And then, there was Summer

The kids got up early this morning and headed out the door for the first day of school. Can it be? Can it really be that time already? Summer just got here!! I was just starting to feel warm again. I am not ready for fall. I thought all day about summer. Well, mostly the 9 sunny days we have had just played back on a continuous reel.

Taken with my phone one morning on the way to work, summer means feeling warm at 8:30 in the morning because it is going to be over 80 that day.

Summer means shooting a bow and arrow just for the fun of it.

Summer means kayaking on the lake.

Summer means getting that all important haircut before school starts. The one that is easy to schedule because you have all the free time in the world.

Summer means soccer tournaments and in our house that means Mom gets to paint the windows of the car.

Summer means the flowers that we have been waiting for all winter, blooming like crazy.

Summer means picking cherries in the backyard.

Summer means lots of family bonding during soccer tournaments. We have played 21 games over the course of 8 little days this summer. Those 8 little days required hours and hours of driving, gallons and gallons of sunscreen, and really strong arms to cart around coolers of drinks from field to field.

This was taken this morning. Isabelle smiling the most epic of smiles after wearing a uniform for years and finally getting to pick out her own clothes every day. Maria is smiling because she gets to wear a different type of uniform now that she is in middle school. I am smiling because I am about to stuff them in my pocket and take them somewhere that stops time and they won't get any older.

Go away fall!