In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that we take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So I thought that on Fridays I would take it easy on posting, too. Therefore, I’ll ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing heavy or too thought-provoking.
If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link below. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!
So, my question is:
What is one of your best childhood memories? I have precious memories of the poplar tree that grew in our yard. I would climb the tree and sit for hours on a branch, shaded in my leafy hideaway, looking at the blue sky and imagining the Apache Indians in the distant mountains. I spent my early childhood in the Arizona desert, near the stronghold of Geronimo. My tree gave me a bird’s eye view of the Cochise Stronghold and I was sure the warriors were still hiding there.
Thank you, SmallWorld, for reminding me of my tree!
My best childhood memory is our weekend trip to the beach. We lived in the small town by the beach in the Southern part of Thailand. My mom would pile us up on the back of her pickup truck and we would join a caravan of a few more families to the beach. We would just lay down the blanket and had the picnic there. The food mostly were fried chicken, sticky rice, snack, fresh coconut..
i have so many childhood memories around christmas time - parties and family reunions.
Jen February 29th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Amy, wow, that is an extraordinary adventure…I’ve heard a little bit about the beaches in Thailand. I dated a guy in college who grew up in Thailand - he was American but his parents were missionaries there.
Charlotte, I’m glad you have fond Christmas memories. My own kids are building a great Christmas memory bank - we always go to Grandma’s house over in the valley, and they **love** the time with their cousins and family.
It would be the cross-country trip we took from Los Angeles, CA all the way to Ohio, then down to Miami, Florida. It was when I was 10 and we were moving from Hawaii to Florida.
I remember playing “kick the can” or “capture the flag” as children. In the summer, the entire neighborhood kids would gather at one yard and play until well into dark. We would run,hide and try to ‘capture’ the other teams flag or ‘kick their can.’ I remember that we had a huge bell in our front yard that my mom would ring when it was time to come home.
It is a shame, my son wont get that kind of freedom. I just cant imagine letting him run off through the neighborhood until well past dark….
Jen February 29th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Jackie, lucky you, from one warm place to another! Cross country trips can be memorable - I’ve done a few and have great memories!!
Jennifer, I’ve never been to Vermont, but my mom would love to go. She read the Trapp Family Singers, and said the von Trapp family had a place there, and used to do music camps in the summer. I hope before she’s too sick to travel I can take her there. If I recall, there’s a big lodge there that maybe still belongs to the family?
Kelley, Kick the Can was our favorite game! I love the memories you shared and I can just picture it in my mind. You’re so right, it’s a shame that most kids can’t enjoy that kind of freedom anymore.
I always remember my sleepovers at my grandmother’s house. Every Tuesday was grandma night. She would pick me up from school and then that night we would go to the dollar movies and sneak in drinks and snacks. We always had a blast together.
Sitting with my grandmother on her big wooden porch swing that hung from a huge apple tree in their back yard. In the evening we would sit and swing, and she would identify birds by their calls and we would watch lightning bugs flicker. It was a wonderful time!
I’m glad my tree reminded you of your tree! And we had three other very special trees in our yard: a spruce tree, a maple tree, and some other big skinny tree. My poor kids have to make do with a little old plum tree; the rest are too big to climb in our yard!
Heather, sounds like outside was the place to be. I hear ya!!
Cathi, I never had a tire swing, but we’ve hung one for our children, and why is it so much more fun than a regular swing? :-)
Courtney, what an awesome Grandma! As I read your comment, I thought, I want to be a Grandma like that someday!
Jen February 29th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Deborah, another sweet Grandma! I see a pattern here! And a swing! Bird calls, lighting bugs, it sounds like the south. Wonderful memory.
Mrs. Darling, I thought you’d have a lot. :-) I LOVE your attitude - some people would have complained about getting up at the crack of dawn to milk the cows!
SmallWorld, I’ll bet the plum tree will provide more memories than you know. You’ll have to remember to ask the kids about it when they’re all grown up!
