My Life Monday 1

My new blog friend, Rachelle, has challenged me to write about my life each Monday. Today's topic is "my favorite childhood memory".

Summers with Grandma and Grandpa

Heidi and I would go to our Grandparents each summer for about a week to 2 weeks, most summers more than once. They were only a few hours away (or less depending on where we lived in Indiana as they were always in the same place in Michigan). I remember the drive there always seemed long whether it be 1 hour or 3 hours. So Heidi and I would fight over the middle of the back seat so one of us could lay our head down to sleep the trip away. I got so mad when I had to lay against the door (and she did the same if I got the middle). (Heidi-and-I in-the-back-seat-of-the-car is a WHOLE other animal of a childhood memory... it was the best of times, it was the worst of times... as we spent A LOT of time in that location.)

I remember going to Grandpa's baseball games. He was an umpire and his ultimate goal was to throw off the pitcher with his WILD clothing. So we loved to buy Grandpa weird hats, shorts, T shirts, etc, so he could do his umpiring at his best. He would wear his weird clothes around the house and take out his dentures to get us to laugh, smile or anything to show we were tickled by his appearance. When he would shave, he would put the shave cream all over his face then ask for a kiss to see what we would do. In the mornings he would be the first one up and when I would wake up, I would go sit on his lap and cuddle him while he drank his coffee and read the paper. I loved that time with him and he did too. It was so comforting that he loved me so much and showed it.

Grandma would always let us take a bath in her whirlpool tub. She would let us watch the Disney Channel all we wanted (cable err tv alone was only found at the Grandparents'). She would take us shopping around town, to garage sales or to a small amusement park in a nearby town called Fun Spot Park. It had all the classic rides, so we really had a good time for a small fee. Grandma was a big fan of the sun and the water so she would always take us to the lakes nearby. Whether is was a family bbq at Uncle Bill's Lake house, just the cousins at Coldwater Lake or out at the Joe and Maxine's lake house, we were always having fun in the water. We loved it when we could go out on Uncle Bill's ferry boat too, but our favorite was Joe's speed boat so we could go on the tube!

There was usually a summer trip Grandma and Grandpa would take us on. We've been to Sea World a couple times, Fun Spot Park (ofcourse), Deer Forrest, Cedar Point, Auto World and all kinds of water parks.

We would also go to church with them and most summers we went to bible school with their church group too.

They bought us bikes to have at their house so we could ride around the neighborhood. There was a A&W drive-in around the corner and we would always go there for root beer floats. Grandma would always cook our favorite meals when we came to stay. Grandpa crafted many toys for us including a full kid sized kitchen and a kid size picnic table. I remember he would glue those plastic easter eggs that were half color and half clear and put a gummy bear in there so we would fight that egg each and every time we found it in the toy box. He was such a joker.

I love all the memories I made with my sister and grandparents. I miss them so much and wish they were still here so they could watch my son grow and spoil him like they did us. They truly appreciated our childhood and constantly showed their affection. I hope Liam will have half the memories we did as grandchildren. The world is so different now and his grandparents are so far away. I hope he knows them like I knew mine because I already know they appreciate him like my grandparents did us.