Summer Lovin'

The weather here has been truly gorgeous the last week or so.  Our family has been spending as much time as possible out-of-doors.  In the mornings, Emmie and I go to mom-and-tot swim lessons.  For half an hour, we sing and splash and move around in the water with other babies.

Emmie helps water the plants

We come home, have lunch together, and then she takes a nap.  In the afternoon, we play out back together.  Sometimes we go in her baby pool.  Or I work on the yard while she goes down her slide, colors on the patio with chalk, or escapes to her playhouse.

When Bruce gets home, I fix dinner.  I've been cooking with the Thai basil and mint that we potted.  I've never had my own outdoor plants before.  As a child, when my mother would fix supper, she'd ask me to go out in the yard and pick some of the ingredients.  Now as an adult, I am reminded of that as I select just the right leaves, the fragrance of the herbs wafting up towards me and staining my fingers.  It's a simple pleasure.

Emmie reads her very first library book as we walk home!

After we eat, we try to go for a walk.  We've figured out how to get to a little park nearby where the baby can swing and go down bigger slides.  It's right next to the library.  I can't express how ideal it is for me to be able to walk there.  I'm pinching myself - it's one of those items on a highly detailed wish list I never thought I could have gotten.

To add to our location, location, location, there is a state park about 15 minutes away by car.  We went there the other night and pushed Emmie in her stroller on a wooded path surrounding a large, clear lake.  Then yesterday we found a small forest preserve not far away that doubles as a Frisbee golf course.  Bruce used to play a lot in his early 20s, and he literally squealed when we found it.  I've only very rarely seen him get that excited, like a little kid.  It was awesome!

Bruce and I are both embracing the role of landowner with joy.  We can easily spend an hour in the garden center/lawn section of a store.  Today, while Emmie's been napping, Bruce trimmed the bushes with a dangerous-looking contraption we borrowed from his parents.  I weeded the flower beds.  Then Bruce ran out to buy himself a rake and me some pruning shears.  We're sweaty and dirty, but we've never felt better!

This land is my land