“When you finally go back to your old hometown, you find it wasn't the old home you missed but your childhood.” (Sam Ewing)
Hello, my lovely friends!
I’m back! I need this much needed time off to relax and refresh myself. So, it’s Friday and that means fun fact day. This week we’re talking about things I did in the summer as a kid. Let me know things that you did during the summer.
1. School let out the first week of June. Our summer was from the first week of June all the way until the last week of August. We always went back to school that last week and it was always exciting to have a day off for Labor Day the following week.
2. My dad brought a kitchen table home from the University and put it in the basement. On hot days we would have dinner in the basement on the table (our basement was finished). As a kid it was fun eating dinner in a different place that was nice an cool. The bad part was carrying everything up and down the stairs, but with four of us we made it work.
3. My mom would sign us up for swimming classes at the community pool. The classes were free and we would do our class in the morning, go across the street to the grade school I went to and they had free afternoon lunch, and then we would go back to the pool and swim in the afternoon. Sometimes my dad would pick us up after work, but most days we walked the mile home. We did this practically every day except on the weekends. On the weekends they had evening swimming with your family and we would go to that.
4. We collected cans and would cash them in two times a year, the summer and Christmas. In the summer we would use the cash to buy fireworks. I loved getting the variety bags that had sparkles, black cats, and my favorite joke one that you could put in cigarettes and they would explode when lit. My dad used to smoke back then. I loved putting them in and waiting to see them explode. Once he was watching a horror movie and it went off. LOL
5. Once summer hit we barley stayed home because we were outside playing, riding bikes, or swimming at the pool. In the evening we would stay on our block. There were lots of kids on our block and we would play kick ball, hide-n-seek, freeze or whatever made up game we came up with. They was never a fear of neighbors getting mad at us playing or yelling. Most of the neighbors all came out and sat at one of the driveways and talked to each other.
6. In the middle of August my dad would come home with my grandparent’s camper and it meant vacation time. My mom would clean it up and we would go shopping for food and snacks. This is when we would be able to get snacks that we normally don’t. YAY for Doritos! We would leave in the middle of the night. My sister and I would try to sleep inside the camper on the top bed, but we just stared out the window. Okay, my sister slept, but night owl me was up and watching everything.
Thank you so much for stopping by today!
I wish you a good morning, afternoon or evening wherever you are.
Talk Soon Adios…
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The opening quote says it all, Paula! Summers in childhood were the best, and colored by loving memory, they are golden! Your memories and mine overlap quite a bit, between swim lessons and camping in the summer (although we did not have a camper... we pitched pup tents from the Army Surplus store!
ReplyDeleteHope you have a calm restorative weekend!
Yes, I think of how many times my mom talks to me about things and it's mostly about her childhood. What a wonderful time we all had in many ways.
DeleteEnjoy your weekend! (((BIG HUGS)))
I went swimming for most of July, lessons in the morning and then open swim all afternoon. In August I spent a lot of my time in my treehouse reading books. Our summer break was July and August but as a kid it seem forever.
ReplyDeleteThat's how I spent my summer most years at the swimming pool. Our library was right next to the pool and I would get books after swimming and would read at night. I know summer seemed long back then and now you blink and its gone.
DeleteHave an amazing weekend! (((BIG HUGS)))
Glad to have you back refreshed and relaxed, Paula! You were missed!
ReplyDeleteUp until about grade 4 we were out for summer vacation the first week of June and back to school after Labor Day. Then it changed to returning to school the last week in August and getting out of school the last week in May. Not sure what sense that change made, but . . . that’s what it was.
We had a kitchen in our family home in the basement, so it got used a lot in the hot summer! Love the change of venue to eat, too! Just exciting for a kid.
We always had swim lessons in the summer. Loved it. Then as we got older my brothers and I joined the swim team. So, we’d be @ the community pool early in the morning (as we would say, breaking the ice on the water. LOL) then go home, have breakfast and back to the pool when it opened for the public in the morning.
Oh I know, as kids we were out from dawn to dusk. The only rule was we had to check in @ noon and be home for supper when the street lights went on. Such fun.
Such lovely childhood memories. Barely see kids out around here now playing. Our neighbors across the fence, though, have a trampoline and the kids are ALWAYS there having fun jumping on the trampoline. It’s nice to see. But parents, as a rule, are not usually outside, either. I remember our neighbors all sitting out visiting while we played in the evening. They all looked out for us kids.
Those were the days!
Hugs and blessings
Barb
1crazydog
Thanks Barb, I'm glad to be back to my routine here. I missed doing this and chatting with everyone.
DeleteYes, changing where we ate dinner made things feel special. Wonderful memories of childhood to always have.
Have a wonderful weekend! (((BIG HUGS)))
We lived in the country, so our swim lessons took place in the local creeks. We rode bikes and traveled to different places in our imagination. IMHO, it was air conditioning that drove the adult inside. Mine used to sit in the cool evening air to relax before bedtime. Once air conditioning became available for most families, the outside visits stopped.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! Have a happy Friday. 🤗💖
That sounds like a wonderful childhood you had. Its sad that kids nowadays aren't outside playing and enjoying their summer. They just stay inside on their phones.
DeleteEnjoy your weekend! (((BIG HUGS)))
It's Kathy. My family bought a lake home when I was about 12. Every summer my mom and us 2 girls would go up there and stay for most of the summer, dad would join us on the weekends. It was a lot of fun for awhile. My Aunt and Uncle bought the lake home next to it and my aunt and 3 cousins would also stay for the summer. But once I got into high school it was hard to be away from my friends for the whole summer. We started going up only on weekends! Good memories though!
ReplyDeleteHow cool to have a lake home to go to here and there. I used to go to the cabin, but later in life stopped going because work and life. Great memories.
DeleteHave a wonderful weekend! (((BIG HUGS)))