Ah, those were the days. Carefree times when we screamed over and fought with our friends about boy bands (*NSYNC or the Backstreet Boys?), when sleep overs and night games happened at least every two weeks in the summers, when we watched all those TV shows that were so funny, so innocent, so amazing!
Our childhood was awesome and many of us still remember those days fondly. We were little kids when the new millennium began, our childhood combining the last part of the '90s with an exciting new time when everything was possible.
Even though you can't live in the past, and I'm sure we're all glad we are old enough to drive now, there are things about our childhood, things that were around then but are no longer, that we still miss.
Remember in "13 Going on 30" when grown-up Jenna (Jennifer Garner) has to go to a specialty store to buy Razzles? After that movie, Razzles -- a candy that turned into gum -- started popping up all over the place again. If only they'd put such-and-such in a movie so I could experience it again -- I know you're thinking it!
So let us take this time and remember a few of our favorite things from years past that we can no longer experience. Let us pause a moment to recall what we ate, watched, listened to and did that made us smile once upon a time.
Fun foods
Some things just aren't the way they used to be ... like food. Wasn't it fun when food was more entertaining? Candy was big on our list -- we were kids, after all -- candy like "the candy lipsticks that had the colorful lids and the stick of candy underneath," which are missed by Jessica Williams, a Syracuse High sophomore.
"I miss Pop Rocks and Zebra gum!" says McKenzie Taggart, a Northridge sophomore.
Northridge senior Andrew Skinner agrees, specifying, "Dude, the Zebra Gum with the tattoos!"
Kylee Flanders, a Roy High senior, says she misses the flavored waters she used to get at the zoo and the dinosaur park.
"I miss ... homemade popsicles ... it felt cool to make them by myself ... but I haven't in forever. I don't know if people still do that anymore," says Lillian Dixon, a Syracuse senior.
Senior Jeremy Illum, at Roy High, misses "Squeeze-its ... and Lunchables! I miss having Lunchables!"
On the tube
Remember all those fun things we used to watch, back when we had the time to sit down to watch things? Remember "Spy Kids?" Northridge sophomore Brandon Medina does and misses this fun movie.
Other teens seem to miss more of the cancelled TV shows of our day than the movies.
"Smurfs and 'Blues Clues!' " were favorites of Melissa Rosenvall, a sophomore at Northridge.
Taggart says, " 'Saved by the Bell' was a really good show."
Zach Lollar, a Roy sophomore, misses "Boy Meets World" and tried to do something about it.
"I went on eBay and the first season was like 139 bucks!" Lollar says.
Skinner says he misses Gumby and Pokey, along with Power Rangers, while Illum misses "Angry Beavers," "Digimon" and "Invader Zim."
Dylon Hussain, a Layton High graduate and Weber State University student, agrees: " 'Invader Zim' all the way!"
Oldies but goodies
Flanders has a few favorite childhood TV shows: " 'Recess,' 'Digimon' was my favorite ... 'Alvin and the Chipmunks,' the little animated one. Oh and I LOVED 'The Magic School Bus.' "
Williams also misses "Recess," an animated TV show done by Disney.
"It came on every Saturday morning and I would watch them every week," she says. "Then they stopped showing them ... I still watch them on YouTube though."
We had a lot of bands in our old days. Lollar misses the Backstreet Boys and wants to see them when they come to Utah in June.
Flanders misses Hampton and the Hamsters: "It was the only one I can think of that I miss ... I do think they're cute."
Running barefoot
And, let's face it, we could entertain ourselves! The playground was anything we wanted it to be -- remember four square?
"(It) was the best!" said Medina.
Illum fondly remembers "playing Pokemon and Final Fantasy in the schoolyard" but we had our favorite board games too. Flanders loved "Barbie's Underwater Adventure -- or was it Aquatic Adventure? -- plus my sister used to have this Pokemon game, Pokemon master trader. And Crazy Bones! Everyone at my elementary school was OBSESSED with Crazy Bones!"
NUAMES junior Emily Zentz liked "sitting around the living room with my family and playing card games."
The everyday was wonderful to us back then. Illum misses the days of "blowing bubbles in my drinks and riding my bike to a grocery store to get some cheap drinks" and Zentz misses "running barefoot everywhere!"
Even though it isn't completely lost to us forever, the activities of our childhood seem better in those carefree times. As Skinner so aptly puts it: "Oh man, those were the days!"
TX. correspondents Cheylie Dotson, Davis High; Morgan Ferrell, Morgan High; Lynette Randall, Northridge High, and Michelle Thurgood, Syracuse High, contributed to this story.
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Lindsey Larson is a senior at Roy High School. She enjoys reading, writing, acting and watching movies. E-mail her at chocolate.anonymous.19@hotmail.com.
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