Ahhh, summer vacation from school! It lasted forever, it seemed, when I was a kid. During the week, my sisters and I used to walk almost everyday to a neighborhood park that had games and crafts. We played hard and had so much fun! I spent a lot of time with my friend, Yvonne, too. We're still friends to this day.

Sundays were my favorite, though, because after church and mom's best Sunday dinners, some relatives were bound to stop by for a visit. Nobody ever called first back then, but mom and dad would sit on the front porchand talk, drinking sweet iced tea, while we kids would play Red Rover or hopscotch or tag. Sooner or later, an aunt and uncle and various cousins, or an older, married sister with her family would show up and then the fun would really begin because then we'd have enough kids to play kickball in the street. Sometimes, instead, we'd sit in the rocks and try to find Indian beads, or walk to the drugstore for some Junior Mints, or an ice cream cone, or Necco wafers (we'd play Communion with them, lol). When it started getting dark, we'd try to catch lightening bugs, or sit in a circle on the lawn and tell ghost stories. Being the youngest of the family, I usually went crying to mom when I got too scared, lol, and my sisters teased me about that.

As good as summer was, by about the middle of August, I was looking forward to going back to school. We didn't start back up until the Tuesday after Labor Day and I always loved the smell of the school building in September.


What are some of your favorite summer memories?

Such a good topic Jane. I lived the same type life you did it seems. I remember playing Red Rover, hopscotch, and hide'n'seek, but my favorite was jumping rope. I had cousins my age who lived near and it seems like we were always spending the nights together in summer. I also would go to PA and spend time with my cousins there, sometimes being allowed to stay with them for a few weeks.

Do you remember those paper tubes that were nailed on a post or tree and were round metal? I remember we were spinning around in the yard and getting dizzy, then we would lay down and look up at the sky. (makes me sick to think about doing that now) One night I was doing this and I got so dizzy, I leaned up against the tree and my head just snapped back...against the metal tube. I cut a big chunk out of my ear and it is still scarred today. Boy, did it bleed!

I don't think the kids today have as much fun as we did, do you?

Sue, thanks for sharing! Back then, I think kids made their own fun without expensive gadgets, you know? Like you, we jumped rope almost everyday. Don't know how I left that off the list. I don't know about the metal tube thingy, (sorry about your mishap!) but we did spin ourselves around and then lay down to look at the sky. That seems so funny now, lol. A perfectly legal way to get a rush, lol.


Again, thanks so much for sharing.

Good thread Jane!

Seems we did some of the same things growing up. I remember playing tag, red rover, ring around the rosie, hopscotch, red light/greenlight, hide-n-seek, jump rope (never could do the double dutch) and collecting lightning bugs. We also spent a lot of time at the creek & beach (spent half my time from the time I was born-18 years of age in AR & CA. Then we moved to CA when I was 18 and I was there for the next 18 years), took swimming lessons, was involved in the parks recreation. The park always had something going on. They had games out during the day, then crafts on certain days. I remember making a kite and decorations for the tree, all kinds of stuff. Then of course there was Vacation Bible School. Of course we spent a LOT of time with my cousins on both sides of the family, we all grew up together. We did goofy things. Someone had a stuffed bird of some sort and we would sit on my dads parents porch swing and put the bird in the middle of the street to see what people would do. Another time we wanted to see how many people we could get on the swing and the thing fell-we all scattered about. On both sides I remember everyone being at my grandparents home and then when everyone left we usually went to someone elses house and spent the night. Things were so different back then and it was nothing to just roam the streets which is what we did. I got my first pair of roller skates in the first grade and boy did I have fun with those, they were those metal ones that you wear shoes with. I don't ever remember being bored in the summer time, there was always something to do. The good old days...

Cristi - omg, I forgot about the roller skates! Yep, the ones we had, we wore with shoes and you had to use a key to adjust the length, lol. We wore the key on a string around our necks. My sisters and I would skate to the church parking lot because it was all smooth blacktop, and except for Sunday mornings, there weren't any cars moving around to bug us. Your post sure brought back some good memories.

Anyway, thanks for sharing, Cristi.

Wow!! Awesome idea for a thread Jane!!!

I remember a lot of jacks, hop scotch, red rover, superman and underdog, hide and go seek, tag, ring around the rosie, red light/greenlight, jump rope (remember: not last night but the night before!), and of course bike riding!
When we were a little older, 10 or so we were allowed to ride our bikes to our Aunts house (about 3 miles away) so we could swim in her pool or to the park pools near her house!
We of course did the spinning until we fell over and we had a swing set so that was always a lot of fun!!!
At that time it was safe to sleep outside! We had a big back yard and spent weeks sleeping outside in sleeping bags under the stars!!
And I agree...I don't think kids today have nearly as much fun!!!!

OMG! How could I forget jacks-loved that and even bought some a few years ago that were plastic to show the kids what we played as a child. Another was chinese jump rope-anyone remember that one? And spinning...who came up with that one? It was silly to spin 'til we couldn't stand any longer though. So much fun back in the day.