Days Of Summer

They've already spent their last day at the pool. They've stayed up until the wee hours for the last night, slept until noon for the last morning.And yesterday, they went to their last baseball game.The kids in Camden Yards were, as you can imagine, excited and eager to return to the wonderful world of books and learning, teachers and report cards."Yuck," Daniel Levere, 10, says."Uck, headache," Adam Aronow, 8, says."I'm going to laugh and get straight Fs," Curtis Swauger, 8, promises.Perhaps the only happy student in the stands yesterday was George Balobalo, 8 ("and a half")

Temperature gauges approached triple digits Wednesday on the first day of summer, packing county pools, opening cooling centers and setting the stage for the season of swelter. Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport saw a high of 98 degrees around 3 p.m., missing the record of 100 set in 1931. With high humidity, the heat index topped 100 across the Baltimore area. The normal high for this time of year is 85 degrees. Chances for a record remain Thursday.

Ah, the waning days of summer. The last few precious weeks before school is once again in session.You'd think this would be a great time for a kid. There's still a chance to squeeze in a couple more summer memories. Maybe even have an adventure or two worth mentioning in the required essay on how I spent my summer vacation.Alas, these last two weeks before school begins have become known around my house as the whining days of summer.My offspring are tired of each other, bored with their friends and would swear that we haven't been anywhere or done anything the entire summer.

The public rumble over pit bulls, provoked by the Maryland Court of Appeals' ruling in April that the breed is "inherently dangerous," could spill into the legislature should the General Assembly decide to take up the matter in a special session this summer. In the meantime, the state's highest court has been asked to reconsider its decision, or to at least delay it until the legislature gets a chance to act. In a motion filed last week, attorneys from the high-powered Venable law firm claim the court's decision against their client - a Towson landlord whose tenant owned a pit bull that mauled a 10-year-old boy in 2007 - was based on "unsound science" and "misperceptions" about the breed.

The hero of (500) Days of Summer, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), works at a greeting-card company, where he's a whiz at creating slogans such as "I Love Us." He's given up on his professional dream of becoming an architect but not on his dream of finding true love - and he reckons he's lucked into it when his boss hires a comely, quizzical assistant named Summer (Zooey Deschanel). She likes Tom, she really likes him. But she doesn't believe in love at first sight, or even second or third sight.

For those long car trips, rainy days at the cabin, or lazy August afternoons by the pool, there's nothing that cheers a bored child like a bit of creative crafting.This summer, parents can't go wrong if they pack lots of round pony beads and ribbon into their suitcases, beach bags and totes. This summer's hottest craft is the Beady Buddy or Beady Baby, a little creature made by threading beads onto ribbons.Boys and girls of all ages love to collect the beads ` which can shimmer, glitter or glow in the dark ` and store them in the compartments of plastic embroidery-floss cases.

Good morning -- Michael Vick -- Are you glad that the dog days of summer are almost over?

Sylvia Badger is on vacation. Her column returns next week.The lazy days of summer are just around the corner. But for some party planners, summer means picnics and crab feasts. If your organization is planning a fund-raising picnic, an awards dinner or some other benefit during July, August and September, we'd like to know.Please send an announcement with a contact name and phone number to Sylvia Badger, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore, Md. 21278 or fax her at (410) 783-2519. Deadline is June 20.

IN A REFRESHING show of bipartisanship, the Maryland House of Delegates this week overwhelmingly voted to make it legal for a kid to buy an ice cream cone, walk outside and eat it. Same goes for an adult. This isn't legislation that changes life as we know it, but it's worth applauding nonetheless. Apparently, under current state law, "frozen desserts" must be sold by fluid volume, except for ice cream when it is sold "for immediate consumption on the premises." So customers have the choice of either ordering their ice cream by the ounce or the pint (or, for the less disciplined among us, the gallon)

(500) Days of Summer: *** ( 3 STARS) The opening insists this movie is not a love story, and maybe that's right. Maybe it's more about timing than love. But that time-worn emotion, not to mention maturity, grace and wonder, all play key roles in this engaging variation on the relationship film, featuring finely nuanced performances from Joseph Gordon-Levitt (whose character, Tom, is ready for a relationship) and Zooey Deschanel (whose character, Summer, isn't). OK, it's too cute at times, and the ending is a bit of a feel-good sellout, but much of the movie (including the year's best musical number)

Happy first day of summer. It officially arrives on the East Coast at 1:16 p.m. That means you have official permission to take a trip to the beach. No need for excuses or guilt. Summer = beach, no questions asked. (If you spend summer at your desk like I probably will, there's something seriously wrong in your life. Or you need to pay bills.) To welcome summer, Assateague Island National Seashore offers free admission today for both Maryland and Virginia portions. Wheee...

