Summer Highs

Contrary to popular belief, summer isn't just a season -- summer is a state of mind.

In summer, you can get everything done you want to or do nothing at all, you can sleep in until whenever and stay up until whenever, you are encouraged to have fun!

Summer comes with its own food, drink, dress code and soundtrack. Summer means night games, cool job opportunities, a slew of epic movies and fun dates as you try to find some "Summer Lovin'" and have you a blast -- like in "Grease."

Here, summer is celebrated in all its glory, as the TX. staff presents our Top 10 lists of things you should know under the summer sun.

Lindsey Larson, TX. Correspondent

Best summer songs

1. "California Girls" -- Katy Perry
2. "This Afternoon" -- Nickelback
3. "I Gotta Feelin' " -- The Black Eyed Peas
4. "Dynamite" -- Taio Cruz
5. "Favorite State of Mind" --Josh Gracin
6. "Ocean Avenue" -- Yellowcard
7. "Surfin' USA" -- The Beach Boys
8. "Mayberry" -- Rascal Flatts
9. "Summer Love" -- Justin Timberlake
10. "Boys of Summer" -- The Ataris

Activities not to miss

1. Antelope Island sunsets:  You can spend the whole day there, with hikes, beaches and plenty of wildlife, but when the day is through, don't forget your camera.
2. Volunteering at a soup kitchen: St. Anne's Center in Ogden is always looking for volunteers to serve lunch. This is a great way to help the community and you're guaranteed to smile while you're doing it. Take your friends.
3. Drive-in movies: Cozy up with some popcorn and have a good time.
4. Flying a kite
5. Roller skating: The cost is low, the music is fun and the wheels look good on anyone.
6. Listen to live music: Find some new tunes for your play list at venues in Ogden or Salt Lake City.
7. Trip to the lake: It doesn't matter if you don't have a boat or jet skis. Swim in the water, lie on the beach and have a picnic.
8. Reading an old favorite: Been a while since you've read the Harry Potter series? Pick it up, along with your other favorites. Reading is a fantastic way to escape the heat.
9. Hiking to a waterfall: Adam's Canyon and Waterfall Canyon are just some of the local options.
10. Making ice cream sculptures: Sculpt a face, sculpt a scene and sculpt a memory with your friends.

Fun crafts

1. Decorate flip-flops in your own style, using markers or fabric strips.
2. Make a beach bag out of an old tank top, for something new you can use all summer.
3. Make friendship bracelets.
4. Tie-ye T-shirts, bandannas or bags so they're fun and bright to wear.
5. Create a collage box by decorating a shoe box or other kind of box to hold your memories.
6. Decorate candles.
7. Make your own cards. Use bright scrapbook paper to personalize birthday wishes.
8. Tie fleece blankets. It's too hot for snuggling, but make a blanket for picnics and sitting on the grass.
9. Make your own bath salts.
10. Decorate one-of-a-kind headbands.

Best summer dates

1. A hike up Adam's Canyon with a picnic at the waterfall
2. Watching the sunset on the pier of a lake and feeding the ducks
3. Boating
4. An outdoor concert
5. The drive-in and Red Mango frozen yogurt
6. Lagoon and/or water parks
7. Cliff jumping at Causey Reservoir
8. Backyard barbecue
9. Toad's/ Boondocks/ Speed Street
10. Tubing in a river

Favorite picnic foods

1. Watermelon: As necessary as the red and white checked blanket!
2. Sandwiches: Simple and easy to make and eat. Everyone loves their PB and J.
3. Fried chicken: It's a fast food that seems almost home cooked. Finger food is great!
4. Lemonade
5. Potato chips: The crunch is so satisfying and the taste is rather addicting; if you aren't careful you could eat the whole bag!
6. Brownies: Gooey chocolaty richness! Need I say more?
7. Potato salad
8. Fruit: Grapes, chocolate-covered strawberries, you name it.
9. Soda pop: Refreshing and fizzy, but the best part is when you get it in the authentic glass bottles.
10. Animal crackers: The adventurous part of your meal -- do you eat the head or the tail first?

Summer bummers

1. Summer ending:  We all know what comes next: homework, early mornings, tests. Ugh!
2. Canceled vacations:  Disneyland here we come -- or not. This definitely isn't the happiest time on Earth.
3. Broken AC: Burning up in a hot car ride is miserable and living without air conditioning is almost unbearable.
4. Being sick/injured: There isn't much summer fun happening when you are stuck in bed at home. Bet you wish you didn't jump off that swing, huh?
5. Summer school: Don't I get to sleep in yet?
6. Cold or bad weather: Yay, we're going to the pool! If only it wasn't raining.
7. Mosquitoes and bugs: At least if you are carried away by a swarm of angry insects you won't have to go back to school in the fall. You'll just be itching bug bites for the rest of your life.
8. Sunburns: Very painful and the fried and peeling skin doesn't really help the complexion.
9. Boredom: Twiddling your thumbs is not classified as state-of-the-art entertainment.
10. Becoming lazy: We all love sleeping in and laying on the grass doing absolutely nothing. But when we're asked to do extra chores or to get up early to walk the dog, we wish we hadn't developed some of these habits.

Cool beverages

1. Water
2. Lemonade
3. Orange juice: Or, "anything orange," says Daniel Griffin, a senior at Roy High.
4. Strawberry lemonade
5. Raspberry lemonade:  "Like the kind you get from Applebees --it's pants-on-head amazing!" says Megan Eames, Roy High junior.
6. Cherry limeade
7. Pepsi
8. Lime rickey
9. Milkshake
10. Iced tea

Night games

1. Fugitive
2. "Just Dance" Wii
3. Playing at the park
4. Photo scavenger hunt
5. Capture the Flag
6. Toilet paper houses
7. Murder in the Dark
8. Laser tag
9. Board games
10. Night swimming
11. Scary campfire stories

End of summer signs

1. The Fourth of July has come and gone
2. The All-Star baseball game, always held the second Tuesday in July, is over.
3. You receive your AP test scores -- good or bad.
4. Summer clearance sales are here; finally, the cost of swimsuits actually reflects the amount of fabric in them.
5. Back-to-school ads take up a good portion of the newspaper.
6. The Tour de France is underway; bikers ride approximately 3,500 kilometers in a course that takes roughly the whole month of July to complete.
7. You're the tannest you've ever been in your life, unless, of course, you are one of those who don't tan.
8. You're sick of barbecues. Since Memorial Day, hamburgers and hot dogs have been a summertime staple.
9. Disclosure time! The inevitable has come.
10. It's Labor Day -- the first Monday in September and the acknowledged end of summer.

TX. Correspondents Morgan Briesmaster, Northridge High; Danielle Downs, Davis High; Lindsey Larson, Roy High; Hillary Slaughter, Layton High, and Megan Stoker and Michelle Thurgood, Syracuse High, contributed to this story.