Throw-Back Thursday: Boat Baby

Can you guess who this boat baby is?

Yep, this is lil' ol' me circa 1979.  Isn't my mom a beaut and don't you just love her frosted tips?  Believe it or not, she rocked leg warmers and sweat bands back in those days too.  Jane Fonda had nothing on her.  The woman could aerobisize like no other. 

Anywho...

My sister was in town this past weekend and we had a fun trip down memory lane sitting in the back yard, sifting through the piles and piles of photo albums that my family keeps in the basement.  We had lots of laughs looking at hilarious outfits and hairdos, remembering characters past and present and re-living memories that had been collecting dust in the corners of our minds for the past thirty years or so. The pictorial journey produced some classic photo-gems like this one.  

While chuckling at our 1980's childhoods (hello neon! whaddup mullet!), we also noticed that the vast majority of our photos were taken outside with a significant amount of those taking place on the water and around boats.  

And I thought, "No wonder."

While they weren't full time live-aboards, my parents always had a sailboat (started with a Pearson 25, followed by a Pretorian 35, then a Frers 44 and finally a custom Kanter 47) and each summer they'd load up that boat with provisions, books and bathing suits and we'd cruise the coast of Lake Michigan for weeks at a time.  Some of my fondest childhood memories are from the jaunts along that shore; the small harbor towns, ice cream shops, white sand beaches, rolling sand dunes and, of course, the general adventures that life on a boat provides (sailboats are bonafide playgrounds for little ones).  

Those summers had a profound effect on our lives and family; fostering a very close familial bond, an affinity for the water and a deep love of reading to name a few.  Not to mention the desire to raise my own family this way.

The pictures told a story and while it's easy to romanticize the past, there is no mistaking we shared a wonderful childhood full of love, fun and togetherness - both on shore and at sea.

I wonder what gems the photo books of the future will provide for our girls?