I’m visiting my sister at the moment. We arrived yesterday and already we’ve had some great laughs—mostly at my dignity’s expense.
Yes, the trip exhausted me, but I didn’t head straight to a bed to nap; I soldiered on because I didn’t want to miss a thing. My niece and her boys joined Elle, my dd and SIL, a couple of our girls, and I for the afternoon and evening. We went to a pizza joint with retro pinball machines then came back and spent time in the pool together. I provided the entertainment while trying to get my fat a$$ into pool hammock chair. I needed lots of help to get myself balanced. Imagine beached whale/half-drowning, lots of sputtering while we were all dying laughing.
Anyway, I’m ready for another exhausting, happy day.
I’m sharing my favorite photo of my sister and I, playing dress-up when we were kids. For a chance to win a $5 Amazon gift card, solve the puzzle, then share a memory from your childhood!
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I loved visiting Yellowstone as a child. Our dog got out and tried to chase bears.
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playing frisbee
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We never took vacations as kids, but went to the beach often, 5 kids and a single mother, but I took vacations with my kids once I became a nurse and could afford it, Graceland was AMAZING for me and 2 preteen boys complained, but were totally impressed afterwards
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Campfires with the family.
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Recently, I read a post where local people are asking for donations of gently used kids’ clothing, making them available for others for back to school.
I am familiar with recycling hand-me-downs from cousins. Being the oldest of 3, I got to play pioneer every July-August for the back-to-school ‘let’s see what still fits’ process. If they were too small for me, they went into a pile for my sister later when she grew into them.
What a horrible time: trying on every piece of school clothing I had. They were clean and stored in mothballs in a huge 55 gallon metal drum and huge multi layer 100 pound paper sacks.
If the clothes fit me–pile 1. They fit, but needed repaired (seam, button…), altered, or enlarged– pile 2. Too small and did not have enough material to increase the size–pile 3. Too big (seldom, but it did happen)–back into the can for next year.
The worst was trying on wool clothing–sweaters and coats. They itched on a good day, let alone on a hot, muggy summer day. Was always happy to see those AND snow pants move on.
It was easy to scoop out the clothes to just below half way down the can. Then my dad would drop my brother into the can (and later my sister) to start handing out the clothing.
It was a tortuous time, but you know–while my mom wasn’t a professional seamstress, she was a great mom who could do anything and make anything work out. We never wanted and had everything we needed.
Those old clothes we wore maybe for 5–6 years? They didn’t wear out. We just outgrew them and passed them on. The quality was that good. A testament to the times, the workers, the care in manufacturing, and the quality of the materials used back then. That in itself says a lot!
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So many stories… one, we have a pic of us during Halloween showing off the costumes my mom made… my middle sister has such a scowl on her face…. I laugh every time I look back at it.
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When I was very little we went on vacations to the Jersey Shore staying at small rented bungalows (which have now probably been replaced with much larger houses). Then, when I was about 7, we started going on camping vacations (no fancy motels for us other than maybe the last night on the way home). First was a week at Roger’s Rock on Lake Ticonderoga in NY State. We canoed on the lake and visited the fort and waited for the daily visits of the trucks that drove thru the camp selling ice, groceries and newspapers & magazines (we bought Classic Comics and read them over and over).
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Learning to ride a bicycle is a strong memory. I was very young and small learning on a full sized women’s bike. I did eventually get there but had to stand up on the pedals to ride.
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Mom was one of 9 and the families use to go camping together at the lake each summer for a week. There was normally at least 5 families, but the men only came on the weekend as they worked during the week. So Aunts and 14-20 kids during the week. 3 boats, lots of waterskiing, swimming, and grandma floating on a floatee since she could not swim. There was always 5 teenagers and parents around her to make sure she was safe. Lots of tents and a couple campers because some of the kids were afraid to sleep outside. Mom and I always slept on cots outside in sleeping bags. We had a tent but only used to change clothes or if it rained. Lots of fun times and memories, and pictures. God we were young.
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I just had a movie reel of laughing, playing and just being happy of the young days it just being my sister, myself and our parents just being together play through my mind. It might be 4 am and I can’t sleep but I feel such happiness and peace thinking and those times together. A simpler time, snip it’s of a family that was young, 2 girls that were loved and whether our folks struggled to make ends meet or find time to spend together they made sure that happened every week if only for a hour.
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Summertimes in North Carolina were swimming in a lake that would be unfit to swim in these days, going to the city parks and competing against the other city parks, in tether ball, hula hoop contests, ice sitting and bicycle races. Nothing extraordinary just finding ways to stay cool and getting outside as much as possible.