Happy SUMMER!

"When I go down by the sandy shore/ I can think of nothing I want more/ Than to live by the booming blue sea/ As the seagulls flutter round about me / I can run about - when the tide is out/ With the wind and the sand and the sea all about/ And the seagulls are swirling and diving for fish/ Oh- to live by the sea is my only wish." Jacqueline Bouvier

Oh, how I love summer... I have ever since I was a child. I think of nights playing games like Ghosts in the Graveyard and Freedom. The whole neighborhood stayed out until dark. We rode our bikes and shared secrets, boys played with girls and we picked each other for teams. We laughed til lemonade spat out our noses and we drank from the hose, all sweaty and still smelling of chlorine from our days at the pool. We only went inside if we had to use the bathroom and our moms had to drag us home as the sun fell. Driving to the shore the other day, Rob and I observed, we never see much of that anymore...we shared stories of the things we did as kids and wished for our children some of the joys we have known in our life.

It was Father's Day, our first Father's Day with Hannah -- we prayed for this day and it was made more special by the knowledge that Rob, our ever loving homebody stretched many miles from his comfort zone to bring home our Hannah. The girls love the beach. Our big surprise was Miss Emily as she bounded down the sand (not a lick of hesitation and straight into the surf). She commented several times on what she has been missing with "NO BIG WATER!" the past four years! Truth be told, we love the beach. We were thrilled when Hannah plopped right down in the sand to play and then grabbed us pointing to the water, needless to say, not many pictures happened with both of us splashing about, little ones plastered to our side jumping and giggling. It was a wonderful day. I was glad Rob spent it his way...he's a great father all the time, but this year just seems a bit sweeter.

Happy summer everyone...