childhood memories – holidays at the coast

I was lucky enough to spend many of my childhood holidays on the NSW coast, as my parents had a house there.

I remember …

sunscreen

mossie repellent

swimming at the beach and in the lake

sand in my bathers

turning over rocks to catch tiny crabs

pushing anenomes in rock pools to make them close up and pushing the sea squirts to make them squirt

chasing skinks (and catching them)

building dams on and around the stairs in the garden when it rained

clambering over rocks

fishing and crabbing

sitting on the bow of the boat reading

watching my mum and dad catch and clean fish. Dad would cut open the fish’s stomach to show us what they’d been eating.

collecting shells – I can remember collecting enough with holes in the centre to make a bracelet.

eating ice cream and singing “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream”

playing Scrabble with my mum in the mornings

These are very much the sort of memories that I hope my sons will have as they grow up. I look at this list and that seems achievable (despite sometimes hearing and even thinking that the world has changed too much).

What are your memories of childhood holidays? Do you do any of these activities with your children today?