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When you are a kid, what other season gives you an excuse to get outside _and_ read books (thereby spiking any family's complaint that all you do is sit around and read instead of going outside)? Or eat as much Italian ice/slush as you want simply because it's hot. Or have an excuse to play by yourself because all your friends are at camp or away? And even as an adult, the above benefits can still apply. :)
I do agree with Shukert that "the constant burden of forced merriment -- the sense that you should be out somewhere, anywhere, taking advantage of it all," can seriously take the fun out of holidays. Expecting holidays to be even a little like the non-stop fun you see in media is a real curse. But, hey, 1) those folks you envy are never having as much fun as you think they are; 2)in real life, it's too freaking expensive to do even a quarter of what a Carnival Cruise commercial shows you; 3) fun is relative to the person. If a happy summer for you is about sitting inside and chilling, well, that's your idea of summer pleasure.
