Good Ol' Childhood Games

"With a dirty, dirty dish rag on your toe . . ." Sometimes random thoughts pop into my head. This ending to the IT-identifying chant came to me as I washed the dinner dishes a few weeks back. It's one of those childhood sayings that sticks with you for a gazillion years just like, "I'm rubber and you're glue, whatever you say bounces off me, and sticks to you" or "Not IT!" Of course in my mind, one random thought leads to another, and before ya know it, a Good Things post is born.

Well, it sort of works that way. In this case, I needed a little help from my friends, and Brian's friends too. With the magic of social networking, I recruited contributors to tell me one good outdoor game from their childhood. The graphic above is the product of their responses. Some games are familiar like Dodgeball or Hopscotch, others are not so well known like Dr. Tangle or Hunt for the Ol' Gray Woolie?!?

In this tech age, kids are most likely to be attached to something digital or electronic, rather than gathering up the neighborhood gang for a friendly game of Kick the Can, which by the way was the game mentioned more than any other in my unscientific poll. Wacky!

What was so good about these outdoor games from our childhoods? I'll tell right now:

3. Little or no special (expensive) equipment needed: A ball, a can, a flashlight, a stone and some chalk, a doorbell . . .

2. Mom or dad did not have to drive any kids here or there to take part: Go outside. Find some friends in your neighborhood on foot or by bike. Round them up in a backyard, an empty lot or field, or in the alley if you had one. Play a game or two, or more. There ya have it - no seatbelt required.

1. These games were actually fun despite the potential risk for injury. (I'm not a big fan of Dodgeball for that very reason) Good times were had by all, OK, maybe not by the kid who always was IT, but heck yeah, simple summertime fun!

Unplugged.

Kudos to the following folks who shared their favorite childhood games with me, not in any particular order: Kevin, Deneen, Kristen, Jeff, Kelly, Joe, Beth, Donna, Joan, Narda, Marianne, Donna, Kim, Daphne, Greg, Ruth, Connie, and Dana. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now get out there, grab some friends, and go play!

Oh Snap! Summer Vacation Photo Fun

It's mid-July, and our summer vacations have come and gone. Me, T, and the kids recently took a trip to the northwoods of Wisconsin, about two hours north of Green Bay (that's right ~ Packer country, sorry Bears fans!) At the start of summer, Brian spent his vaca cruisin' in the Caribbean. A cabin in the woods vs. a cabin on the sea. Here are some highlights for your viewing pleasure:


Sue

2. Fish tales: You should have seen the next fish I caught. It was yay big! Actually, it was about the same size as this one which was much, much bigger in real life than in this photo. I think I might have hooked the same fish three times!

3. Just Beachy: If you give my kids a body of water and a sandy beach, they can play for hours.

1. Happy Trails, Happy Campers: T took the kids on their very first horseback ride . . .

and we enjoyed family time around the campfire.




Brian

2012 is the year of "free" vacations for me. I used points to book a cruise, and I'm getting ready to visit my family in Gulfport next month using airline miles. Not everything was free, but I'm getting rid of those points! So, let me bring you up to speed.

2) I put my feet up.



3) And put my feet up... on a cruise, and went to the highland games at a Celtic festival.

1) I went to a Cubs game in NY.

And ate a wonderful pastrami ruben.






Tada!




* Hey, now it's your turn! Please send us a GOOD vacation photo, and we will post it here on this very blog. Please tell us a little bit about the photo, in other words, write your own photo caption and we'll take care it from there. You can email your photo as an attachment to threegoodthings@att.net. and include you name, city, state or country, Please remember this is a family-friendly blog, so keep your Vegas vaca shots to yourself. Thanks!

Fabulous Summertime Fruit!

Knowledge is knowing the tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in your fruit salad. - Miles Kington

But a fruit salad is a good thing, especially in the summer months with fresh, just-picked fruit. Not so good with bad fruit like the baby watermelon and a couple of pounds of cherries we bought recently at a nearby superstore. No taste at all. We ended up throwing most of it away, which really honks me off, as Brian would say.

Brian also said this to me on IM the other day: I'm eating a peach. They just hit the store this week. The local strawberries are done now. ohhhh... so good.
He was trying to make me smile during an otherwise serious conversation about my health. He succeeded.


Sweet, juicy, fresh peaches make me smile. They are a good thing. A few summers ago, we went peach picking in Michigan with the kids (that's them peach picking (or maybe eating) there in the photo) So much fun, and tasty too! With that in mind, today's post features our favorite summer fruits, and how we like to eat 'em.

Sue

2. Watermelon! My most favorite summertime fruit. When I was pregnant with Miss O during the summer, I couldn't stop eating it. I prefer slices or chunks, seedless please. It's also pretty yummy in a fruit salad especially when someone else makes it in one of those fancy carved watermelon baskets.

3. Cherries! BK, not Burger King, but Before Kids, T and I went on a road trip along Michigan's west coast. We stopped at a farmstand and picked up a pint or two of cherries. We ate them right there in the car without bothering to wait to get to our destination. As a child, my famiy would go cherry pickin' in Door County, Wisconsin. Good times! I prefer my cherries chilled, straight up, or perhaps in a pie. With vanilla ice cream.

1. Avocados! They have pits like cherries, peaches, or plums, so I'm calling them a fruit. I absolutely adore avocados. Remember when Brian came to my house last summer and he made his famous guacamole. Guacamole is my fav way to eat avocados, but I also like them sliced on sandwiches or burgers. Here is another excerpt from Bri and I's IM the other day, Me: We had some yummy bacon avocado burgers last night. Brian: mmmm, bacon avocado! As you can see, we enjoy talking about food - a lot! And now it's Brian's turn:

Brian

2) Strawberries: These beauties are what I ate for breakfast on Wednesday. Depending on where you live, you get local strawberries for a couple of weeks in the late-Spring or early-Summer. 20 Years in Michigan conditioned me to Strawberries near my birthday in early July. Here, near Philadelphia, it's the couple of weeks after Memorial Day. These are small, incredibly flavorful and not be be confused with the watery behemoths from California and Florida.

3) Peaches: To cling, or not to cling - that is the question! Whether 'tis preferable to have the flesh of the peach come-away easily from the stone, or to suffer the slings and arrows of an outrageous clingy peach. But then, you get to suck the meat off the pit. mmmmmm

1) Blueberries: Blue on the bush, purple on the plate, there's no blue food! My fruit-picking experiences are not limited to blueberries, but they are a favorite. You have to be careful not to eat too many while you're picking. Let's just say that there are consequences. Dire. Consequences.

Ignorance is like a delicate exotic fruit; touch it and the bloom is gone. - Oscar Wilde