This post is part of a paid campaign.

As I’ve mentioned before, in Florida, it seems like it’s always summer. Spring runs into summer which runs into fall. We have very slight variations in the weather. Our winters are questionable as well. Even my baby girl has noticed: “Is it still summer?” “Yes.” “Man, summer is a looong time!”

That means, that the traditional summer activities reserved for June-August by the rest of the nation, are activities that we can do in Florida the majority of the year. However, for some reason or another, my family reserves beach trips for summer. It’s not that we can’t go other months in the year, since the weather certainly allows it. It’s just something that has become part of our routine – once September comes around, we don’t make any beach trips until the following May or June.

Because of that, our beach trips are what make summer the most memorable for me. That, and maybe the fact that I am from a tropical island and spent much of my early childhood on the sand under palm trees. I love la playa. From the cool wind and water, down to the hot sand and even the sea smell. It’s great to see that love was inherited by my daughter.

I can’t share the palm trees and coconuts with her, since the beaches near us don’t have anything but pure sand for miles and miles. I can, however, share many memories with her: collecting sea shells, swinging under a palm tree in the hamaca, and playing in the water, for example. Since she visited Puerto Rico with us last year, she’s able to remember the beaches in Puerto Rico and relate.

Now, we’re making our own memories by visiting the beach every summer. Since she was only about 6 months old, we’ve made beach trips during the summer. She loves it and can’t get enough of playing on the beach. We may not have many standard summer activities that differentiate the summer from any other season in Florida. Yet, somehow, our family has managed to find something to make summer our own.

This summer, we’ve also had the opportunity to try out some frozen pops courtesy of Popsicle. After tasting the Popsicle® Jolly Rancher™ ice pops, we then tried the new Slow Melt Ice Pops – specifically of the Dora variety, since baby girl is a fan. She loved the different shapes they come in and, of course, tried the pink one first, because what other color is there? These Popsicle Slow Melt pops are meant to last longer (Get it? Slow Melt), which in turn means less mess on your kids’ clothes. This is especially handy when you have a kid like mine who takes for.e.ver to eat her food. No lie, she can sit there for nearly an hour eating the same plate I put in front of her. Of course, with popsicles, she never takes as long, but still eats slower than I would. I did notice that the Dora Slow Melt pop took longer to start melting than I’m used to. So, I guess it works!

Don’t forget that Popsicle is also holding a contest this summer. You can enter the Anything’s Possible With Popsicle Sweepstakes where kids have the chance to win one of three great prizes: dinosaur dig, dolphin dive, or Space Camp®! See more information and official rules on the Popsicle site.

What special summer time memories do you enjoy sharing with your kid(s)?

Disclosure: I am a Popsicle Brand Ambassador through a compensated Mom Bloggers Club member program. This post was written in conjunction with the program, but all opinions and thoughts are original.

This post is part of a paid campaign.

It’s always extremely hot in Florida. Ok, maybe not always. We do have a couple of weeks in the “winter” where you actually need a jacket and *gasp* maybe even gloves. But, for the most part? It’s hot.

So, of course, in the super-hot summer months, we lock ourselves in our air-conditioned homes and dread the days we actually have to step outside. I’m exaggerating. Sort of. I mean, life does require that you step outside the home. But, even inside the home it can get a little warm on those extreme 100-degree days. Unless you want your power bill to be sky-high, you learn to deal with a little warmth and find other ways to stay cool.

Like food. Well, technically, not food. More like cool treats and lots of liquids. Summer is when you constantly have ice cream, slushies, and other frozen goodness on your grocery list. That’s why when I was contacted to participate in a Popsicle campaign this summer, I agreed. I mean, seriously, we buy them all the time anyway.

The Popsicle folks sent us a box of the new Popsicle® Jolly Rancher™ ice pops to try out first. My 4-year-old’s first reactions when I asked her to try were:

• “Oh look! There’s jokes on them!”
• “It tastes like a rainbow!”

Mind you, the girl loves jokes. She’s constantly telling everyone who will listen, knock-knock and other silly jokes. Her father and I are often scouring the web looking for new jokes to add to her repertoire, since well, you can only hear “Orange you glad I didn’t say banana?” so many times before pulling your hair out. Needless to say, the fact that the Popsicle stick has a joke on it was a huge selling-point for her.

As far as the taste? We all noticed that they tasted a lot juicier than the Popsicles we’re used to. Of course, I later realized that we normally buy the sugar-free Popsicles, so of course, these would taste richer. She seemed to think they tasted like rainbows. The fact that it has 4 flavors and color layers has nothing to do with that, I’m sure.

Popsicle also has a fun contest going on this summer. You can enter the Anything’s Possible With Popsicle Sweepstakes where kids have the chance to win one of three great prizes: dinosaur dig, dolphin dive, or Space Camp®! See more information and official rules on the Popsicle site.

What do you eat to stay cool during the summer?

Disclosure: I am a Popsicle Brand Ambassador through a compensated Mom Bloggers Club member program. This post was written in conjunction with the program, but all opinions and thoughts are original.