Playing at the River

The river was always such a treat for us. During the summer we would look forward to spending time at the river all the time. During summer vacation it seemed like there was always a lot of things we needed to do or get done in order to keep things going around the house. We had to make sure that the lawns were mowed, the garden was weeded, house was cleaned, etc.

 I remember one summer when mom would wake us up and we would all have to go running a mile or two. I don't remember how far it was, but it seemed so far to me. I was always the last one to meet everyone in the morning and I was almost always the last one home. I hated those morning jogs, probably more than I would have if I had been given a choice, but I totally understand why we were made to do it. Mom and dad were trying to teach us good health habits. I want to teach my kids to enjoy exercise as well.

After we got home from our runs, mom would let us know what we had to get done that day. Sometimes we would split up and some of us would mow lawns while others would weed the garden and others would be scraping the paint off the fence getting it ready to paint. We all had to participate and help around the house. We would do this until about lunch time. Sometimes we would make things last longer than they needed to because we would take breaks and jump on the trampoline and mess around when we should have been working.

After we were finished with our jobs for the day, we would either get to run through the sprinklers, fill up the paddle boat with water and "swim", make a slip and slide out of a tarp, or go to the river. We loved going to the river and when mom said the word we all went and changed into our swim clothes and we walked down to the river. Mom would bring a book and she had hidden a beach chair down there that she would get out.

We would play in the water, catch minnows and make "forts" out of the trees and bushes that were down there at the river. The river was so cold most of the time that it would make your ankles numb to go in it. It would feel so hot outsode that we would just get too hot and jump in. Once we were in, it was easier to stay in and swim for a little while. We had fun swimming and bringing up handfuls of seaweed and pretending like we were cooking with them and the mid we would pull up from the bottom of the river.

On the side of the river bank there were trees and bushes that would come almost into the water at some places and we would pretent like these little pool that were made from the bushes and trees were our "hot tubs" even though they were freezing just like the rest of the water. We spent hours down there just playing, jumping in the water, floating in inner tubes and just having fun together. Those are the things I will never forget aout living in Creston. That was a special place.

Lindsey