Accident

I was never brave enough to try the water slide at the nearby water park, but my sister once shot down that thing so fast she chipped a tooth — and the park pulled out this massive incident notebook to log it. We were astonished at how many accidents they must have had! 😳

High Dive

The high dive always felt less like “fun” and more like “my watery doom.” The swim instructors were all smiles below, encouraging me on. I was up top thinking, "yep, this is how I go". Their confidence soared… mine was dog‑paddling for its life.😅

Snack Bar

My sister and I would get dropped off at the pool with a few bucks for the snack bar, and nothing felt more exciting than picking out our own snack… until we remembered the dreaded one‑hour wait before we could get back in the water. That wait felt like a lifetime. 😮‍💨🕑

Underwater

I was never much of a swimmer. Whenever I went underwater, I’d pinch my nose tight and squeeze my eyes shut — partly because the chlorine burned, but mostly because underwater felt big and mysterious, and closing my eyes made it feel a little safer. 😊

Cannonball!

The public pool was a fun summer hangout for my sister and me—except for adult swim. Every hour we got kicked out for 15 painfully long minutes. The second that whistle blew, we launched back in—cannonball first—while the adults were still trying to climb out. If you didn’t move fast, you got splashed. 😂💦

At Ease

Once the school year was over, Sundays just felt different. I didn’t have that familiar stress hanging over me, wondering what the week was going to throw my way… I could just sink into the simple joy of knowing I could sleep in, with nothing big waiting for me on Monday. It was this quiet little freedom that only summer ever seemed to bring. 😊

Game Night

It's Game Night! That was our parents’ plan to unplug us from the TV into some “family quality time.”

My sister loved it, mainly because she won pretty much every game. 😅

Hangman was a favorite of ours...simple and perfect for kids who lacked a lot of patience. 😂

Peas

Peas could be taste good…when they were the frozen kind. Mom, trying to stretch the grocery budget, always brought home the canned ones — those pale, mushy peas that looked like they’d already given up.

No wonder my sister hated peas! 🤢😅

Breeze

Another thought that got me through the school day was knowing I’d get to ride my bike through the neighborhood afterward, pedaling just fast enough for the wind to whip through my hair!💨😁🚲

Imagination

Waiting for food at a family restaurant always felt like it took forever. Luckily, Mom’s purse always had a pen or pencil tucked inside. I’d hunch over the paper placemat and drift off into my own little world, doodling away while the grown‑ups talked. 😁✏️

Afternoon Cartoons

Most days at school felt like a struggle, but I always had one little lifeline — the thought of getting home in time to watch afternoon cartoons. Somehow, that simple routine made everything feel lighter. 😁📺

Speechless

There was something so innocent about those early childhood days…the moment a cute girl spoke to me, every bit of sense I had just drifted away...😳🤔😄

Candle

Back then, nothing felt fancier than a restaurant with a real candle on the table. As a kid, I was hypnotized by that tiny flickering flame, and I'd find myself inching my hand closer and closer like it was some test of bravery. 😂🔥

Socks

I was so jealous of my friends. They got to breeze around in those cool little ankle socks, while I was stuck with a mom who firmly believed knee‑highs were the only socks ever invented. I can still feel myself tugging them up every five minutes as they slowly slouched toward my sneakers. And on hot days, those things felt like wearing tiny wool ovens on my legs — pure childhood misery wrapped in cotton. 🥵🧦

Monday Test

 Why indeed? 🤔🥱

A Walk of Shame

My bike’s front tire was running low, so I pedaled over to the local gas station. I hooked the tire up to the air hose, feeling all confident—right up until I failed to adjust the pressure and the inner tube exploded with a bang that sounded like a shotgun going off.

Every single person at the gas station snapped their heads around, staring at me. And there I was, red‑faced and pretending it was no big deal, forced to walk my bike all the way home while what felt like the entire world watched me.

It was one of those childhood moments where you swear the universe paused just to laugh at you. 😬🚲

Homework

After a long week of school, I looked forward to a restful weekend…but my teachers seemed to have a knack of dumping a load of homework on us Friday before we could leave. 😮‍💨📝

Sanctuary

I miss some of those quiet moments from my youth...

...like sitting at the top of the jungle gym, high above all the other kids, just silently watching the clouds slowly drift by. 😊

Bike

I may not have thought riding my bicycle was as cool as a biker on a Harley, but back then it felt pretty close. 😎🚲

Belts

 Remembering those days when nobody thought twice about riding in the back seat without a seat belt, and my sister and I would take turns leaning forward, poking our heads between the front seats while Mom and Dad drove. It felt perfectly normal then. Hard to imagine now, when that kind of thing is most certainly frowned upon! 😅

Worry

After a weekend packed with fun, my Sunday always drifted into the same familiar feeling… pure, stomach‑churning worry. As the day came to an end, my brain suddenly remembered every homework page I hadn’t touched, every test I definitely hadn’t studied for, and every project I’d been pretending didn’t exist.

Looking back, I have no clue why I put myself through that emotional roller coaster! 🤯😮‍💨

Pizza Night

Whenever Mom and Dad announced ‘date night,’ we heard something completely different: PIZZA NIGHT. 

Back then, there were a number of pizza joints to choose from—Domino’s, Little Caesars, Godfather's—but once Pizza Hut released pan pizza, it was all over. That became the classic choice in our house.

A hot pizza, a rented VHS, and absolutely no parents… that was our version of living large! 😎🍕

Sunday Cartoons

The Sunday morning cartoon lineup always felt a little different from Saturday’s big‑name heavy hitters. Those shows weren’t the marquee stars of the era, but they had their own quiet charm — and Sunday was the only day you could catch them. 

Of course, in our family, Sunday mornings were meant for Sunday School, so I only ever saw fragments of those cartoons while getting ready for church.

I squeezed in as much as I could, right up until we had to head out the door. 😅📺

Slide

 I only tried sliding into base a few times growing up, but my timing was always hilariously off. I’d over anticipate the moment, and start my slide way too early, skidding across the dirt while the ball sailed safely into the baseman’s glove. 😅⚾️

Batter Up!

 I noticed The Sandlot was on TV over the weekend, and it inspired me to draw a baseball cartoon.

I was a terrible batter growing up… unless I swung one‑handed. Then I had weirdly remarkable aim — zero power, but I could sneak a grounder past a few fielders. 😅⚾️