Middle Aged Memories

Elimar - we wore those scarves too, except they weren't so small.  They had padding the first few inches then had wider ties.  I liked them because they didn't sit flat on your head.  We used to really dress 'em up.  We would pull our hair back in a ponytail, and then wear big earrings, a big necklace, and lots of makeup.  And match them carefully with our halter top, haha.  It was such a trend in Atlanta.  

Eli- My mom had that same yogurt maker!  Don't know what happened to it; it wasn't in her house when she passed, and she never offered it to me, so she must have given it to her cleaning lady (who received MANY of her possessions).  I remember kind of "loose," unappealing yogurt, too.

HnS- I too tried to rock the bandana/halter look.  When in my teens, I was pretty flat chested and was MORTIFIED when I ended up in a pool one summer wearing a halter top and cut-off jeans and my top came off.  Completely.  Note to self:  do not jump off a high diving board wearing a halter top!

Elimar, I'm so excited for you!! What a milestone!!!!

Native - if you come up with a "formula", let us know.

Native - Sounds like you made it.  Did it taste like you remembered?  Hmmm - maybe it's Tangerine that's missing?  That's my new favorite.

Sometimes you see the markings at a school yard or in a playground area, but I don't think I have seen kids playing Four Square for years.  I had one at my school outside the gym doors, almost in the school parking area.  As a result, we never played it during school semester, but when Parks and Rec. came for the summer program, we always did.  

Unlike this sweet picture, we never had an "official" so we had heated debates about whether the ball went out or not.  In fact, we played in a very cut-throat manner (as if it were dodgeball, hahaha!!!)

The toys we grew up with always had an element of danger to them.  Remember Water Wiggle?  The crazy expression on it should have tipped us off.  It was harmless fun...til it hit someone in the face!

Lawn darts....the early ones that really could shish-kabab a child! 

Posts crossed, SnS, but I know somewhere in the backlog of this thread, I posted all about the lawn darts, or Jarts, as they were also known.  So deadly...and I loved them!  Still have a set and every few years get them out for some play with the family.  We live for the danger.

Think of how collectible my set must be now.  (Oh, by the way, playing with four has tons more danger.  Look at the knuckleheads in the picture standing so close to the ring.  With two players you are both on the same end, throwing, and then walking to the other end...so it is extremely safe.)

Thank goodness we have been made safer with the banning of lawn darts that actually stuck in the ground!   Thank goodness all electrical appliances have about five tags attached to the cords to tell us how dangerous they can be!  Honestly, I'm surprised all kinds of tools and power equipment are still sold; but then those are primarily marketed to men, and everyone knows they have more sense about proper handling than wimen!  (Had to borrow your spellin' Eli).

As a kid, I watched old men playing bocce ball (well, they would have been about the age I am now!)  We did play croquet a few times every summer, but it always got crazy because people didn't agree on the rules.  Oh wait, that was almost all group sports we tried.  Why, I can even remember a heated argument about the rotation of service in volleyball.  Hahaha.

Here's a memory:

I played with one of those and then when my kids came along, they had this instead:

We called it Wiggle Writer, but there was another one actually called that, from about the same era.  All I know is that my kids would sit five or ten extra minutes to practice writing the alphabet, so I guess it served a purpose.  I remember signing a few birthday cards in the wiggly style too.

Don't forget the weirdest board game...Hey Pa!  There's a Goat on the Roof!  I don't think I ever played it, but remember the Sat. morning commercials for it.  (Remember those Sat. mornings, when all the kids toys got advertized?)

One final one.  This has been nagging at my brain since I put up the Aggravation game with the marbles.  I remember playing this once in school, at the end of the day.  When the bell rang, we did not want to go home.  We wanted to finish the game.  The teacher, on the other hand, was more than ready to go and we had to put it up.