Do you ever look back and long for the days that life was so much simpler? You didn’t care a thing about what people thought. You weren’t worried about money or material objects. You didn’t even think about what you’d be eating for supper.
There was a time when I didn’t have a care in the world and, unfortunately, that was too long ago.
We’re visiting my cousin and her family this week and she has a little girl who is 5 months older than Hudson. Because of distance they haven’t been able to hang out very often, but we’re working on that this week.
Today, we decided to entertain them by letting them play outside in their diapers so they could run through the sprinkler.
But somehow Hudson got really interested in carrying around a toy golf club. I’m confident that none of the golf courses in Columbia would let Hudson play in this attire.
But his daddy is just happy to see him holding a club at all. A diaper, water shoes, a striped hat, sunscreen, and a plastic golf club. What more can a boy need?
These two were so proud of their golf clubs and hats and just ran around the yard for a long time before they ran through the sprinkler.
They were so cute as they followed each other and babbled to each other about their plans for their playtime.
It reminded me of the summers I spent growing up in Louisiana. We’d sit outside and eat Popsicles in the driveway in our swimsuits. If the Popsicles melted all over us it wouldn’t ruin our clothes.
We left our doors unlocked and we all walked back and forth between each other’s houses. We could ride off on our bike or hop in my brothers Power Wheels truck and head down to the neighbor’s house without telling anyone where we’d gone.
And instead of a Slip ‘n Slide, we’d hose down the slide on the swing set and slide down in into the plastic baby pool.
We’d wait for the ice cream truck to roll by and then ride our bikes around the neighborhood– pretending that the screws on the handlebars were actually radio dials. Then we’d sing “Please Don’t Go Girl” by New Kids on the Block and pretend we were singing along to the radio.
It didn’t matter if we rode our bikes in our bathing suits because we were all skinny!
On rainy days we’d build forts and tents out of blankets and chairs and stay under there all day long.
We didn’t have special toys or fancy gadgets, but we used what we had and we used our imagination. And I think that’s underrated.
Today I’m addicted to my Blackberry and am constantly checking Twitter and my email. And occasionally Facebook.
I worry my head off about what people think of me and if I did enough or said enough or offered enough. I get stressed over the smallest things and none of that even matters.
It was so nice to step outside today and watch a kid be a kid and just enjoy the fact that he was free enough to roam around the yard in his underoos without a care in the world.
Thunder thighs? Who cares.
There are sprinklers to run through and bubbles to catch.
What do your simple summertime memories look like?
I often have nostalgia for the simpler days of my childhood. I loved running through sprinklers with my brothers.
Oh yes, back when I used to have fun! I think I can remember… 😉 When I was little, my girlfriends and I would set up elaborate Barbie villages, and when we got older, we used to make friendship bracelets all summer long. There was a playground near my house, and we would spend hours pretending it was a make believe village. Oh, and of course we spent the whole day in our bathing suits. And someone’s mom always provided us with gushers or popsicles or fruit by the foot or some other sugary snack I would never eat today 🙂 Like you said, now I worry too much! But that is the nice thing about having kids – they make you remember the fun you had when you were young and help you recreate it. Have a good visit with your cousins!
I just want to pinch his sweet legs! What a great post! This is a great reminder of the little things 🙂
My memories are just like that! I waited for the ice cream man, I ate picnics in my back yard, built Barbie dream neighborhoods out of multiple houses, went to the movies in the middle of the day where we packed our own sandwiches (Ha!). On rainy days we built forts and watched Disney movies. Lots of days we would change into our bathing suits and wait for my Dad to come home so we could spend a late afternoon at the beach. Then my favorite nights are ones where I would be sooo into a book I would try to hide under my covers with my flash light to finish reading, as if my parents couldn’t tell that’s what I was doing!
Such a cute post!
I long for the simple life! In fact, it’s something I’ve been working on this summer. I’ve realized material things don’t bring me the happiness I want. Instead, time with family and friends does. It’s so refreshing. This summer we took a family vacation to my family’s cabin and it was the BEST! I painted rocks with my 2 year niece, made soap with my sister, and watched the sunset over Lake Michigan with my husband. Not a glamorous vacation, but one of the best ones!
