One Sunday after church our family and some friends ate lunch at MacDonald's in Thornton. We sat outside so my two great grandkids could enjoy the nice playgrounds. Ronnie is three and a half now and his sister, Alyssa is 19 months old. They ate a little bit of their food but it didn't hold their attention. The kids wanted to go to the playground. It was nice to eat where we could watch them.

What fun they had. Ronnie disappeared in a maze of color and came sliding down. Alyssa tried to find out where big brother went by climbing up the slide. They enjoyed jumping into a bunch of colorful, soft balls.

It reminded me of an unusual playground we had when I was young. I was 11 then.

My parents observed the Sabbath when I was growing up. From sundown on Friday night to sundown on Saturday night we never worked or went to town.

We met Harold and Jeanette Lee and their son Leslie when we lived in Rogers, Arkansas. Leslie was a year older than my 14-year-old sister.

When we moved back to Colorado the Lees lived on a farm east of La Junta. We often went to their house for lunch after church and to spend Saturday afternoons. Lunch was always good and in the afternoon the adults visited. It was a bit boring for active kids. We didn't listen to the radio. I could play the piano, but never popular music on Saturday, it had to be gospel music.

After lunch we stayed in the house until we could manage to get away from our parents and then we slipped outside. The farm was a new and different experience for us.

Mr. Lee told us two things not to do. "Don't slide down the haystack," he said. "And don't jump in the grain bin."

So as soon as we got out of their sight Leslie said, "Come on," and we headed for the haystack. He showed us how to climb up that fascinating stack.

"Your Dad said for us not to slide down the haystack," I reminded him.

"He can't see us," Leslie grinned. Well, who were we to argue? We were ready to have fun and fun it was as we climbed up and slid down the back side of the haystack. We did a lot of sliding but before when we were through Leslie made sure that we picked up the hay that had fallen.

Then we went to the barn and went right to the grain bin.

"This is really fun," Leslie told us and this time I didn't remind him of what his Dad had said. After all it was HIS Dad. What fun we had climbing up and jumping into the middle of that grain. I don't think Leslie ever got in trouble over our makeshift playground. If he did he never told us.

It was an unforgettable experience. Ronnie and Alyssa will remember the same kind of things I remember, climbing up and sliding down and jumping into a room full of bouncy joy.

Kids haven't changed but places are a little different now.