Every weekend there was something going on. Mom and our stepfather didn't always go with us, but Sundays were family day. Every Sunday after us kids would get home from Sunday School mom had us change into our play clothes. We'd all load up in the car to go for a Sunday drive. It was alot of fun really. Not as boring as one might think spending the day with mom and our stepfather in the car.
We'd spend time singing songs like "Found A Peanut - John Brown's Chevy - I am a Girl Scout - Alice - Who Stole the Cookie? and 99 Bottles of Milk on the Wall". Us kids really did enjoy these times. The highlight of the whole day was not knowing where we would be stopping along the way? We'd take a new road every Sunday to see what was out there and what we could find, sometimes it was a small animal zoo, once we ended up at the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon. At the time it looked so big. But now that I am older it looks so small. We never left home without the camera because each trip always had something we wanted to log for the memory album.
Once we stopped at a place that had ceramic Indians. Us kids were standing next to it posing to have our pictures taken. Ended up being a photo of a life time and a memory us kids still laugh about to this day. My one sister was standing next to the Indian waiting for her picture to be taken and the Indians arm fell off. There she stood holding this Indian arm. She was little, so it scared her at first... but when she saw everyone else was laughing, she laughed too.
Then there was the trip we met mozzie. Mozzie was a turtle and he was walking along the yellow line of the roadway. We of course had to stop and pick mozzy up and place him along side the road. But before mozzy was placed in the green green grass of home he was placed on the hood of the car so we could get a picture of him. Yep ... we still have the picture some where. In the photo you can see mozzy on the hood, and you can see all of us kids looking over the backseat through the windshield.
There were days we'd just be sitting around the house and mom would walk in the room and say let's go! We heard her in the kitchen rattling and clanging around, but didn't pay much attention to what she was doing. Here she was packing up a simple family picnic for us to take with us where ever we were headed. We'd take our picnic and go to the park where us kids would play half the day. Or we'd just go for a ride to get out of the house. Our day was spent as a family traveling to the next town to go to the park there and have our picnics.
Sometimes we didn't go to a park or for a long drive. We'd take short trips. My grandfather was a spur of the moment type person also. My mom, myself and my sisters are the same way. Pap would call all the family and tell us to come to his house, He's going to have a family gathering or picnic. So everyone loaded up in the car and we headed to gram and pap's house. Usually there were aunts, uncles and cousins there. The adults all sat telling jokes and talking. Us kids would be off in the yard playing games and laughing. No it wasn't a reunion. My grandfather just loved his family and enjoyed when all his grandchildren were together with him and gram.
No matter what we did during the day and no matter where our travels took us ... the trip home was the very best because no matter what road we were on, we always found the path back home that took us by "Cohick's Trading Post" for Ice Cream. Yes... ice cream! A small dip back them was the size of an extra large is these days, for a whole lot less money. We'd flop up on the hood of the car, or on the curb and eat our ice cream talking about what we did that day. After we were finished we'd load up in the car and head home. It was great family fun and everyone loved it.
Memories of A &W - Papa Size, Mama Size, and Baby size. Remember those days? Wow! We'd stop there on the days we'd go swimming. We'd go swimming in the creek out 973. After we went swimming we'd change our clothes behind a tree so we were dry to get inside the car. Mom would hang the swimming suits off the car mirror or antenna to dry. No A/C, we'd drive down the roads with the windows wide open and the radio (AM), or 8 - track player, playing as loudly as it would go. believe me it was nothing like today’s sound systems.
We'd have water battles. Well it wasn't suppose to be a water battle, but always ended up that way *smile* mom would flick water at someone, and they'd flick it back, then mom would take and toss the whole glass of water ... then it progressed from glasses, to bowls, to pots and pans, until someone (usually mom) was running to get the water hose. Laugh boy did us kids think that was great stuff. Mom started a water battle! Sure we're gonna take advantage of it and play along!
The time was the late 60's early 70's and both mom and our stepfather worked then. But mom always found time to take and do something with us kids. There was always that one day on the weekend we did something as a family. Over time for some reason mom lost interest. Things changed major, but the memories from those days will always linger in the back of our minds. Families these days need to take and do more things like this. It's great together time. Gives families a way to know one another and about each other. You learn what's happening with each other outside the home, school and work. A chance to laugh and play together. It gives our children memories that will last a life time also. You know I'm right. You probably have a few great memories of your own.
Mom and our stepfather sometimes let us kids take a friend along because they didn't do anything for fun. To this day my friends will say ... Do you remember? So it made memories for my friends to.
I do so much wish the times today were like yesterday. Kids really have nothing constructive to do these days. Things we did that were thought we great fun:
1.We'd take cardboard boxes and slide down the dike. No one ever yelled at us for being there playing. Now kids can't get any where near the dike.
2. Dances at the tennis court were fun. No age limits. Every Friday night the borough held dances open to everyone. They'd have the local radio station there to D.J..
3. Going to the local Park for Arts and Crafts on Saturday mornings. It was just for kids and it was free! Kids from all over went to the park on Saturdays just to make crafts so they could take a nice surprise home to their mom. They'd have games for the kids. Sometimes a local band would play or they'd hold talent shows.
4. There were concerts in the Park on the weekends. Everyone enjoyed them, and they weren't boring bands. Heck no! you could boogie to those bands HA HA HA! Boogie in a kids mind .... maybe it was boring the adults, but the kids "LOVED IT!" .....
5. We'd go to friends homes and make our own stage where we were big time rock and roll stars. We'd play our favorite song and lip sing to the songs. Sometimes we didn't lip sing, we'd change the words and all of us would laugh and laugh. I don't think I had any friends back then who didn't plan to be big time rock n' roll stars!
Well enough of those childhood memories for now. I will add more later on. I could go on and on about crazy things we did together as a family and as kids. One thing was for certain at the end of those days we were all laughing together, appreciating each other and the time we had together. We would be beat and tired, but us kids went to bed talking across the room to each other about the days events, and we always went to sleep giggling about something.

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