When I was a kid we played outside all summer! It was wonderful. Running thru sprinklers and bike rides for picnic lunches. In the fall we played flag football with the boys next door. In the winter we made snow forts and went sledding.
I’m all for the simple life. Bring it on! More often than not I wish I lived during a time where the internet and cell phones were nonexistent. It forces your life to be simpler and I think I would love it.
**side note: I was watching the Today Show as I was responding and they just did a segment on if money buys happiness. There is a couple in Oregon that gave up everything, but 100 items. They said they have downsized and are having a great time. I’m not sure I could do with only 100 items, but kudos to them!
Oh my gosh, I love this post–and those pictures of Hudson are killing me–so sweet! I grew up much the same way– running back and forth to my friends houses, endless days by the pool or in the sprinklers, tire swings and ice cream. I loved that. We rarely watched TV when I was a kid, there was too much other stuff to do–climb a tree? Yes! Pick plums from our neighbors orchard? Yes! Walk the dogs? Yes! I was so lucky to have parents that gave me that type of childhood, and I hope my children can have something similar. I look at my little sister who just turned 11 who is glued to her Nintendo, has a TV and a computer in her bedroom, and is about two weeks away from an iPhone and it bums me out–not because I didn’t have that, but, because she doesn’t have what I grew up with–the simple joys of childhood.
OK, wow, sorry that was such a long comment!!
What a great post! It made me think of the summers I spent at my grandma’s farm in Pennsylvania, with my cousins (there were five us us – and three of us were born within a few months of each other, so summer vacations were a lot of fun!)
My papaw would burn sawdust in his garage so he’d always have big piles and we would climb up on them and play king of the mountain, we would crush red rocks in the creek and paint streaks are on our faces and pretend we were indians, we would swing off the vines that grew on the trees in the hills behind our house, we would take turns rolling each other down the hills in huge tractor tires… oh my goodness I could go on and on. Long gone are the days when kids actually went outside to play with only there imaginations and whatever they could find in the yard -it’s sad how material people have come (myself included) and those times have been replaced with hand helds and a couch.
Your description of your childhood summers is so similar to mine! I loved riding my bike through the mud puddles after the rain. I would come home FILTHY, but it didn’t matter. My mama would strip me down on the front porch and herd me into the shower so I could wash the dirt out of my hair. She never worried about me riding across town to the swimming pool or down the street to the gas station. Never was scared that someone would pick me up and take me. It’s so different now!
I love hearing these because my husband was just making fun of one I was reminiscing about! I used to take a piece of Munster cheese and pretend it was my gas. I’d have to ride my bike REALLY fast, and nibble the cheese REALLY slow because it had to last long enough for me to ride all the way around the block.
This is such a GREAT remember Erin to get back to simplicity!!!! Those pictures are absolutely adorable!!!! 🙂
I totally agree with you. When I was little (also in Louisiana!) we did many of the same things, and often times it was our imagination that drove our fun. We played doctor, school, etc – and a lot of times we just rode bikes and were active outside. I look at my brother who is just 8 years younger and he grew up on video games and the computer. When he was much younger he played outside but somewhere around 8 or 9 I feel like that changed. I have vowed to figure out a way to make my kids use their imagination as much as possible. That’s one of the things I love about Ashley Ann’s blog – she has that down pat! http://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/
Homemade ice cream … where everyone had to take a turn cranking the handle.
I think it’s SO SAD that so many kids these days sit inside and play video games or watch TV all day! I spent my entire childhood outside… we played kickball, kick-the-can, flashlight tag, built forts in the woods, caught craw-dads in the creek, and spent hours and hours and hours at the city pool! And I totally remember putting the hose down the slide to make our own “water park!” During the summer, I’d get so dirty that my mom would let me sit in the swing naked with my goggles on and she’d just slap some shampoo in my hair and hose me down… that was my “shower” for the day!
I remember long summer nights when we would want to play outside all day and when it got dark we would catch fireflies and eat ice cream.
As an adult I definitely worry too much over if what I’ve done is good enough, I’ll replay things in my head all night; is this person upset with me, could I have done more, talked less…sometimes I do long for things to be a bit simpler.
Hudson looks so happy!
