Thursdays Thirteen...

Okay, Amy posted her thirteen as thirteen warm and sunny places that she has been. Since I have not been to 13 warm and sunny places that won't do. So...I am going to post my thirteen favorite memories from childhood...

1. Our family trip to Texas when I was in 8th grade. The four of us drove down to San Antonio with my Aunt and Uncle and their 3 kids, along with my Grandma. We stayed with our Aunt Stella and just had a BLAST...

2. My dad reading the Night Before Christmas every Christmas Eve. This actually continued until Jordyn was born and we were still living there. We'd get in our jammies and sit on his lap and he'd read it to us after we came home from Grandma Calderon's house.

3. Pouring water on each other when we were taking showers. Now this sounds crazy...but it's true. If the door was locked then we would use a driver's license or credit card to open it and then pour cold water over the person that was in the shower.

4. Camping trips. I suppose if I broke this down it could be all thirteen...because we had SUCH fun each time we went. From our pop-up camper to the RV we got when I was older...we went camping numerous times each summer and had such a great time. Campfire songs...swimming...mini-golf...inside jokes with our friends and relatives...those times are irreplacable.

5. Nick's Thing. My Grandma and Grandpa Nickel's bar in Merton. lol...such a funny thing, a bar, to hold such good memories...but it really did. We'd stay overnight and Connie and thought we ran that place. Becoming good friends with the regulars...picking what music was on the jukebox (I still remember how they all freaked out when I had Billie Jean and Thriller put on it...lol), sitting behind the bar and getting all of the candy bars we wanted, dancing on the stage...

6. My 7th grade birthday party. Growing up I had a lot of super birthdays...but for my 7th grade party we went into Milwaukee--ate at Shakey's and saw Breakin' at Capitol Court. I thought it was so exciting to be in the "big" city

7. Mrs. Cooke--my 3rd grade teacher. Wow--this woman was wonderful. She made us all feel like we were her children and just loved us so much. We even went to her wedding and just felt so special.

8. Playing barbies with my sister. Oh my goodness we would just have elaborate fantasies about our barbies lives. Sometimes even naughty stuff...lol!! We'd set up all of the album covers (remember albums!) as the walls to their house and play for hours!!

9. Christmas Eve at Grandma Calderon's house. Who knew last Christmas would be our last one there. Anyway---Christmas always meant yummy, homemade Mexican food, watching Grandma open her presents and then each getting something ourselves...always some kind of big debate/argument in the dining room...picking on my cousin Jr...kids EVERYWHERE. A lot of times the cousins would all be in Grandma's bedroom and Shawn would DJ and then all of us who were brave enough would dance. I remember performing the Micheal Jackson commercial with Alfonso Rivera a time or two as well.

10. My friend Jenny Zastrow. We were inseparable. Every day of the summer, riding our bikes to each other's houses, going on walks, hanging out at the big hill, terrorizing our little sisters, playing cops and robbers, crank calling people and then telling our parents--um, duh! I don't think, no, I know grade school would not have been the same without her.

11. Our family trip to Florida when I was in 4th grade. The four of us really had a good time together. My parents always made sure that Connie and I had and experienced things they had not as children. Flying was so exciting...staying in a fancy (well, fancy to us) hotel, seeing Disney World...spending the day at Wet n Wild and Busch Gardens.

12. Dance class. I started taking dance when I was 5 at the Park and Rec. It became such a big part of my life and where I truly felt comfortable. This of course was before high school and my poor self image as a dancer issues. But as a young girl, dressing up in the costumes, getting to be on stage and dance...what fun!

13. Wow...so many memories are running through my head as I try to pick the last one...which one really stands out...probably every Halloween staying up late to watch horror movies on Select TV. We'd all have popcorn (remember air poppers?) and blankets and we'd just stay up as late as we could last as they played back to back scary movies. It wasn't even so much the movies (although I do like being scared) as it was the whole afternoon and evening sitting together on the couch screaming, covering our eyes, and grabbing onto each other!

Reading these back...it makes me hope that Marlon and I are creating special memories for our kids as well. That they'll remember trips and vacations, but also just the fun family time at home--telling stories, jokes, sharing time together. Each day matters.