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Dublin: 8 °C Thursday 28 March, 2024
sandy sandwiches

11 activities every Irish kid did during the summer

They probably still do these things, in fact.

THROW ON THE rose-tinted glasses there and take a trip down memory lane.

Wasn’t summer as a child just better? All the expensive holidays in the world can’t compare to the stuff we did as kids.

1. Poking sticks in the melting tar on the road

Or, indeed, muck. Just because.

pokingmuck Flickr / qmechanic Flickr / qmechanic / qmechanic

2. Waiting for a Mr Freeze to melt

roflbot (1) BiggerBids.com BiggerBids.com

Then slurped the whole syrupy mush back in one gulp. Delicious AND refreshing.

3. Developing an obsession with a sport

For example – determinedly hitting a tennis ball against the back wall for the duration of Wimbledon, or following the World Cup like your life depended on it.

IRISH SOCCER FANS DURING THE ITALIA 90 HOMECOMING WORLD CUP IN IRELAND PEOPLE Eamonn Farrell / Photocall Ireland Eamonn Farrell / Photocall Ireland / Photocall Ireland

4. Water fights

To this day, has anyone discovered a better way to cool off? Definitely not.

shutterstock_146783486 Shutterstock Shutterstock

The kids who protested too much about getting their clothes wet always got soaked the most. That was the rule. The other rule was ‘Beware of the kid who owns a SuperSoaker.’

5. Attending summer camp

img_3178 Cappanalea Adventure Centre Cappanalea Adventure Centre

You’d waited all year to leave school for summer, then you excitedly went back (or to another school) for summer camp. You might get to go kayaking!

6. Digging a big hole on the beach

roflbot (2) Flickr / Michael Coghlan Flickr / Michael Coghlan / Michael Coghlan

Why? We’ll never know. It was just imperative to start digging and digging as soon as you arrived.

7. Eating a sandy sandwich

sandysandwich Flickr / Jason Pier in DC Flickr / Jason Pier in DC / Jason Pier in DC

All that digging made a kid hungry. Sadly, no matter how hard you tried, sand always got in under the ham in your sandwich. See also: Sandy 99s.

8. Returning home only for food

tipthecan Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons

Otherwise you were outside morning, noon and night with your friends, playing curbs, tag, tip the can…all the greats.

9. Getting in touch with nature

4983163959_d949c3cdd4_b Flickr / artfulblogger Flickr / artfulblogger / artfulblogger

Picking blackberries, fishing for pinkeens, helping to foot the turf – stuff you’d probably complain about having to do now, but back then, there was nothing better.

10. Visiting the same place on holidays every year

card2rd Boards.ie Boards.ie

Mosney, Trabolgan, Bundoran. Camping or renting a mobile home.

Most of the time there was spent hanging around the amusements, eating ice cream. Bliss.

11. Feeling like summer would last forever

Weeks and weeks of freedom, stretched out before us. Weren’t we so lucky?

200 Giphy Giphy

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