arrive at our house. I am fortunate to be able to receive many good presents on my birthday, like last year I acquired a lacrosse goal and an abundant amount of gift cards. This upcoming birthday I hope to enjoy the same sort of experience as past years.

           These reasons and many more (like no school) explain why summer is the greatest season of all four. As I leave camp for eleven months or say goodbye to the wooded walls of the lake house I will always have moments o cherish. As summer birthday celebrations are rounded up and Halloween soon to come I ready my book bag for the dreaded nine months of school to start. My class list is out, my last day at the lake, well saying goodbye to summer is tough, but I must.