Tuesday Tell All--Summer Memories

I remember...

Cousins: We spent day after day after day together. Our cousins were our best friends and #1 playmates. With them we did it all...
Riding bikes- we would ride every single day, and I'm pretty sure we all taught ourselves how. Up and down the street, down the "big" hills, around the block, and when we were lucky even up to Ray's and Verg's little restaurant. And then on the front lawn at home we would flip our bikes over and pretend they were ice cream makers.
Kick-the-can-every night in the summer. We had a blast. My brother Larry was always the best player, with strategies and everything. Of course he was older than most of us, and a boy! (Most of the cousins were girls!)
Sleeping out-we slept outside constantly. Once in a while we would get to sleep in the cousin's tent trailer, but most of the time we were under the stars.
Homemade ice cream-a huge family tradition.
4th of July Breakfasts-another family tradition.

Life on the Farm: We had tons of open space to run and play in, and lots of farm experiences most kids never get. (These of course were also with the cousins)
De-horning calves-a very vivid, graphic memory! I remember sitting on the fence in front of the barn watching my dad, uncles and grandpa pull the horns off of the baby calves. It was a big days event. And then of course kool-aid in grandma's driveway.
Feeding baby calves-I remember the smell of the milk grandma would mix up in her driveway with her rotary mixer to put in bottles for the calves, and the cool, musty barn we would stand in to feed them.
Alfalfa-we loved when grandpa cut the hay. The maze created by the windrows was so much fun to run through. And then came the bales, which meant hay hauling day! Another day long event, Wendy and Tiff got to drive the hay truck, we got to ride in the back up top of the truck over to the barn, and then the Kool-aid and grandma.
Water in the ditch-was always a fun time. Sending army guys in boats down to the place where the ditch turned. This was rarely an approved activity.
Playing on the hill-we would run and play and follow deer trails until grandma came out on the front porch and rang the cow bell.
Picking strawberries-I never liked to pick the berries behind the little yellow house, but they sure tasted good! We would throw the rotten ones into the chicken coop. Sunflowers grew up behind the coop, too. After picking we rode on the tailgate of dad's little blue truck with the cases of berries.

Other fun stuff:
swimming lessons-we rode the bus out to the Clearfield Pool. Cousins of course were involved here, too. Wendy had a mean teacher, and we loved to buy Pringles to eat on the way home.
the book-mobile-mom would take us up to the church parking lot to check out books from the traveling library! Does it still come?
SW country fair days-truly the culminating event of the summer. The pageant, posse night, the parade, and the big day at the park on saturday. And the best part is, it's such a great tradition that everything about it now is very much the same as it was back then.

And when I was a little older:
swimming in the river-every day a group of kids would walk past my house on the way to the river. I would put on my Cut-offs and join them. We would jump off the bridge a few times, then walk down the tracks to the "pool" behind Bateman's and swim for hours.
laying out-with my sister and mom-the ever-loving sun worshipper.
the trampoline-many hours spent jumping and doing tricks, even more fun with the sprinkler under it!


I had such a happy, carefree childhood! I wish I could duplicate and re-create it for my kids. Of course times were different back then. I would never dare let my kids sleep outside without an adult, and riding their bikes on the street gives me a heart attack! The river has been filled in under the bridge, but that would scare me anyways! The farm is all but gone...but the cousins still remain, and I live in the same wide open area I grew up in. I hope I am helping my kids create their own fond memories, some similar to mine, some of their very own.