Watching Audrey & Matt and their 4 boys pile into the bright red Twizzlers Landmark Summer van, ready to head to the Landmark City of Washingon, D.C., put the biggest smile on my face!

Yep, maybe it IS a delicious twist of fate that this wonderful van, detailed with a map of the United States, and this wonderful Landmark Summer adventure, brought back the most wonderful memories of my own childhood… and memories of when my kids were kids, too.

Let’s begin with Twizzlers. When I was a kid, I remember eating what we called black licorice and red licorice.  My Mom was a huge fan of black licorice, but I loved the red kind.  I distinctly remember my Mom allowing me to eat licorice in our car.  This was a very big deal because my Mom was, and still is, the neatest person in the world and not one for messes of any kind.  The licorice stayed nice and neat in my hands, not all “melty” like most other candies.  In addition to the deliciousness of the candy, this eating-in-the-car factor probably began my love of Twizzlers.

I smiled such a big grin seeing William, Alex, Ben and Henry not only eating red Twizzlers in the Twizzlers van, but being surrounded with packs and packs and boxes and boxes of Twizzlers to give away along their trip.  I couldn’t wait to show my Mom the photos!

Oh, how my mind wandered back to the things my friends and I did with our Twizzlers.

We used them as stirrers, and sometimes even straws.  Ah… summertime, the shade of a good tree, lemonade, ice cubes from real ice cube trays, brightly colored Tupperware tumblers and our Twizzlers stirrers.  Could it get any better?

And the words we spelled.  Oh, boy! How many boys’ crush names did my friends and I “write” with licorice.  (I’ll never tell, but the crush usually lasted about as long as the licorice!)  Until this one came along… !

(Shhhhhhh. Don’t tell anyone… but I actually tried to fashion spitball blowers from Twizzlers.  Probably best it never worked.)

How many Twizzlers did I eat while working at a candy store during one summer of my college years?  Hey, the Twizzlers called my name from those sparkling clean apothecary jars!

And what about the memories of my kids and Twizzlers.  Wow.  I decorated cakes with Twizzlers.  We made shapes with them.  I used them as little fresh flower holders for breakfast treats.  We made “roads” and “fences” with them.  Smiley faces.  And sometimes even frowny faces.

And I let my 4 kids eat Twizzlers in our car, too.  Just like my own Mom did.

Oh, I could go on and on… but back to the Twizzlers Landmark Summer van.

I smiled at the wonderful journey and adventure that my daughter Audrey and her family were embarking on as a Twizzlers Traveling Family.  Washington, D.C.!  I thought of the many times my husband and I had piled our 4 kids into our car and headed off to landmarks around our country… especially our visits to Washington, D.C. with its history and monuments and museums.

I couldn’t help poring over our photo albums to smile once again at those wonderful times… times that Audrey is now repeating with her own children:

Isn’t it amazing that one bright red van detailed with a gigantic map of the United States (and intertwined with gigantic Twizzlers images!) can evoke such strong and wonderful memories from so very long ago.

Ah.

Of course, I had to get in a photograph with the boys and the bright red van!

I’m looking forward to hearing all about Audrey’s family’s trip… and about every single leg of this extraordinary adventure!

Sending a great big smile…