Erin, I’m longing for these times again. I love when I’m around kids that bring back those memories. The hose on the slide thing is totally what I did growing up as well. Kids nowadays take these things for granted spending all their time inside with video games, and as far as children with Androids, iPhones, and Blackberries (yes I know some…) that needs to definitely be reconsidered. They need to be kids!!
I have tons of pictures of me just in a diaper. I just tell people it’s because we were too poor to afford clothes for me back then.
i used to spend summers at my grandparent’s beach house in cape cod, ma. i would stay in my bathing suit the entire day and just run wild.
after we moved to TN, i swam everyday and rode my bike and rollerbladed in our neighborhood.
now, i’m addicted to my phone, television, and rarely go outside because of the heat!
I am reading this as I procrastinate creating my syllabi for the fall semester; I’m worried about my new classes, teaching new courses, not having time for friends and the baby once school starts, losing that last ten pounds, constantly checking my Blackberry, listening to the conversation behind me at the coffee shop.
And then I laughed at loud at the thought of riding my bike in my bathing suit. And everyone looked at me, but I don’t care. Last week, at the beach, I barely wanted to take my cover up off, much less ride a bike in my swimsuit!
But who cares? I made, carried, delivered and nursed a baby. I should be proud of my body. 🙂
Thanks for the reminder that we can all be a little more child-like once in a while.
Love this…Hudson is so adorable! I just reminiscing on those simple summer memories when we’d all get brown as could be from being outside so much & we’d put a sprinkler under the trampoline and jump for hours upon hours. Ahhh…those were the days!
Great pictures! I loved sprinklers and summer nights. When you don’t have kids and you work all the time, summer kind of passes you by. I just sort of started in enjoying it and now school has started! I feel like it passed me by and we didn’t enjoy it nearly enough…
We had an above-ground pool, which was utilized every single day. Our parents kept frozen hamburger patties and all the fixin’s handy so we could make our own lunch for friends on a gas grill. We didn’t drink energy drinks or pop, we drank iced tea. McDonalds’s was a rare treat, and never for a ‘real’ meal. Nights were spent at sleepovers, watching movies and eating popcorn. In the morning, back to my house for more swimming. We never watched TV during the day, and I still don’t. I hate how things are now.
BTW, kudos on the hats for the kids. I’m really surprised how that seems to be falling off the past few years.
I love this post! Absolutely lovely sentiments. I agree completely. And the kids look so darling.
I haven’t turned on my computer in over a week. So happy that this was the first post I chose to read. I think I’ll turn it back off and just enjoy reminiscing about the good ‘ole days. This post makes me miss my childhood and wish that times were still so simple and sweet. We spent the entire day outside…there were no video games or cable television. Oh how times have changed.
I sound so old.
*Cute pics of the babies. 🙂
Wonderful post! I yearn for the simple life. The other day driving home, I caught myself checking my iPhone (email- both accounts, FB and twitter) at EVERY stoplight. I thought to myself “What is wrong with me?!?!” So I buried it at the bottom of my purse, turned up the radio and drove on my way.
Hudson is adorable. He looks a lot like my little Trey that age. And those babies LOVE to run around in diapers. Mine sure still does! 🙂
I too remember running between our house and the neighbor’s houses. We would be gone all day and our parents never worried. Now I panic if my little one goes out of the house and I didn’t hear her. I hate that the world is like that now!
This post brought back so many memories. Funny how growing up in the midwest has so many similarities to a girl growing up in Louisiana! The pretend radio on your bike handles was the best, we totally pretended the same thing. I love kids!
Oh Erin, I LOVE this post!! Such cute pictures of Hudson and his cousin! I remember my favorite part of summer when I was younger was waiting at the end of the driveway for the ice cream truck. You hardly even see those trucks around anymore. Every time I do see one, if I have cash on me, I will always buy something. Sometimes we just need that little taste of the sweet life and it’s great that you have Hudson to give you that. 🙂
Cutest little bugger ever! 😉
Lovely, lovely photos!