Donetta, blessings to you, I hear you! My best memories are the trees, mountains, and animals - God’s Creation is indeed kind!
I have fond memories of going on picnics with my family in a nearby park. My Dad would always rent bikes for my brother and I so that we could enjoy biking around the area.
Thanks Jennifer for visiting my blog. Yes, that photo on my blog is a jewelry holder/stand.
I’ve just discovered your blog after doing some research and blogging myself on childhood memories. It’s fun seeing how varied the memories given here are! One of my personal childhood favorites has to be receiving a toy ambulance for Christmas. Its back doors could be opened … allowing me to put a doll inside. Being able to play with dolls and toy vehicles at the same time was a slice of heaven!
Jen March 2nd, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Rach, I love the special little things that make up our memories. Picnics at the park and bike rides are not that difficult to accomplish…and this gives me new determination to focus on those little things with my own children.
Kailani, What a wonderful tradition! I can just imagine the children thinking about it during the week, deciding what restaurant they would choose…mmmm.
Brenda, I agree, I love the varied memories presented here. I love your memory — one tiny flash point that for some reason made a deep impression. I have one of those…it was a “magic window” my aunt gave me one Christmas. It had some kind of sand inside the two panes that made beautiful, ever-shifting patterns. It’s one of the few gifts I have a vivid memory of receiving.
You wouldn’t believe that the best childhood memories I had were not the happy ones. It was the time when my big family (there are 6 children) struggled financially. At 12, I was peddling fruits from our garden in the local market, cooking snacks to be sold in the school canteen, walking to school (more than 10Kms)…those memories made me decide early in life to strive hard so I won’t be subjecting my children to the same circumstance.
Jen March 3rd, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Grace, well, I believe it, and that totally makes sense!! I have quite a few unhappy memories that I’ve used to my benefit as well! It’s funny, the same person could have had the same financial struggles but taken those memories to hold onto bitterness…It says a lot about your character that you take those memories to inspire you to press on and be better.
24 Responses
Holidays in France, warm and so much fun.
Hugs.
Sarah, oh, I’m terribly jealous!! I want to hear more about your holidays in France - please do a post on this!!
My best childhood memory is our weekend trip to the beach. We lived in the small town by the beach in the Southern part of Thailand. My mom would pile us up on the back of her pickup truck and we would join a caravan of a few more families to the beach. We would just lay down the blanket and had the picnic there. The food mostly were fried chicken, sticky rice, snack, fresh coconut..
i have so many childhood memories around christmas time - parties and family reunions.
Amy, wow, that is an extraordinary adventure…I’ve heard a little bit about the beaches in Thailand. I dated a guy in college who grew up in Thailand - he was American but his parents were missionaries there.
Charlotte, I’m glad you have fond Christmas memories. My own kids are building a great Christmas memory bank - we always go to Grandma’s house over in the valley, and they **love** the time with their cousins and family.
It would be the cross-country trip we took from Los Angeles, CA all the way to Ohio, then down to Miami, Florida. It was when I was 10 and we were moving from Hawaii to Florida.
One of my favorite memories is flying to Vermont every summer to spend time with all my cousins!
I remember playing “kick the can” or “capture the flag” as children. In the summer, the entire neighborhood kids would gather at one yard and play until well into dark. We would run,hide and try to ‘capture’ the other teams flag or ‘kick their can.’ I remember that we had a huge bell in our front yard that my mom would ring when it was time to come home.
It is a shame, my son wont get that kind of freedom. I just cant imagine letting him run off through the neighborhood until well past dark….
Jackie, lucky you, from one warm place to another! Cross country trips can be memorable - I’ve done a few and have great memories!!
Jennifer, I’ve never been to Vermont, but my mom would love to go. She read the Trapp Family Singers, and said the von Trapp family had a place there, and used to do music camps in the summer. I hope before she’s too sick to travel I can take her there. If I recall, there’s a big lodge there that maybe still belongs to the family?
