Fun Monday - Up, Up and Away

I am excited and honored to host this week's Fun Monday. For your assignment, I would like you to describe a happy memory from your childhood. If possible, include pictures with your reminiscing. Perhaps, for some us remembering the past may bring back some unhappy times too. But, for today, let us remember the good times.

Like others, there were some dark memories from my youth. However, I do have happy memories of my childhood as well. Some of my joyful times were spent at my friends' house. Down the street, exactly one block from my home, lived my friends, Gwenie and Susan Kay*. To me, the girls and their little brother, Kim were the luckiest kids ever. Their extended family owned a toy store. Can you imagine that? The family seemed to have everything in the days when my family did not own a car. As I remember, I would wake up in the morning and head straight for the Kay's house and spend much of the day there at the good times house.

But, the toys were only part of the fascination of the luckiest family ever. Their home was a mecca for the neighborhood children. The sisters always were planning fun events for the rest of the neighbors. We had parades and talent shows. We sold lemonade to raise money for Korean children. We spent hot summer afternoons in a wading pool. We attended glorious parties. We pretended to make cement and to dig to the center of the Earth. Maybe pretended is not quite the right word, we (or at least I at age four) thought that we could actually dig to the center of the Earth or perhaps all the way to China.

Another strange pastime that I remember is "Going to Arcadia. " My friends had been to a vacation spot called Arcadia. Susan and Gwenie described Arcadia to be like paradise. The rest of the neighborhood children wanted to visit the perfect vacation spot, and the sisters were anxious to return to this wondrous resort. Now, how would preschool children take such a trip. The answer is simple to imaginative children. We would all pile in a glider swing, close our eyes, rock the glider, and wish with all our might that the swing would magically transport us to Arcadia, the Vacation Wonderland. Of course, we never quite made it to Arcadia, but we did have a fine time trying.

Pictured Me, Susan, Gwenie, and Linda -probably planning some adventure

To read about other happy memories, look for the list of participants in the Mr. Linky list in the following post. If you would like to retell a fond memory of your childhood, sign-up with Mr. Linky. Would you like to be the next Fun Monday host? Let me know in the comments. Chris B of Ms Cellania graciously lists the upcoming host, and Robin at Pensieve thoughtfully maintains a history of past Fun Monday assignments.

* Name changed to protect identities.

Update: The Mr. Linky link to Judy's post does not work. But you can read her Fun Monday happy childhood memories at her blog, Grand Life.

Plus, we are still looking for a volunteer to host next week's Fun Monday on June 16th. Let me know in the comments if you would like to be next week's host.