wow, great thread.

we lived in the East Bay of San Francisco. So many summers we'd pack up a cooler with Shasta (it hasta be shasta) sodas (my favorite was grape), and bologna sandwiches on white bread (nobody ate wheat bread then, or nobody I knew), and drive south through the mountains to Santa Cruz beach and boardwalk. We swim all day in the ocean, then go on the rides in the late afternoon and evening. On the drive going and coming we'd listen to the Beach Boys Endless Summer 8 track tape(!)

that was really fun.

i love zelda too!!!! im playing twilight princess now =0)

my dad used to play and sing folk music for me and my sister when we were little. recently, he gave me that guitar for Christmas =0) Unfortunately, the neck is too wide for my short, stubby fingers.

My best memories always included my family. I lived in a big old house, 6 kids, two dogs, and one Great Daddy. He was the best Daddy anyone could ask for, when my Mom decided to leave all of us. My Dad just did what needed to be done, never once gave up on us.

He had the best belly laugh, oh how I miss him, he's been gone 6 years, and I think of him daily. He used to tell each of us, {whoever he was talking to at the time} "I Love You the Most" or he would tell me, I made the best cup of coffee in the world, then say "go out and make me a cup please" so he wouldn't have to get up.

This is a great thread topic, I enjoy reading all of the posts, and yes brings back some happy and sad thoughts, but that's Life. I think Garth Brooks said it best in a song. {The Dance} "I would of missed the pain, but I also would of missed the Dance" I would not give up one memory-happy or sad

Some of my best childhood memories are of going to visit my aunt and uncle who lived in the country. They has a huge backyard, there was an orchard behind that, there were lots of animals around and my uncle would let me help harvest all the fruits and veg he grew (they never bought veg, we used to spend hours putting up veg for winter). We would often go to the woods to pick wild blueberries and blackberries and my aunt would make jam from them.
I loved it there so very much. I was born a city girl, but it must have been there that I picked up the desire for a more rural life.

My head has been swimming with childhood memories today, my father was told yesterday that they can do no more to slow down his cancer and as sad and numb as that's making me feel I'm so thankful for the wonderful memories I have.

I grew up in New England where summers are short but my parents have always loved the water and I spent a lot of time playing and swimming in rivers, sandy bottomed lakes, muddy little ponds and an above ground swimming pool. They bought a small 'camp' on a pond when I was 16 and that brought new fun with a canoe and a sunfish sailboat. Just before they retired they turned the camp into a year round home and lived there ever since. My children have lots of great childhood memories of swimming and boating at Nana and Grampy's too.

I am so fortunate at 61 years old that my mother lives with us. We talk about memories a lot. One of my favorite thoughts is all the times we went fishing with my mom's parents. My favorite picture of me is with Grandpap..both of us by the scales where a big old catfish is being weighed.

I find that mom is having more and more trouble remembering where she put things, or remembering to finish chores...but she can vividly recall scenes from her childhood and mine. I am blessed.

When I was tiny, my grandpa used to let me shave him with a safety razor with no blade, with an old-fashioned shaving mug, brush, and soap...and I got to comb his hair and play barber shop.

Turns out, he told me just this year that he loved it, because it felt like a scalp and face massage. My grandpa's 86 and he's one of my favorite people in the whole world.


Weeb

My friend Leah had a guitar and a microphone with an amp. We'd open the window, face the amp out and sing and she'd play guitar. The poor neighbors!

One of my grandfathers was really big into photography and slides...would come visit every year from Illinois to California and show the slides, from the previous year, outside in the driveway on our garage door. Always a big crowd!! He would take tons of pictures of all the kids in our neighborhood..so cool to see yourself on the big screen...wink.

May sound silly to the younger ones here with the ability now to snap a picture and send it across the world to all your friends in seconds...

good times...

Gary my dad was big into slides. I have them all now including the projector and the screen.

We used to enjoy sitting around looking at the slides from all the family holidays.

Good times.

Dad is the best, in the winter he made us kids a skating rink. He flooded the back yard (actually it was 16 acres) but he only used a bit of it. We could skate on the water collected in the field but his rink was the best

Mom baked bread every Sunday and let us eat a loaf while it was warm, yum.

I remember the day Mom and dad had gone to the track to take care of our horses and I was left at home. One of our mares was due to foal but they usually foaled at night. This one decided to have her baby in the afternoon and I was the midwife at 16. Quite an eye opener, I helped her best I could and named the baby too. All went well.