The lazy days of summer are soon giving way to the busy bees of fall. In that spirit, let's pause to catch up on some travel news that you may have missed in between days at the shore. New magazine. The bimonthly magazine Afar launches this month with a focus on travelers who are looking for meaning and authenticity. More info at afar.com. Boston or bust. Southwest last week began flights to Boston from BWI-Marshall Airport. It joins AirTran and next month, JetBlue comes aboard. In the face of increasing competition, Delta discontinued its nonstop flights from BWI to Boston last week.

(500) Days of Summer: *** ( 3 STARS) The opening insists this movie is not a love story, and maybe that's right. Maybe it's more about timing than love. But that time-worn emotion, not to mention maturity, grace and wonder, all play key roles in this engaging variation on the relationship film, featuring finely nuanced performances from Joseph Gordon-Levitt (whose character, Tom, is ready for a relationship) and Zooey Deschanel (whose character, Summer, isn't). OK, it's too cute at times, and the ending is a bit of a feel-good sellout, but much of the movie (including the year's best musical number)

The hero of (500) Days of Summer, Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), works at a greeting-card company, where he's a whiz at creating slogans such as "I Love Us." He's given up on his professional dream of becoming an architect but not on his dream of finding true love - and he reckons he's lucked into it when his boss hires a comely, quizzical assistant named Summer (Zooey Deschanel). She likes Tom, she really likes him. But she doesn't believe in love at first sight, or even second or third sight.

For more than 50 years, Jo McNally has spent every Labor Day the same way - at the Maryland State Fair. When she was a girl, her family packed a picnic lunch of freshly fried chicken that they ate on the grass parking lot and, if her father won at the racetrack, spent the afternoon on the rides. As a teenager, she accepted a "steady ring" on the bleachers of the Cow Palace from the boy who would become her husband. And yesterday, as a grandmother, she led a brood of youngsters around the fairgrounds to pet the pigs, milk a cow and enjoy the traditions that have meant so much to her over the years.

If you're looking for a great summer read and have vowed to take a break from the usual trash that ends up on your nightstand, have I got a book for you. It's a wonderful comic novel by the great Charles Portis called The Dog of the South, first published in 1979. Oh, I know what you're thinking. You're thinking: Hey, Mr. Helpful, how about recommending a book we've actually heard of, or something that's been published in this century? Sure, go ahead, make your jokes. But this is a terrific book.

As day broke over Baltimore yesterday, city streets were wind-swept, dark and wet. From morning rush hour till well after lunch, people walked with heads down, sidestepping puddles. Women held tight to their skirts and umbrellas were raised against skies washed a chilly gray.This is what passes for the dog days of summer this summer.Tomatoes are more green than red, utility companies have yet to beg the public to conserve energy, and while temperatures have been pleasant compared to the typical August oven, it sure is weird.

The lazy days of summer are soon giving way to the busy bees of fall. In that spirit, let's pause to catch up on some travel news that you may have missed in between days at the shore. New magazine. The bimonthly magazine Afar launches this month with a focus on travelers who are looking for meaning and authenticity. More info at afar.com. Boston or bust. Southwest last week began flights to Boston from BWI-Marshall Airport. It joins AirTran and next month, JetBlue comes aboard. In the face of increasing competition, Delta discontinued its nonstop flights from BWI to Boston last week.

Good morning -- Michael Vick -- Are you glad that the dog days of summer are almost over?

This summer, members of the Amberger family will sail in the Inner Harbor, visit the Florida Keys, go bird-watching and participate in a two-week intensive German language program. But it's the junior members of the family who will have all the adventures. Mom and Dad aren't planning to go on vacation, although they might need one after a summer of driving the kids to summer camps. Not long ago, children spent summer days lobbing water balloons, leaping through the sprinkler and slouching on the sofa watching television.