For the first 13 years of my life, I lived in rural Pennsylvania. We literally lived on the side of a mountain. I think there was one other kid about my brother's age who lived close enough to play with, but he was a little strange so we didn't play with him that much.As a result, my brother and I had to entertain each other. Not such a hard thing, really. After all, we had acres of forest to roam around in, a dilapidated farm house further up the mountain to explore, a nearby creek (that my brother almost drowned in once), a monstrous tree house my dad built us and about 30 cats and one toy poodle (who was perpetually annoyed that the cats out-sized him) to play with.
My mom was big on trips to the library, but those books only lasted so long. We played a little Atari, but for the most part our indoor fun revolved around Legos. It became a kind of challenge for us and my dad to build whatever was on the outside of the box before we just did our own thing. Without fail, we perfectly replicated everything Lego put on the boxes.
I have to say, looking back, it's no surprise what a good job my dad and brother did building those massive constructions considering that they're both custom home builders now.
What toys bring back childhood memories for you?
Hmmm--there were no leggos when I was little-- I think we made up most of our fun as I lived in town with a ton of kids to play with. BUt I did have my Johnney West doll and horse:)) I always wanted to live in the country and we did for my daughter's life and she hated it!
ReplyDelete"Real" toys were Barbies. The rest of our fun consisted of loping through the neighborhood with the other kids playing all those childhood games like kick the can and hopscotch. We used our imaginations to turn sticks into swords and magic wands, etc. :)
ReplyDeleteOne year I got a huge bag of wooden blocks for Christmas. (I think one of my siblings made them in Careers class.) I'd spend hours with those, building houses for my little Playschool people and making roads and skyscrapers. Or sometimes I'd just make designs with them on my bedroom floor.
ReplyDeleteWe loved Cabbage Patch kids and Barbies when I was younger. Those were the two toys I typically played with most--at least, that I remember...
ReplyDeleteLoved the Barbies. LOL Also, I had this computer game with trivia and spelling on it. I really loved that!
ReplyDeleteBooks, barbies, and I lusted after My Little Pony! I also had a Cabbage Patch Doll who went everywhere including to the fancy restaurant where she had a seat at the table for four!
ReplyDeleteO. M. G.
ReplyDeleteKristin was a mountain girl? That's so cool!!
We played kickball and softball a lot. The rest of the time I was wandering the woods, too. Marshes, rivers, the beach, and the woods. My parents had to frisk me every night because they never knew what was still moving in my pockets. Newts, chipmunks, mice. Also brought home rare wildflowers and herbs in buckets... and berries. Or a leaf from a tree so I could ask my Nana what it was. LOL
I have never had any luck with Leggos. I don't understand the building thing at all.I end up with really big towers.
ReplyDeleteBut I marbles, barbies, and kickball. Oh, and playing Star Wars and Charlies Angels. (I always got to be Princess Leia because I was the only girl who played Star Wars in the neighborhood. But, I always had to be Kate Jackson when we played Angels. Now that I'm older, I appreciate her character better, but at the time I really wanted to be Farrah.)
I liked the kitchen. My dad built me my very own mini version in the basement. And I liked to be outdoors. I was an adventurer at a very early age and caused my mother a lot of grief with my wandering off.
ReplyDeleteBarbies, books, and my Kid Sister! I loved my Kid Sister the most. I took that doll everywhere with me until my real sister stole her :(
ReplyDeleteYou ever hear of a Big Track? My brother and I had one of those - it was awesome! You pressed the buttons on the top and told it to go forward a certain distance, turn left, etc. We thought it was so fantastically cutting-edge technical at the time! LOL
ReplyDeleteI loved Lincoln Logs, too!