Writer's Block: Summer Break
How did you spend summers when you were a kid?
"That's a good question" I thought to myself, as I logged onto LJ today and my front page asked me.
Well, inconveniently I cannot remember the specifics about a lot of my summers.
However, I do know that when we lived in Germany, every summer would include at least a two week visit to my Grandmother, or she would come and visit us.
During such a visit we would spend a day at a theme park somewhere in Germany.
Back in the 80s and early 90s we had a few to choose from, the main ones being Phantasialand, Traumland and Heide Park.
One summer, in either 1988 or '89 (May even have been '87) my Dads troop (A troop 38 Squadron RCT) organised a trip. They rounded up their wives and kids, borrowed a large coach from the RCT depot and we all buggered off to Traumland. Once there we piled into the theme park and had fun. Afterward, we exited the park and a half oil barrel barbecue was pulled out of the cargo hold of the bus and set up.
As the weather gods so often have a habit of, it rained almost as soon as we got the BBQ lit. But we still had a right royal nosh up while us kids sought refuge from the downpour in the now empty cargo hold, which for a 8 or 9 year old was cavernous!
During another summer, I remember my Grandmothers car breaking down while on the journey home. That was a little adventure for me.. I could only have been about 6 or 7 and I found the little walk on the high grass embankment beside the German autobahn an exciting adventure.
Eventually though, whatever had gone wrong was put right by a breakdown van and we were on our way... Mother is adamant it was a flat tire.
That's about it really. Summers as a kid were filled with simple visits to my Grandmother and theme parks or staying home and playing with my friends. A simple life, when I look back at it.
There is that trip to Florida we took in 1994 once we had moved to Scotland... but thats another story altogether.
One thing I must say though; As a kid, the summers seemed to last a lot longer.
"That's a good question" I thought to myself, as I logged onto LJ today and my front page asked me.
Well, inconveniently I cannot remember the specifics about a lot of my summers.
However, I do know that when we lived in Germany, every summer would include at least a two week visit to my Grandmother, or she would come and visit us.
During such a visit we would spend a day at a theme park somewhere in Germany.
Back in the 80s and early 90s we had a few to choose from, the main ones being Phantasialand, Traumland and Heide Park.
One summer, in either 1988 or '89 (May even have been '87) my Dads troop (A troop 38 Squadron RCT) organised a trip. They rounded up their wives and kids, borrowed a large coach from the RCT depot and we all buggered off to Traumland. Once there we piled into the theme park and had fun. Afterward, we exited the park and a half oil barrel barbecue was pulled out of the cargo hold of the bus and set up.
As the weather gods so often have a habit of, it rained almost as soon as we got the BBQ lit. But we still had a right royal nosh up while us kids sought refuge from the downpour in the now empty cargo hold, which for a 8 or 9 year old was cavernous!
During another summer, I remember my Grandmothers car breaking down while on the journey home. That was a little adventure for me.. I could only have been about 6 or 7 and I found the little walk on the high grass embankment beside the German autobahn an exciting adventure.
Eventually though, whatever had gone wrong was put right by a breakdown van and we were on our way... Mother is adamant it was a flat tire.
That's about it really. Summers as a kid were filled with simple visits to my Grandmother and theme parks or staying home and playing with my friends. A simple life, when I look back at it.
There is that trip to Florida we took in 1994 once we had moved to Scotland... but thats another story altogether.
One thing I must say though; As a kid, the summers seemed to last a lot longer.