What do you say we share childhood summer memories?

I'll begin -

We had no air conditioning when I was younger. I thnk we had fans, but I don't recall window units until I was older. Maybe that's why I spent so much time in the great outdoors. Hmmm...

I remember playing jacks on the front porch when it rained. My oldest sister was the absolute best jack player. She often went to tensies and back without missing. SInce she was five years older, she had her own set of friends, but every now and then she whip us younger ones just for fun. I was so impressed!

Dotsie, I LOVED playing jacks...it's hard to find the kind we had as kids these days...usually they're plastic or something else...I did manage to find some about 5 years ago and got in the floor to play...It was difficult because I was taller...or maybe I can't sit in the positions I could when I was a kid that prevents me from enjoying the game. Hmmmm...let me think about a childhood summer memory and get back. Great post, Dotsie

I have always been a champ at jacks and still play it!

I have scant memories of childhood summers in Manhattan as I was sent off to school abroad when I was 6. What I remember of that time was Central Park and trips to my parents' summer house upstate which my sisters and I still maintain. I remember the drive-in, a boat ride in the Hudson, the Vanderbilt Mansion and Roosevelt's. There was a summer camp close by which we'd pass on the drive up and down from the summer house but, I never got a peek. I remember being told not to stray in the brambles because of deer ticks. I remember flying kites, barbecues at the back lawn, peeking into the guest house to see whether children of visiting family friends were ready to come out to play.

Summers since then were spent abroad and did not come home again to spend a season in the States until I was 13 and was never back for another summer holiday until I was 17.

My favorite thing to do was ride my bike and swing. I'd love to try and kick the branches in front of me, and I loved to bail out on the up swing. I swing high and sing loud, the air making my hair slap my in the face on my sing backward. GLORY what a lift!

When young I followed my dad around like a puppy. I was at the age in my avatar picture which is two. He would let me hold the hose to water the hedges, flowers and the trees. I learned young how to plant corn etc. But when a few years older I also played on the porch in the summer rain once we were done walking in all the puddles of warm rain water. Jacks, pick-up sticks and cutting paper dolls were favorites for us kids...

That was a gentler, sweeter time when we were young, no need for computers, cell phones or TV. We played outdoors every minute we could...

Gosh does that bring me back...no air conditioning and front porches! My dad (he worked 3rd shift when we were kids) would take us to the library every week. I was a "geek" even back then and he'd let me and my baby sister roam the library for hours. It was cool and air conditioned, and I just LOVED the smell and feel of the books. I would always beg him to get out extra books on his card cause the kid cards were limited to 3. He'd consent sometimes after he figured out I would just consume the books.

Then we'd read on the front porch in the evenings. To this day, there is nothing better to me than a good book and a nice cool evening. Even when I go camping, a book is tucked into my stuff somewhere.

That and I remember backyard bbqs. We'd light the charcoal grill just to cook up hot dogs and hamburgers and dad would always get fresh corn to throw on the grill and a big ol' cold watermelon. I would just pig out on the watermelon and my sisters and I would have contests to see how far we could spit the seeds What fun!

My girl cousins and I practically lived on the beaches. We challenged each other on who can get the deepest tan, LOL!

No one had fans or airconditioning back when. I played pickup sticks and hide-go-seek when big sister paid attention to me. My adoptive brother was 12 years older than I and adoptive sister was 6 years older. So, I mostly played alone. But we had animals galore. I'd search in the haymow for the newborn kittens. I played with the calves. In my teens I had a horse. I helped daddy a lot. I bailed hay. I delivered milk. I showed livestock at the county fair. I drove trucks in the field when they loaded them with hay. I had a dollhouse and rearranged toy furniture, endlessly. I recall a miniature farm and metal cars and firetruck. Grandma husked the corn and peeled potatoes on the bench in the yard. There was a gazebo over the water well just down the sidewalk from the side entrance of the homestead. Aw...those were the days. Life was easy and worries were few. And mom and dad and gram and grap were sooooooo wonderful! Thanks 4 the memories! Gosh, this is wordy!!!

I´m from the Boston area..that means Cape Cod. And the beach parties when we drove the cars directly onto the beach..opened the trunks where all the beer was stashed. And the food..I remember the campfires where we roasted crackers with chocolate on them and marshmellows on top..mmmm..jummy! And the music..Baby Light My Fire was a big song then.. and PS I Love You (by the Beatles).

I fell in love with a great guy one nite on the beach..and the next day, he entered the priesthood. What a downer!

Those were the days my friend..we thought they would never end!

We'd sing and dance, forever and a day!

Bikes. I used to ride my bike everywhere. The town I grew up in had great river beaches, but there was only one bridge and that was a ways away from our house. I would leave early in the morning and return as late as I could, without getting into too much trouble.

And jacks. When I was teaching in middle school, I once ran a class on "old timey games" and I taught all these kids jacks. They LOVED the game.

My sister and I shared an upstairs bedroom, and we would have a big box fan in the window furthest from us. The window by our beds would blow in nice breezes.

And my girlfriends play house. When we were young, we'd play house. When we got older, we played doctor and nurse. Got caught and the house was taken down.