Today

A wonderfully rainy summer run today.

I've been looking and thinking ahead, as I tend to do, and I already see the summer racing by, especially the next three weeks with our move approaching. Since Blake and I have been together, our summers have been full and fun. Maybe it's our age that lends itself to regular summer weddings and baby or bridal showers. Along with family gatherings, birthdays, and holidays, the weekends have rarely been boring. While I love having fun things to do, I also like boring. I crave the time to just be and do nothing, particularly in the summer months, and I'm missing that already, just a couple of weeks into June.

Yesterday was our last day of play school. Each week the teacher prints an article for the parents, most often about childhood or parenting toddlers, and sets it out for us to pick up on our way out of class. The article this week shall be posted in our kitchen for me to see all summer long. I loved its message and the memories it brought back of my lazy summers as a kid. The author spoke of embracing the boredom that can come with summer flexibility, how being bored gives birth to creativity in children, and how kids need equal parts busy time, creative time, and down time. It brought forth visions of our new home, Anna playing outside for hours and coming in with dirty knees and red popsicle-stained lips, homemade lemonade on the back deck with the fireflies darting around us, and lazy summer days. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I am hopeful.

With play school over, today was our first "official" day of summer. Today, for the first time in days, we had no place to go and nothing we had to do.

Today, we sat in our pajamas for an hour after breakfast working on new, challenging puzzles together.

Today we went for a run in the rain, me in my rain gear, Anna in the stroller covered by the weather shield. It poured on us, and neither of us complained. When we arrived home, Anna and I played in the rain.

Today we made muffins for the first time in weeks.

Today I walked away, took a lot of deep breaths, and kept my cool just a little bit more when Anna tested my patience over and over and over again.

Today Anna was happy to play by herself while I made a few phone calls, did dishes, and cooked dinner, maybe because she had my undivided attention for a while and we were home All Day Long.

Today we enjoyed a candle light pasta dinner made with fresh-from-the-farm asparagus, garlic scapes, and green onions.

Today, I'm thinking about our Summer List and filling it with simple things like catching fireflies, making homemade lemonade, and watching the sunset.