Summer Days

Today was one of those really awesome summer days...a beautiful, sun-soaked gift from Mother Nature. Nothing about today was particularly special or momentous, but it was just nice to have a rare family day enjoying the weather and each other.

My day started early at the gym, while my wonderful husband fed, dressed and prepped the girls for Emma's soccer game. Once at the park, we discovered the other team was short some players...so we lent them a few of ours! This meant Emma had to play the whole game without a break. And I was so proud of her; she was engaged, focused, energetic. She even got in some good kicks. But after 45 minutes of running in the sun, she was done. She actually walked off the field mid-play with less than a minute to go in the game and announced, "I'm hot. We can go home now." (This is not unusual behavior from any of the kids. In fact, walking off during the game is just one example of the park district's rather informal approach to group sports. They don't use goalies or keep score or, like, teach technique or anything bothersome like that. Mostly they just try to get the kids to run and kick in the right direction. A successful game is one in which every child makes it to the end without puking, crying or leaving. I have yet to see a successful game.)

After lunch, the four of us headed to the pool. This was our first pool trip all summer, and we had a great time. Sophie stayed close to the parental units, either splashing away or walking complete circles around the pool with Daddy in close pursuit. Emma made an adorable new friend, also named Emma, who was absolutely fearless and led our Em to places she'd previously been too afraid to go. Our usually cautious eldest was actually jumping through huge sprinklers, diving into semi-deep water and plunging down water slides. And what, pray tell, is the perfect capper to a day at the pool? Ice cream, of course! We stopped on the way home - a promised treat to help soothe Em's frustration at having to leave the pool sooner than planned. I think she could have stayed until dark and been perfectly content, but when the youngest starts uttering "Night-night? Night-night!" completely unprompted, it's time to go.

Probably my favorite part of the day? Once home, the four of us indulged in simultaneous naps - long, deep, glorious naps, the kind of nap possible only after tons of time spent outdoors. Absolutely divine.

Tomorrow brings a typical go-go-go day of tag-team parenting at the Mathews house. I'm exhausted just thinking about it. But today? Today, Summer gathered me and my three favorite peeps into one huge, perfect bear hug and never let go. Hmmmmm...I LOVE summer.