For me, summer fun doesn’t come with an itinerary. It’s in the lazy, sun-drenched days where clocks don’t matter, and bare feet slap across hot pavement on the way to the pool. It’s staying outside until the last sliver of sunlight slips behind the trees, fireflies blinking like nature’s own fairy lights, and kids begging for just five more minutes before bedtime.
Some of my fondest summer memories center around my Memaw, a true Southern matriarch whose birthday happened to fall on July 4th. For most of my childhood, I genuinely believed the parades, fireworks, and flag-themed everything were in her honor—and honestly, she did too. Memaw loved a parade like she’d personally trained every baton twirler and marching band drummer.
I was blessed with more than 40 cousins (yes, you read that right—forty), and every Fourth of July we staged a grand parade in her front yard. We’d march around her house with unmatched enthusiasm and absolutely no rhythm, kazoos blaring “America the Beautiful” in a way that probably made the neighbors question our patriotism and our musical taste. We wore everything red, white, and blue we could find—including sashes, a few wigs, and one very unfortunate sequin vest. We believed the bigger the hairbow, the closer to God, and trust me, those bows could have their own zip codes. We marched like we were headlining the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, kazoo solos and all.
After the parade, we’d cannonball into the pool, our American flag temporary tattoos slowly peeling off as the sun and chlorine did their thing. We’d laugh, splash, snack on watermelon, and live in those perfect, ordinary-yet-magical moments that only summer can create … and always on the table for Memaw’s birthday, right next to the kazoos and watermelon slices, was another family tradition. Our grandfather (we called him “Bebop”) made the best banana pudding—except he never actually used bananas.
That’s right. For years, we ate banana pudding without the bananas. It was creamy, rich, full of whipped goodness and vanilla wafers … and not a single banana in sight. Eventually, I started adding them back in, and now we say: make it Bebop-style or go full banana—either way, you can’t go wrong.
So, whatever summer fun looks like for you—whether it’s vacations, staycations, lake days, or porch nights—I hope you take the time to pause. To breathe. To rest. Leave the schedule behind, soak in the sun, and maybe grab a kazoo or two for your own fireworks celebration … and don’t forget the pudding!
Happy summer,
Bebop’s Banana(less) Pudding
Ingredients:
- 1 package vanilla pudding mix
- 2 cups cold milk
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 quart heavy whipping cream
- 1 box vanilla wafers
- 2-3 ripe bananas (optional but delicious)
Instructions:
- Chill your mixing bowl and beaters in the freezer for 30 minutes, then whip the cream to soft peaks.
- In a separate bowl, whisk pudding mix into cold milk.
- Stir in the sweetened condensed milk and a splash of vanilla.
- Fold in the whipped cream.
- In a large bowl or trifle dish, layer wafers, pudding, and bananas. Repeat and top with whipped cream. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
