There were six kids in my family so there wasn't alot of money for extras. We didn't have hand held video games, high tech computers and such so we were left to entertain ourselves. In the summer time we could stay outside all day al long as we were in the house before the street lights came on. I often played with the other children in the neighborhood but for the most part, I couldn't wait to escape my siblings and head for the woods behind our house. There it was nice and quiet and I would sit for hours observing the wildflowers and wildlife that abounded in that small patch of woods. I grew to love the tiger lilies and wild sweetpeas, the many different colored buterflies and caterpillars too. I took my children to the woods behind the apartment we lived in and now that I am a grandmother, I take my grandchildren on nature hunts, observe the bugs, and bring home bugs, crayfish and flowers just like I did when I was young.
My favorite memory was when we had summer get togethers at my house. It was a time to talk to people you haven't seen in a long tiime. My dad would make hot dogs on the grill. His hot dogs were the best too, he makes them absolutely prfect. Then we would roast marshmellows on the bon-fire
We (4 children) were raised in foster home but everySummer we got to be together.
It was so great to see each other.
When I was a kid we used to visit our grandfather's farm on the country side during summer vacations. it was a great activity. We used to take bath in those large tube wells, run across the wheat and rice fields, and milk the cows (yes, my granparents taught me that). I am talking about the early 90s. There's a canal running through the village and we used to swim in it, stroll on its bank, and enjoy the eateries while sitting on the bridge. Those were the times :-(
When i was kid my umm had a boyfriend who took care of a house along the beach during the summers. We would go to this cabin style houise. we would bbq, swim, go on picnics, hike... his daughter and i would go around the "backyard" pick raspberries, lemons, and oranges and go to the creek right in the backyard and play around..then at night we would have bonefires, and we would sit on the porch swing , listen to andrea boccelli and just relax. I wish he and my mum would have been together longer so i could have appreciated this better as a teen and adult
When I was a kid, fireworks were still legal. The passing of this holiday made me think of the fun we used to have lighting sparklers and those dumb snakes - I can't remember all the names of the fireworks but I miss that fun for my kids! We'd spend all day outside since there weren't video games in every household, besides, how many hours can one play 'pong'? I remember playing tag and running so hard your face was red and out of breath. Riding bikes or skateboards down ridiculously steep hills and hitting the pavement and doing it again! Roller skating on any flat surface. Having sleep overs and daring each other to do "Bloody Mary" which no one could ever do! hahaha
I remember staying with my cousins for a week, and we always played hide-and-seek or played colored eggs or touch football or raced against each other.then my aunt and uncle would take us to get ice cream or snowballs.when i was home i would ride my bike to our stream or pick blackberries with my best friend. we would spend the night in her treehouse and be scare to death to go outside because we were afraid we would step on a snake.lol
We moved around a lot so it seemed almost every summer was spent with a different bunch of kids, each neighborhood having it's own brand of fun. But, summer was never summer without sparklers outside after dinner... contests to see who could write their name the fastest before the path of golden glow disappeared. Or the desperate need for popsicles on the back porch step, the winner of the game of the day getting first picks between the green, the red and the orange ones. Or the fireflies flickering amongst the sounds of night bugs. No matter where summer found our family, the fireflies were always there waiting for the nightly game of tag, or me, at my bedroom window long after I was supposed to be sleeping, watching them glitter in the dark hollows created by the trees. Nowadays, my favorite part of summer is watching my and all the kids in the cul de sac enjoy their summer memories in the making. Yep, sparklers, popsicles and fireflies!
I grew up as the only girl in a neighborhood full of boys, and couldn't have loved it any more. There was puddle jumping in the pouring rain, endless games of hide and seek, kick the can, and ghosts in the graveyard, hours upon hours spent trying to beat teenage mutant ninja turtles for nintendo, movie days that turned into movie nights that were filled with tons of candy, pillow fights and wrestling, games of "shark" and marco polo in my pool, picking wild blackberries off the neighbor's bushes, bike riding to the burger place down the street for lunch and fudgesicles, catching lightning bugs, talking on our front steps until our mothers called us in... I'll never forget those summers. One of my childhood freinds died four years ago this summer, at the age of 17, and on the day of his funeral, the neighborhood gang got back together and played one last game of hide and seek, for old times sake. If only we could go back to those days.
I enjoyed the summers I spent with my cousins & grandparents. I grew up in a rural area, so coming to visit them in a less rural area where there was an ice cream truck was a treat. I still remember eating ice cream sandwiches, sundaes on a stick, missle pops, fudgesicles, & other great treats. I also remember us running through the fields, riding horses & other lovely things during my childhood.
