I Remember....

Ever since I've been a Mom I've wondered what childhood memories my children will have. What things, big or small, will they carry with them and hopefully remember fondly? That may seem strange, I know, but of course it comes from hoping that my children have many enjoyable moments as they grow, with tons of wonderful memories to come from those moments. It also comes from the fact that I have so many wonderful childhood memories myself. I love it when something from my childhood pops into my head! Now that it's summer, I've been thinking about my summers as a kid.

I remember....

1. Stepping out the back door on the first day of summer vacation and feeling like I had e n d l e s s  days of summer ahead of me. 
2. Going to the lake after dinner with a bar of soap.  We swam and had fun, and had the "bath" at the same time. (we had never even heard of environmental issues at that time!)
3. Climbing on the large wooden beams in my Dad's barn - high over the hay bales (and the hard wooden floor).
4. Losing my little sister when we were supposed to be paying attention as we all played. She wandered off into a corn field, fell asleep, and had, it seemed, the entire town, and surrounding towns, at our house for hours searching for her.
5. My dogs. We were real original with our pet names. Whitey, Blacky, Brownie (no, I'm not kidding). Although we did have a Teddy and a Laddie too.
6. Catching lighting bugs in an empty mayo jar, with holes poked in the top, only to find them all dead the next morning.
7. Laying in a lawn chair at night, looking up at the star filled sky and watching shooting stars.
8. All five of us kids piling into the family station wagon, no seat belts, fighting over who got a window seat, to go get ice cream cones.
9. Playing with my Barbie camper by the creek across the road from our house.
10. Watching my Dad march in all of the surrounding towns Fireman's Parades.
11. Singing into a hair brush and pretending I was Donna Summer, or The Bee Gees.
12. Walking barefoot down the creek, over rocks and slippery slate, stopping to look at the tadpoles, on our way to spend the afternoon swimming in the gorge.
13. Running over my little sister (yes, the one we had previously lost!) as she lay in the grass because I was riding my brothers bike that was too big for me, and I couldn't steer it or pedal it correctly! (She still won't let me live that one down!).
14. Trying to catch grasshoppers in a field of weeds.
15. Listening to the tar bubbles on the road pop as we rode in the back seat with our car windows down.
16. Being bare foot a l l the time.
17. Sweet corn on the cob at the picnic table, with lots of butter.
18. Badminton games over the clothes line.
19. Traveling cross country, with my parents and my four brothers and sisters. One station wagon, seven people. No air conditioning. No electronic games. And we still had fun! Singing to the radio. Searching for different license plates on the cars that passed by. Sitting on a cement picnic table, at a rest stop in the Painted Desert (ouch), trying to eat our sandwiches that Mom made before they became totally dehydrated from the dry air! (Well, ok, maybe that part wasn't fun!)
20. Sitting around the neighbors campfire, roasting marshmallows, and talking into the night.

I hope that this has made you think of some fond memories from your childhood. I'd love to hear about them! Leave me a comment and let me know what they are. And don't forget to post your water pictures in our flickr group as our water theme continues. Label them "water" to be considered for our INFOCUS selections this month. Oh, and we have exciting news! Focusing on Life now has its own button! Go to the sidebar on the right, copy the code, and paste it in your own blog!  Happy Summer!