Childhood Memories

Well, I was "tagged" twice for this meme and I have really enjoyed reading about everyone's childhood memories -- so here goes...

1. Spending time at my Uncle Rick's house (especially for holidays and birthdays)...he lived out in the country with chickens and horses. Us kids would go out back and swing on a tree rope and go out to the barn and jump from the top window into piles of hay.
2. Spending New Year's Eve at my grandma's house so my parents could go out. She would let us stay up to watch the ball drop at midnight. I also remember her sitting in her chair in the living room smoking her cigarettes and I don't remember ever thinking anything of it.
3. On the subject of my grandma ("gramcracker")...I remember her always having fudgsicles in her freezer, date cookies in her cookie jar, mints in her candy dish on the counter and wrigleys spearmint gum in a bowl in her cupboard.(?) I loved her so much and have soooo many memories with her in them. She died right before I graduated from High School.
4. Summer vacations in Traverse City. My family went with my grandma, my aunt and my cousin. We went every year for 10 years, I think. We stayed in the Holiday Inn on the bay and we always had the time of our lives. I remember swimming while listening to Van Halen's "Jump" on the radio and jumping over the rope everytime the word jump was sung. Playing in the arcade and meeting cute boys. Renting a jet ski and being very unsuccessful at riding the thing. Trying my first sip of a frozen strawberry daquiri (yum). Falling in the bay and getting my hair caught on the wiring around some rocks and having my aunt jump in (cutting her foot up quite badly) but saving my life!
OK, It looks like I could go on forever on this one. Let's just say these vacations were the best. (aside from the near drowning experience, of course)
5. Playing with neighborhood friends -- climbing trees, playing 4 square and kick the can.
6. SOOOOO many sleepovers. Watching movies and talking about boys. (I was always super boy crazy)!
7. Sixth grade I remember writing notes to the boys I liked asking them to rate the girls in our class on a scale from 1 to 10 on looks/body/personality.
8. Eighth grade I remember falling hopelessly in love with J.H. We "went together" for about 2 weeks and then he broke up with me. I didn't fully get over him until my senior year in highschool. (did I mention I was boy crazy?)
9. Halloween I remember going to the penny candy store with my parents because my mom didn't want us trick-or-treating...she believed Halloween was evil.
10. In elementary school I was bussed to another grade school one day a week to partake in the TAG (Talented And Gifted) program. We had cool classes like cooking and future problem solving. I was considered smart once upon a time!

It's amazing the things we remember, isn't it? But, I always wonder about all of the things that I have FORGOTTEN? Makes me wonder what Lily will hang on to.
*the picture is me (on the right) and my sister (on the left) and my mom in the distance.*