Summer Past 1969

This hot weather has reminded me of the summer before my freshman year of high school.

I was thirteen and my family drove from Houston to Waco to visit family. We were visiting with my father's twin sister's family.
Just between these two families there were 13 children. This large group of cousins were known for finding ways to entertain ourselves no matter when we were.

It so happened we were sent to the backyard simply because we made too much noise and slammed the doors too often.
I am not quite sure whose idea it was to start digging a hole: but we all took turns with the shovel. After a decent size hole was dug and we had not reached China( to our great disappointment). One of my cousins suggested that we fill the hole with water.

We pulled out the water hose and began to fill it up. After many discussions, we decided that the hole was only big enough for one person at a time unless you were really short and skinny. To add a hint of adventure, we decided that we should put a wooden plank across it and try to knock each other into the hole. So the game began and for hours we enjoyed ourselves: getting muddy and wet, cooling off from the heat.

All went well until a younger cousin (who had been napping) came out of the house, seeing what we had created began hollering:"My turn!,My Turn!! Shortly after his screams of delight, our mothers appeared on the back porch! My aunt yelling in German what she was going to do to us and my mother yelling at us about the danger we placed ourselves in. Then we got in trouble for how dirty we were. After we cleaned up, washed our dirty clothes and hung them on the clothes line: we were sent to the back steps where we had to sit until supper.

As we sat there, each one of us decided it was worth it and if the opportunity arose again, we'd dig the hole a little wider next time so it could hold two planks instead of one. Our motto was dream big until your mother shuts you down!