I often miss the simplicity of childhood. My friends and I built an “Indian reservation” in the woods next to my house. We “built” a teepee and a campfire and played Laura Ingalls Wilder (I’m not sure how the two were related in our little world!). We also played orphanage, library and Bobbsey twins, and explored the fields behind the house. Of course, we’d go to the lake and jump off the dock too, and I do recall occasionally, the mothers would order several pizzas and have it delivered there, which we thought was just the coolest thing in the world; eating pizza at the beach!
Please forgive me if you’ve already mentioned it- but being a Louisiana girl I just have to know- what part of LA?! I also have a sweet Brussles Griffon and a little boy (five months) who I’m trying hard to intstill good, southern manners (thank you for the SL article)! So, needless to say, I love reading your blog and thanks for sharing great ideas and your life stories! 🙂
I agree…. kids remind us that “things” aka a new fall bag are just “things” and we need to look at the small and free things in life for happiness……. My little girl, Emma Bays, has the most fun with a wooden spoon…..
We need to take a cue from our little ones and laugh and have fun at the small things in life!!!!
Great Blog Erin!!!!
What a great post. I read it this morning on my phone and it made me long for my own childhood. Those were such great times. So, I spent the morning listening to old 80’s music just to bring me back. 🙂
My mom would tell us to go play outside and to come in when the streetlights came on! We waded in the creek, ate hot dogs every day for lunch, went swimming at the community pool and played Barbies on rainy days…I liked to make my Barbie a car out of my roller skate! Good times :o)
What precious pictures! Too cute and too funny! My mother used to make us slip and slides just like you used to with the swingset slide, the hose, and the kiddy pool. Great memory! We had great times building forts in the back field. Those were fun days!
It is so true! Things were so much simpler, and we didn’t even have mobile phones etc until we were much older, where as now the kids in my 6th grade class have them and are on facebook! Arghh!
I remember biking really fast to the corner of our yard at supper time, jumping off, letting the bike just crash and running inside and never stopping. We were always getting in trouble for leaving our bikes near the curb. Several times my dad had to call the local junk guy to get our bikes back b/c he picked them up thinking they were left for trash pickup! aah – good times!
What a sweet little post. I LOVE babies in diapers…H looks so stinkin adorable 🙂
I’ve discussed with friends when we stop being so carefree and started being self-concious and self-doubting. I feel like when I go on lake trips with my friends, I am as carefree as when I was a kid. Summer to me was playing cards at swim meets waiting for our race, bible camp, and dance team. Loved it. Glad you are enjoying your visit with family.
What a great post and reminder to be happy for the little things in life. Hudson looks cute with his hat and golf club!!
Your summer memories sound EXACTLY like mine, except I would add “rollerblading with friends in the garage and making up dances to Boyz II Men songs.” Haha.
It’s interesting, I think our generation will be a lot less structured with our kids because we have such fond memories of being wild and free. Boxes and sticks are great toys for fostering imagination and creativity, as opposed to expensive computer games or what not. I have such similar memories of exploring the hundreds of acres of woods surrounding my family home, playing in hay bales in my grandparents’ barn, or doing neighborhood stuff with my friends- I was especially fond of my white roller skates with glittery pink stars- gorgeous to my 9 year old eyes!
Also, I want to eat up Hudson’s sweet little baby boy legs!
Aww, so sweet, and so much fun! And wonderful memories! 🙂 You know I’m with you! I love when we just let go of the world around us (and our insecurities, phew that’s hard sometimes more than others) and just be and be thankful. Those wonderful family times, all of the everyday moments, watching the little ones play, many times less than fully clothed, hehe, they’re so cute, and don’t worry, and just enjoy!
Riding my bike with friends all day long. We would leave in the morning wiht everything we needed for the day and tno return home until the street lights came on.
That’s how we knew it was time 🙂
I hope one day that my daughter will enjoy the same kinds of summer days I did. Catching tadpoles, riding bikes around the neighborhood with the other kids, playing in the pond, summer camp in the park, and popsicles on the dock. I hope she manages to look beyond the computer, the tv, and the video games and see what the world has to offer her. On the flip side, I hope the world will let her enjoy those simple pleasures as time isn’t quite the same anymore.
Very well said Erin. As always. =)
This is a great post! I miss those carefree days too. It’s so hard as an adult with responsibilities to not worry and stress and be materialistic, but it’s something we should all strive towards!