What they remember

I always wonder what, exactly, goes through the kids' minds at any given time. What they notice, how they (and by "they," I guess I mean Will) arrive at the questions they ask, where their attention lies. It's no secret that kids have no problem at all with stopping to smell the roses (and smell the roses and smell the roses and so on...) but I've been trying this summer to not get so frustrated with all the rose-smelling that Will and Laura so love to do. I tend to look ahead, to think about what's next, anticipate any roadblocks or potential meltdown triggers, and part of that, I think, is just being a mom. But another part of it, I'm afraid, is my own personal tendency to not always notice what's happening right now.

And what's happening now is that my children are becoming bigger and bigger fans of summer by the day. Will is enrolled in camp every morning this week at our gym and he LOVES it, in no small part because he gets to play in the pool for a whole hour and a half every day while he's there. I love the fact that there's nonstop action and activity, which means that he's napped every day after he gets home (!). And Laura loves that she gets me to herself for five hours every day. Win-win-win, as far as I can see.

We've spent a lot of time in our yard, doing the usual summer stuff. The kids seem to play better outside these days, which allows me some time to fit in some yardwork here and there. And while I can't believe how quickly my children have grown, and a lot of times I wish that the crazy fast-forward march of time would slow down just a little so I can enjoy this part of their lives, I will also be the first to admit that their increasing independence and ability to entertain themselves without me is incredibly nice. (Tangent: one of the things that bothers me most is when I see parents making suggestion after suggestion after suggestion as to what their child should or could do next and then look exasperated when their child returns in .05 seconds for some more ideas.)

Anyway, here are some things we've been doing here lately.

We went to a brand new park downtown this past weekend and it was the neatest park/playground that we've ever been to. The one downside of our excursion was that it was 900 degrees out and we didn't get to stay long. However, we plan to go back soon when it's not as hot out and when we're more prepared with digging toys and bathing suits to take full advantage of everything the park has to offer. It's located in an area that borders on the not-so-nice part of downtown, so hopefully this is a step in the right direction for the area.

Will and Laura both love the slip and slide. It's $10 that I will never regret spending.

Laura got another new bathing suit. It's my favorite yet. Target really has the cutest little girl bathing suits this year, in case you're in the market for one.

Laura and I spent a few hours at the park Monday morning and it turned out to be some of my favorite time I've spent with my best girl all summer. Actually, my favorite time I've spent with her, ever.

After swinging and sliding and running around, Laura and I did a little exploring on the nature trails.

While I'd been down in this area of the park several times, I actually took a second to read the plaque on this little building. (Mariemont is a hotbed for stuff of the "historic" sort, as it is one of the very first planned communities in the US, so I tend to kind of look past the million or so historic markers scattered around everywhere here.) Turns out this little structure was a boathouse for the lagoon that was once here. Kind of romantic, huh?

Laura was a pretty intrepid little trail walker, despite her Crocs not being exactly ideal footwear for the task.

While we were walking, we stumbled on this little stream, which I had no idea was there. If I had hurried her along or steered her to the shorter path to the sidewalk like I'm apt to do, we would never have seen this and Laura wouldn't have had her 15 or so minutes of fun splashing in the water here. Lesson learned. It was really pretty and peaceful. So much so that it was kind of an adjustment after we climbed back up off the trails and onto the sidewalk next to the street, close to traffic and construction noise from the nearby new school.

I know she probably won't remember this particular morning, but I will. Just like how I'll remember how excited Will is about camp, about his very first field trip tomorrow (without me!), about his very first bus ride.  I just hope that someday when they look back on this time, maybe when they're spending time with their own kids doing similar things, that they remember how delicious summer was. That they remember that and also how very much they were loved, at camp and on the trail and at home. After all, what more does anyone need?