day 18: wagons and forts

This one is tough. How do I choose only one memory? I had a wonderful childhood you see. There are five of us girls. My mom stayed at home with us. The majority of my childhood, we lived out in the country with a big yard and creek to play in{ew}. 

My younger sister Mandy and I were closest in age. 18 months apart to be exact. Exact as to the day. I was born November 26, 1986; she was born May 26, 1988. How did my parents plan THAT? On second thought, let’s not go there. Mandy and I were also the closest in that we played together the most. Allison, though only two years older than I was “too cool” to play with us young whipper snappers. And Leesha came a long four years after Mandy, and Erin two years after that. So, you can see how Mandy and I naturally stuck together with our exact 18 month age difference.

We played A LOT of make belief. We had one of those big wagons with the rubber tires and the removable red wooden sides. You know what I’m talking about? Anyone? We played 'camper'. We rolled up blankets, pretending they were our sleeping bags. Who knows what else we packed in there. Dolls? Toys? You name it. We would take turns being the driver and the pusher. I don’t know how many times we “crashed” that thing…

*Rabbit trail- I was probably five at the most, and Mandy four. We had the bright idea of riding the wagon down the hill of our yard. "Like a roller coaster ride!", we thought to ourselves. I think a neighborhood kid or two was involved. At the bottom of the hill was a shed. Our wagon hit the shed head on. The handle put a nice sized hole in the door. My dad was not happy. I’m pretty sure there were no reported injuries. 

Oh that wagon.

Back to the camper story. We would “drive” it around until we found the perfect spot. Under the big Oak tree? Why not! Perfect for shade. Beside the swing set? Naturally! The camping site quadruples in size! We had a lot of fun. I wonder, do kids still get out and play as much as we did? I hope so. We didn’t have many electronic devices to keep us entertained. We did have a 19 inch box TV where we would occasionally watch {the original} Looney Tunes, Psalty the singing song book, and Nick Jr. Oh those were the days.

One more… when we were young my mom would occasionally attend women’s church retreats for the weekend. This meant fun time with dad! He would build the biggest, most awesome tent fort a girl could dream of. We would all cuddle under the canopy of sheets and blankets in the basement and have ourselves a slumber party. We played hide-and-go-seek. My dad was a good hider. That, or we were terrible seekers. None of us could ever find him. Once, he had us convinced he was hiding in his desk filing cabinet door. We were filled with bewilderment. And we believed him. He was and is still such a jokester. In the morning he made us English muffin egg sandwiches. It was SO fun. I will always treasure these memories.

I am so thankful for the childhood I had. I am beyond blessed. And, I love my family.

{Tomorrow: my favorite blogs}