Summer, summer. Where all the girls b@re olive shoulders...

So, does anyone else share an undeniable, uncontrollable love for summer? I just love it. It's my favorite season, and it always has been. It's like the minute the warmth, no strike that... the scorching heat rolls in, I'm happy. I love all that summer stands for. I love the freedom of the summer. I love that it's carefree. This will sound odd, and I don't mean it the way it might initially come off (no pun intended,) but I love the lack of clothes. One of my favorite feelings in the world is feeling the warmth of the sun on my shoulders. I love the freckles on my shoulders that appear after enough coaxing from the sun. I feel it's warm embrace, and it's warmth infiltrates my soul. I'm just happier in the summer. There's a spring in my step that just isn't there when I'm chilled through and through in the winter months.

I love summer.

So, today, after picking up Pa from the airport (YAY! He's home!) they (the girls & Pa) went for a little swim in the kiddie pool. Okay, I know you moms out there will know just what I mean by this: Don't you remember that newborn baby smell... fresh out of the bath?!? It's like... I can almost close my eyes now & smell it. I wanted to bottle it up forever back then. It's SUCH a precious time and a precious smell. I remember feeling so sad when those days went by. But, now... now it's been replaced by another smell that I just adore. I'm quick to bury my nose in their hair again, only this time it's the smell of water, warmth & sunscreen. Something about that just floods my heart with that happy warmth that only comes with summer. Gosh, I love it.

So, when we got home this evening, I was just feeling particularly nostalgic. The girls' hair glistened with two swims worth of sunscreen right there at the hairline, you know? Kinda nasty looking if you ask me, but so indicative of a good time, a good day. I just wanted to go out and be enveloped with the warmth, feel the sun on my shoulders. It inspires me to want to pick up my camera which I've so neglected for far too long. So, that's what we did.