The Sweet Gift of Summer

Summer is slipping by too quickly my friends, too quickly. It's been busy around here, but in a good, relaxing sort of way. The pool has been the BEST decision ever! Or at least pretty close. Coming just under marriage and children, which are a hop skip and jump below salvation and the love of Christ. But you get the idea..We LOVE It! My family and I have been accumulating hours of swim time... splashes and sunburns, cooling off in this heat, increasing lap speed, diving for quarters, learning to tread water and float on backs, exercising lousy joints, clogged ears, red eyes, and huge smiles. "Can we go swimming?" at 9 in the morning. "Can we go swimming?" just after lunch. Then in the evening it's "Can we go swimming and make s'mores?" Yep, summer smores! Love that fire pit by the pool. I feel spoiled! Beyond spoiled. If you live nearby me, I'm telling you... you need to come over and be spoiled with me! It's too hot out there to melt away in tiny unending droplets... come swim my friends and fams! Come swim with me .... IT'S SUMMER!!  A time to just eat and swim and laugh and sit in the sun and chat and swim and laugh again. No pressure. No tests. No deadlines. Just fuuuun. Oh such tired exhausted fun. Yes, I'm about to go to bed at 7:30 after I smother Aloe Vera on my flaking lizard sunburned skin. Do you ever have to deal with that? Do you sunburn? Or are you one of those older sisters with perfect olive skin who works out regularly and easily slips into a beautiful bathing suit to soak up the sun and the sand at the beach? *Ahem*, hypothetical of course. Maybe. Could be. But we did just get back from a wonderful time with this hypothetically perfect sister of mine at her beautiful home in the midst of the amazing beauty of  South Lake Tahoe, where she runs, skis, grows her own vegetables, and bakes everything from scratch out of whole all natural foods in her shiny, spotless kitchen. All the while teaching her four children about nature  where they have a smorgasbord of various animal habitats in place in the back yard for her kids to catch caterpillars, butterflies, worms, lizards and even stink bugs for the boys. I think my kids wanted to stay. They had our pool in one hand and the stink bug habitat in the other. It was a tough call, but I do believe that the hand with the pool weighed a tad bit more ...  Needless to say, we are swimming in the pool today and my hypothetically perfect sister is stuck with the stink bugs. heehee.  No,  that was NOT gloating. ;)  maybe. :) But the reality of it is that I love my sister! and my brother-in-law!, and my nephews! and nieces! and I LOVED our time in Tahoe with them all! The beach was fun in an extremely crowded kind of way,  and the food was delicious! The kids had a blast in the backyard, while we sisters caught up with each other's lives, the fireworks over the lake were absolutely spectacular, choreographed to patriotic songs played over the local radio station. Beautiful. The hike back home was invigorating, the annual fourth of July berry flag custard and home-made vanilla ice cream were superb!! and the time was truly cherished. The next day at my parents was filled with fun games of canasta with my mom and my grandma and some of the older kids while we heard the little guys yell "We caught another one!" from the front door. Followed immediately by my mom yelling "Don't you bring that lizard in this house!" But Nana was saved when Papa started up the engine to the go-cart and all the little ones went screaming to the other side of the house to get their helmets. Have I mentioned that I LOVE SUMMER!? Just one more thing to share with you all... Our journey home took us through Yosemite National park! I LOVE Yosemite National Park!  Where we took a leisurely stroll across Tioga pass, nope... where we took a bumper to bumper, stop and go drive across Tioga pass. And we observed an abundance of wildlife. no.no...where we fought with an abundance of wild people for parking spaces. Really. I have never seen the park soooo crowded before! But then I'm not usually brave enough to attempt it in July. The next time I think driving through Yosemite in July sounds like a good plan, just give me a good slap. ;) Really. And for those of you who were there that day, or any day this month may I inform you that there are many days when Yosemite is actually a beautiful, majestic, and even peaceful place to visit, when the true wildlife really does show up with fur and wings and tiny paws and hooves. But even with the crowds, it was still an amazingly beautiful reminder of our creative, powerful, majestic heavenly Father! ...and the gift He gave me to spend such an amazing time with 5 of His wonderful, precious children.