Kids' Summer vaction

One of the best and worst time for kids here in the U.S. is summer vacation. It's great because they do not have to go to school for 2 1/2 months, no study, no pressures that go with it. The vast majority of Americans kids do not "cram' or continue school during the summer break. After all, the break is there for a reason, it's to let children be kids and explore their own interests and play. I am sure you know that I am not an advocate of too much formal study. But I won't rant about that today.
On the negative side of summer vacation is the dilemma kids have. It's "what do I do for almost 3 months"? Though the vast majority find endless things to do, including formal activities like camp, special interest classes, travel with family, sports, volunteer work, or just hanging out with friends, some kids do not know how to handle the free time. We often so over schedule them during the school year they are lost in scheduling themselves (Isn't that also a reason to let them have time of- to learn how to find their own interest and recreation?).
When I was a little boy ("Little Jimmy") I followed the "I'm not doing anything:" route. I preferred to stay home and play with the neighborhood kids. ne summer when I was about seven, my mom sent me to a summer camp, not a boarding camp, just an all day and then return home camp. I hated it. The structure and the activities reminds me of what I faced while in the military many years later.....in boot camp....not fun for Little Jimmy. I told mom to forget any more camps, that I preferred to stay in the neighborhood each summer. Fortunately, she relented and I did.
So what did I do as a boy on those summer days. Plenty. We organized clubs, (even built a clubhouse in a tree one time), has a neighborhood Olympics, swam in one of the kid's pools, went on vacation with parents to some very nice spots in the country (I still remember the beauty of the Ozark Mountains I saw as a little one), played "jail break" football and endless other games, spend afternoons at the summer kid movies (I got kicked out a few times for throwing popcorn and making mischief), traded baseball card and vinyl records of our favorite songs, rode our bikes too far away from home, played pranks on certain neighbors we felt deserved to be "pranked ( they were annoying not harmful though I was involved in some borderline "too naughty" ones too), and....well you get the idea. I was as far away from study as humanly possible and am greatly I was. I do think a child will develop his or her personality better when given more to do than merely studying.
This summer Jane's only organized activities are/were the two week acting camp and theater performance, a vacation week in Costa Rica with her mom, and maybe a visit to one of her former New Orleans friends who evacuated during Hurricane Katrina to and now lives in North Carolina. That's a lot of dead time when no friends may be available. But she has the same attitude as Little Jimmy did when he was a kid that summer is better with a little boredom than with too much structure.
Ok, now I am ready to hear from you. What were your summer (or if winter, that instead) vacation days like?