Kelley, Kick the Can was our favorite game! I love the memories you shared and I can just picture it in my mind. You’re so right, it’s a shame that most kids can’t enjoy that kind of freedom anymore.
Summers spent out of doors and winters spent ice skating and sled riding on our hill and pond.
Swinging on a tire swing with my cousin Heidi.
I always remember my sleepovers at my grandmother’s house. Every Tuesday was grandma night. She would pick me up from school and then that night we would go to the dollar movies and sneak in drinks and snacks. We always had a blast together.
Sitting with my grandmother on her big wooden porch swing that hung from a huge apple tree in their back yard. In the evening we would sit and swing, and she would identify birds by their calls and we would watch lightning bugs flicker. It was a wonderful time!
Too many count but one of them would be going to grandpas farm before the sun was up and helping him milk the cows!
I’m glad my tree reminded you of your tree! And we had three other very special trees in our yard: a spruce tree, a maple tree, and some other big skinny tree. My poor kids have to make do with a little old plum tree; the rest are too big to climb in our yard!
any kindness for they were rare.
Heather, sounds like outside was the place to be. I hear ya!!
Cathi, I never had a tire swing, but we’ve hung one for our children, and why is it so much more fun than a regular swing? :-)
Courtney, what an awesome Grandma! As I read your comment, I thought, I want to be a Grandma like that someday!
Deborah, another sweet Grandma! I see a pattern here! And a swing! Bird calls, lighting bugs, it sounds like the south. Wonderful memory.
Mrs. Darling, I thought you’d have a lot. :-) I LOVE your attitude - some people would have complained about getting up at the crack of dawn to milk the cows!
SmallWorld, I’ll bet the plum tree will provide more memories than you know. You’ll have to remember to ask the kids about it when they’re all grown up!
Donetta, blessings to you, I hear you! My best memories are the trees, mountains, and animals - God’s Creation is indeed kind!
Thanks for sharing your childhood memory.
I have fond memories of going on picnics with my family in a nearby park. My Dad would always rent bikes for my brother and I so that we could enjoy biking around the area.
Thanks Jennifer for visiting my blog. Yes, that photo on my blog is a jewelry holder/stand.
It would have to be going out to dinner every Friday night. We were able to take turns and choose where we wanted to go.
I’ve just discovered your blog after doing some research and blogging myself on childhood memories. It’s fun seeing how varied the memories given here are! One of my personal childhood favorites has to be receiving a toy ambulance for Christmas. Its back doors could be opened … allowing me to put a doll inside. Being able to play with dolls and toy vehicles at the same time was a slice of heaven!
Rach, I love the special little things that make up our memories. Picnics at the park and bike rides are not that difficult to accomplish…and this gives me new determination to focus on those little things with my own children.
Kailani, What a wonderful tradition! I can just imagine the children thinking about it during the week, deciding what restaurant they would choose…mmmm.
Brenda, I agree, I love the varied memories presented here. I love your memory — one tiny flash point that for some reason made a deep impression. I have one of those…it was a “magic window” my aunt gave me one Christmas. It had some kind of sand inside the two panes that made beautiful, ever-shifting patterns. It’s one of the few gifts I have a vivid memory of receiving.
You wouldn’t believe that the best childhood memories I had were not the happy ones. It was the time when my big family (there are 6 children) struggled financially. At 12, I was peddling fruits from our garden in the local market, cooking snacks to be sold in the school canteen, walking to school (more than 10Kms)…those memories made me decide early in life to strive hard so I won’t be subjecting my children to the same circumstance.
Grace, well, I believe it, and that totally makes sense!! I have quite a few unhappy memories that I’ve used to my benefit as well! It’s funny, the same person could have had the same financial struggles but taken those memories to hold onto bitterness…It says a lot about your character that you take those memories to inspire you to press on and be better.
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