The Weekend

The weekends were MEANT to unwind after a stressful week at school, and hopefully get recharged enough to face a NEW week! 😮‍💨

Running around with the other kids in the neighborhood was a GREAT way to deal with any stress from school. 😅

Mall

A Saturday at the mall was definitely a treat for the family! 😁

Time

It never failed...when the teacher gave us a reading assignment during class, the clock seemed to slow down to a crawl! 😮‍💨

Around the Block

It happens to everyone at one point...

...writer's block! 😮‍💨

When it hits me, I try to push through by sketching random scenes with my characters. More often than not, a story about my childhood begins to unfold before my very eyes! 🤯✏️ 

Football

Another sign Fall is right around the corner...football is back on television! 😁🏈

The neighborhood kids would get excited about the new season, so we'd all be out front tossing a football around. I wasn't very athletic, and it showed pretty quickly. 🤕😅

Homework

This is a moment I felt at the start of the school year...

...that moment after school while I'm home working on an assignment, I suddenly realize just a few days ago this time of day, I was hanging out with my friends in the neighborhood. Now, I'm stuck inside with schoolwork! 😮‍💨📚

Seasons Change

A telltale sign Fall is right around the corner...hearing the sound of crickets as the sun goes down! 🍃😁

Drawing

There's something magical about drawing while around onlookers. When you start out, to them, it's just a bunch of lines, but the more you draw, they begin to see a scene form right in front of them! 🤯

That's Using Your Head!

I enjoyed soccer, but I was never what you would call a "skilled player".

I always thought a player head butting the soccer ball looked so cool, but no matter how much the coaches and teammates tried to teach me the move, I always managed to hit the soccer ball with my FACE instead! 😅⚽️

Sidewalk Chalk

Sidewalk chalk is a terrific medium for a child. Where else can they graffiti public property with their inner most thoughts and imaginations, just for it to wash off the next time it rains! 🌧😁

I'm pretty sure this will become a recurring theme for Zack as he explores his imagination, and expresses it to the neighborhood in his sidewalk art.

No End

When it came to clothes shopping with my mother, the parade of clothes she wanted me to try on never seemed to end! 😅

Fashion Show

Going clothes shopping with Mom was an adventure. It felt like she wanted me to try on everything in the store.

Was she really interested in buying some of the outfits for me, or did she just want to see me wear them? 🤔

Shopping

It seemed like my mother LIVED for the opportunity to take me clothes shopping! When that time came around, I knew I was in for a full day at the department store. Me? Well, I'd rather have spent the day hanging out with friends! 😅

Back to School Sale

I was always disappointed when all the stores began their "Back to School" sales - to me it meant my summer vacation was rapidly coming to an end! 😮‍💨🎒📓

Mini Golf

Our parents tried to plan activities to keep my sister and I entertained throughout the summer. One activity...mini golf!

I was notoriously bad at the game (like most games). My sister would win all the time, so I'd eventually get so frustrated I'd stop counting my swings! 😅

Ice Cream

 Sometimes our drive through the countryside would end with a stop at a local ice cream shop.

It was definitely a treat! Our parents would pop the hatchback of the family station wagon so my sister and I could use it as a seat while we enjoyed our ice cream cones. 😊🍦 

Country Roads

 On the weekend, the family would often take a pleasant cruise through the country back roads to clear our minds.

They were nice drives, but when we drove by dairy farms, the "air" could get quite thick. On steamy hot days, the smell was so strong, you could almost taste it! 🤢

Desperation

The shear panic when the cable went out!

Despite the fact the problem may not have even been on our end, we tried everything to get our TV shows back! 😅📺

Cable

Oh the humanity! What is a child to do when they suddenly lose access to hundreds of channels! 🤔😅

Rain

I feel like this captures what it's been like trying to maintain our yards this year.

We've had rain storms almost daily, so it's been challenging finding time to mow in between the rain. 😳🌧 

Distance

Back in the day, my father leased the car he drove to work. Unfortunately, his office was so far away from home, he'd rack up more mileage on the car than allowed on the lease!

I remember one time he brought his car to the dealer, the salesperson literally laughed when my father told them the mileage on the odometer! 😅 🚗

Dealin with It

 A great way to guarantee boredom when I was younger...take me to a car dealership!

When it was time to invest in a new family car, my father would take us all to the dealership. A decent negotiator, he'd often counter the counter offer of a counter offer from the car salesman. The family had to try our best to wait patiently while the salesperson went back and forth to "talk to their manager"! 😅 🚗 

Farmer Tan

I may have tanned fairly easily from all my time outside under the summer sun, but since I always wore a T-shirt, there was a very distinct line where my shirt covered my upper arms. Going sleeveless was NOT a good look. 😅

Tan

I may have gotten sunburnt, but after a day or two, it turned into a nice tan. My sister, on the other hand, had an entirely different skin complexion - she could spend hours in the sun, but she'd never seemed to tan.

Sure, it may have been discouraging at the time, when other children her age were getting tans, but it was probably a good thing in the long run the sun didn't have that affect on her. 😊☀️

The Burn

I loved running around the neighborhood with friends during the summer! We'd spend most of the day outdoors, so by the evening I could already begin to feel the sting of sunburn on my skin. The next day, I'd be as red as a lobster! 😳☀️