It was a beautiful summer with a couple notable twists: the Clickman clan lived there from June 30 through August 15; it featured phenomenal weather with the longest stretch of sun and clear skies I can remember in our 20 years of owning the beach house. We had our annual 4th of July party, there were sleepovers, lots of boogie boarding, yummy deck food grilling, drippy castle building, freeze pops; river and lake building and visits to the Scoop Deck. Here’s a visual recap of July & August:
Something fun. Something spooky. Something yummy. Something cold. Something beautiful. Something unexpectedly scary. Something rewarding.
That was the lineup for another classic 3M August day, which kicked off sunny & hot. It ended up being an epic day of sorts, the last day we’d have an adventure via the white GMC Yukon. Seven days later, it was traded in for a new Ford Explorer.
Something fun:
After getting a bite to eat at Dunkin Donut’s in Hampton (which had a big wooden eagle in the lobby, who knew??!!), I used my GPS to find a mini golf course I’ve heard good things about in North Hampton. 
It was tucked away across the street from a driving range, hidden from Route 1 above. Three highlights: (1) we were the only people playing on the course, a first, (2) one of the holes featured a profile of the Old Man of the Mountain (see pic below) and (3) at the end of the course, you guys decided to golf backwards, hitting the balls back up the tubes that emptied to the holes. You weren’t hurting anything or bothering anyone, (and honestly it was cool seeing the colored balls shoot up into the air). I soon joined you in the madness.
It was already getting pretty darn hot. As we made our way to Portsmouth, the temperature was in the mid-80’s.
Something spooky:
Next up, the Historic John Paul Jones House. The guide taught us things about the house and even posed a few questions to each of you. I had read it was one of Portsmouth’s haunted locations, so we stayed alert for ghosts and spirits. The spookiest part were the many old portraits in the foyer… as we moved up the staircase, their eyes followed us!
across the street is the Portsmouth African American burial ground; we paid a quick visit
something Yummy:
Hungry hippos, we ate yummy subs at Googie’s on State Street, one of Ben’s favorites.
then something beautiful:
after filling our bellies, it was time to walk off our lunch. Nearby Prescott Park was just the place to do it… the splendor and beauty of their gardens in August can’t be beat.
hot scare – the sun was beating down; the temperature had risen to 90 degrees. After we relocated to Market Square, we walked around a bit, and all of a sudden my head was woozy. I felt like I was going down, about to pass out. It was a little scary. I reassured you guys, but we jumped into the Youk and soon the AC blasting onto my face got me back to normal. You guys weren’t sure what to think… it was the first time you’ve seen me in a weakened state, and I hope it was the last time. Sorry about that!
something cold… high time for a refresher, we ventured across the street to our favorite ice cream shop. You loved your Superman multi-colored waffle cones!
something rewarding…
Off we went on our final escapade… to Dover Bowl for late afternoon arcade fun. You earned thousands of tickets (over 5,000), enough to get three giant bouncy balls.
Hello Summer! Happy Summer! Historic Summer!
On June 30, your family moved into our beach house after selling the house on Prospect Street. Talk about perfect timing! With the two best months ahead, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the Clickman kids to chill out, eat freeze pops, smell the best smell in the world, feel the warm sand under your toes, veg out, boogie board the Atlantic, eat Congdon’s donuts, look at the views (front and back) and lick ice cream from the Scoop Deck.
Among many other things!
You had it all at your ready disposal… a beach house right on the beach. A private beach to boot! Sun, surf, sand. Living La Vida Loca…
Emma, you set high goals for the summer… you wanted to boogie board at least 300 waves but ended up catching 540 over the six weeks you stayed there. Go Emma!
Ben had his own bedroom and was able to chill, playing his games, doing his thing before starting 8th Grade…. what, 8th grade? Yowza I would totally chill too.
Molly ate a ton of freeze pops, played video games, laid low, swam in the natural beach pools and had fun.
Jack, you stayed busy, playing with trucks, army men, making drippy castles and becoming much braver with the Atlantic Ocean!
On August 14, you left the beach and moved into your house on Richardson Drive… just in time for school opening on August 31st.
Here are some photos from your memorable summer, a time 
you’ll always remember:
