Aug 24th - You are my Sweetest Laughter

I don't know that there is anything that sounds sweeter to the ear than the sound of your child laughing on a warm summer day! That is the sound that I heard all day as I was working away in my home office, and my daughter was outside with two of my neighbor's young boys. The kids were just having a blast!

They went from throwing balls into this forever puddle in front of the house, to sitting in a small inflatable pool and chasing each other with buckets of water, to jumping on the trampoline. And the laughter all day was such a wonderful sound....one that you just never tire of. It definately takes you back to those fabulous days of youth when life was pretty much carefree and the only agenda - laughing and having fun and being silly!

I consider myself a very organized, serious person. Don't get me wrong, I love having fun like the next, but I am not one to just burst into laughter like I did as a child. I remember times with my sister when something - who knows what - just made us double over with laughter. When just looking at each other made us giggle uncontrollably. Laughter - you need so much of it in your life. It is the thing that attracted me so much to my husband. He has that wonderful deep laugh that is just contagious!

So, again, as summer winds down, I am going to remember to smile more, laugh lots and take things just a little less seriously. My daughter's laughter - quite simply, the sweetest sound in the world to me. It makes my heart sing and it is the one sound that I will never tire of.

Aug 23rd - Oh what fun....

Wow, what a weekend we have had! As we start to wind down the summer, we want to hold on to every minute as we know that the cooler weather is right around the corner and with that routines and busy schedules.

I remember this time so well from when I was a kid.....we never wanted summer to end. Never, not ever and we would have done anything to make it last just one more day. Not wanting our summer to end this year, we took full advantage of the great warm weather this weekend with another trip to the Lake. We were lucky enough to go out on the boat and the girls got to do some tubing. My niece tried water skiing on Saturday and actually got up! I wish I could have captured that moment on camera - the sheer shock and delight was written all over her face, but the best was the excitement in her voice when she let out a hoot of pure excitement! I think people on the shore could hear her and it was so great. It is like a rite of passage when you live on the Lake, I guess. Dan and Tom spent time after talking about when they first got up water skiing. I recalled my many many attempts when I was younger - never successful - but then again, I blame it on not living on the Lake, and having to learn in the Ocean where far too many sea creatures live (or so I think anyway). Erin even decided that she should try after Avery had succeeded. She had a great look on her face as she tried, and then as the boat dragged her face first when she fell because we never told her to let go of the rope when she fell.

The sun went down too quickly that day (literally, as the sun now sets before 8PM) but our memories are going to last for so long. I'm not ready to start thinking about the Fall just yet. I thought I was, but nope - I want the summer to last for a bit longer....at least the unhurried, less organized and more laid back days.