Favorite Childhood Summer Vacation Memories

These are some of my responses to a couple different
discussions in Crowdtap about favorite summer memories - 

Plus some more memories from summer's past.
I had a fun time thinking about the  good old days! :)

 

What are some of your favorite summer memories?

One of my favorite summer memories is July 4th, 2002. My husband proposed to me on the beach. I was working at the conference center that summer at the beach and he came to visit me for the day. I had noticed he was acting strangely and wanting me to hurry because he wanted to take a hike. Guess he didn't want to get caught in the rain as it often does at the Oregon Coast!

He had hiked down ahead of time and set up a picnic behind a rock and had written in the sand "Will You Marry Me?" I took the stick & quickly wrote "YES!" Our best friends were hiding and videoing the entire thing and taking photos. I'm still glad I said yes. :) It is to this day one of the most perfect days of my life (second only to my wedding day & birth of my two boys). :)

Another one of my favorite memories is the summer of 1993 (I was 12). My parents let my sister and I pick out kittens from my aunt's cat's litter. This was Snowball. My sister & I spent all that summer playing and loving on those sweet kitties. Our dad built a tee-pee out of wooden poles and tarp. We built a box filled with grass for the cats to sleep in - and would bring them inside and dress them up in doll's clothes. Special summer... Unfortunately, little Snowball got run over by the Schwann's Man the first day of school my seventh grade year. I was devastated. But I am thankful my parents let me bring his brother Misha inside to become an indoor cat. We would dress him up in doll's clothes and hats. He put up with so much. :)  Good memories, even if they are a little bittersweet. Took me a while to not hate Schwann's too. I'm over that now. :) 

Me & Snowball - I was 12

Me & Misha (Snowball's brother). Misha was my baby for 14 years.

 

I was also involved in 4-H and would do model my clothing I'd made for the Style Review. Here is my first outfit I made when I was 8 or 9.

 

Me & My Daddy :)

End of School Year Play Day at School - I was in 1st Grade. 
I loved the races because I could run fast!!!

Jumprope

Leapfrog

 

 A Freak Snowstorm in May of 1985. i built a green snowman 

because my dad had recently mowed the lawn. :)

 

 

What do you miss the most about summer vacations? What were some of your favorite summer vacation memories?

My first memories of a summer vacation are when I was around 5 I believe. We went to Ocean Shores, Washington. I remember seeing the ocean for the first time and how cold the water was. I played in the sand. I got a little grey stuffed animal and still have it somewhere in storage at my parents house. My older sisters drove mopeds on the beach and took horseback rides. My younger sister and I built sand castles and fed the seagulls.

Me & My Sister Miranda

Miranda, Mom & Me

 

One summer vacation we went to Canada for a week or more. We went to Old MacDonald's Farm in Kelowna B.C. and also to The Flintstones park - which sadly is now closed. It was like Disneyland for me. Wonderful memories. I don't remember if it was at this park or one we went to when were on this same trip, but there was a carpeted rolling slide. It was my favorite. My mom got a photo of us on that of all us girls going down - we were all grinning and squealing. :) I also remember eating "fish & chips" for the first time. I thought it was funny that fries were called chips. :)

At Old Macdonald's Farm riding a pony

Me & Miranda

I love this photo of 4 of us girls - a carpet rolling slide.

Miranda & I

The Flintstone Park 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Flintstones

 

It may sound funny, but I miss having green feet. As a kid, I would spend most of the summer barefoot and my feet would literally be stained green from running around in our big yard without shoes on. It reminds me of the carefree feeling I felt as a child - no worries, no responsibilities, no job. :) I am thankful that I got to be a kid. 


My mom made sure that my younger sister and I were safe but she gave us the freedom to roam around outside on our property. We lived in the country and back then we didn't have the worries about neighbor kids picking on us, etc. I think nowadays kids are so busy with sports and video games some of them have forgotten what it is to use their imagination and created their own good clean fun. I want my boys to have the same kind of wholesome upbringing that me & my sisters had. :) 

My sister Miranda was practicing photography. Me in our front yard.

I loved that old Jeep. :)

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http://www.alacca.org/

One of my favorite summer memories from growing up is going to bible camp ALACCA every summer. I would typically get homesick, but my mom & sisters would always send me mail and write funny messages on the outside of the envelope because the camp director always read them out loud in front of everyone when he'd pass out the mail at evening chapel. :) 

My older sisters went every summer when I was younger, so I wanted to make sure and go when I was old enough. There was tubing in the river, archery, lots of games - and lots of cute guys. :) I served as a camp counselor for a summer when I was in college. Made life long friends at camp. Hope my boys will want to go when they are old enough!

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At our house growing up, we had a strawberry patch on the side hill where we would pick for hours and my sisters and I would see who could pick the biggest strawberry! Filling our bowl was slow going as we would usually eat as many as we would pick. There is nothing quite like a "home-grown", sun sweetened strawberry. My mouth is literally watering just thinking about it!!! :) My mom would make them into jam. But during the summer we would typically just eat them fresh, or with strawberry shortcake, or my favorite - for breakfast on top of a waffle covered in vanilla ice cream! Yummy!!!

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I also remember a few mini vacations to Spokane WA. My parents took us to the carousel. I was excited when I was big enough to reach the plastic rings as we went around. We also went to Manito Park which was beautiful!!!

 

I remember visiting my aunt and uncle and cousins in Wenatchee and Cashmere Washington. We would visit Levenworth because it was close as well. Here is me and my sisters from one of those trips.

We used to go up to the mountains near Elk City, Idaho to pick huckleberries every summer too. I didn't end up with very many berries in my bucket because I ate most of them. :)

My mom & dad

George & Vern aka Megan & Miranda :)