Half way there

*This is a snap taken from this week's beach adventure with dear friends. It is, as snapped :D

It has been a most delicious summer. We've had adventures as a family, trips together and apart... gatherings with friends, and quiet days of doing lots of nothing. It is perfect. It is exactly why I love summer. It's when I get to connect with my children, have fun and relax. I have flowers on my deck, and plants on my covered porch. We've created fairy gardens and a dragon's volcano lair. We've learned about managing spending money, and we've gone to grandparents' house and been spoiled with attention. We've been to the beach, and swam in our pool and our grandmother's as well. We've gone to a carnival. We've spent whole days in pajamas. We've had dessert first, breakfast for dinner, and crazy what's-your-favorite-quick-dinner-you like dinners. We've had delicious meals from the grill. We've gone to restaurants, and ice cream stands.

And we still have half of summer left.

{sigh}

I savor the softness of getting up early-ish (for me), tending to my flowers, and then enjoying breakfast and coffee on my covered porch. I love that my Little Miss S loves to get up early with me, so that we have together time, then quiet time to ourselves, only a screen door between us.

I love that my Older Than I Like Miss K is my night owl, and loves to come in and chat at the end of the day in my room. We tell stories, dream about the future, tease, and talk about girl stuff.

I'm telling you, life is golden.

I love that my children don't need constant entertaining or stimulation. They can easily play, read, dream, whatever. We savor the bliss of summer together. We are summer souls.

Now, I love my work, and have in some quiet moments even done some planning for the coming year. And we have certainly had times when we've all gotten on each other's last nerves. And I TRUELY love each season for what they each bring. But right now, I fully love the... fullness (forgive the redundancy please) of summer. Time. To think. To breathe. To laugh.

I am grateful that summer allows us to savor all the gifts we have.