Today, the girls and I started our day by blasting the radio and playing in the backseat of the new car. We’re squeezing in fun where we can as summer break comes to an end.
Category: childhood
Working together
I enjoyed this moment from the summer. Two sisters, working together, determined to fix a scooter by themselves.
Memories of the playground
This image brings back memories of playing in the playground next to my childhood home with the kids in the neighborhood. So many wonderful memories of playing together for hours, jumping, swinging, tree climbing, bike riding, rollerskating, and going on adventures are flooding to my mind this morning.
I moved away from the neighborhood and my childhood friends long ago, but my memories of those days with friends are still vivid.
This morning, I am thankful that I have recently found and reconnected with an old friend; I am truly enjoying sharing some of our favorite childhood memories and catching up with each other!
A Favorite Poem
After a day full of riding bikes, zooming on scooters, and running around in the yard, our daughter decided to take a break. She reached up high on the book shelf and pulled down an old favorite: Where the Sidewalk Ends.
When I heard her reading Shel Silverstein’s “Tree House,” one of her favorite poems, I captured this moment.
Tree House
A tree house, a free house,
A secret you and me house,
A high up in the leafy branches
Cozy as can be house.
A street house, a neat house,
Be sure and wipe your feet house
Is not my kind of house at all–
Let’s go live in a tree house.
Storytelling: a girl, a camera, and her dog
With our younger daughter off playing at a friend’s house, I had some time one-on-one time with our oldest. We decided to have some photo time together, which is always fun for both of us.
She has long since outgrown her point and shoot camera and is ready for her own DSLR. When I handed her my old Nikon d50 DSLR with a 50mm 1.8D lens to use for the day (technically, this is my husband’s camera now), she was thrilled! She jumped up and said, “I want to do a photo shoot with Honey!” (Honey is our 1.5 year old Spanish Water Dog.)
I grabbed my own camera as she and Honey ran out the door to have some fun; I definitely wanted to capture her story.
She started with using a pine cone to get Honey’s attention and to get her to stay still,
which worked really well for a few minutes (my daughter’s photo is below).
As she tried a new perspective, I saw a lot of my own style of photography. Obviously, she has been paying attention and observing me for years.
When Honey lost her focus, and we were winded from chasing her all over the yard,
we took a break and headed inside to take a peek at her photos.
She loved her photos, and found herself laughing at how many photos she had of Honey running out of the frame.
To wrap up the photo shoot, our daughter made a sandwich, and, of course, shared a bit with her buddy, Honey!
We both had a wonderful afternoon and are already planning our next photo session!
Working on pull-ups in the hallway
Both girls are working on getting stronger; pull-ups have now been added to the mix. (More girl power!)
Girl Power
WIth their cousin’s Superman-themed birthday party coming up tomorrow, the girls and I have had a lot of conversations about Superman’s story, his strength, and powers. While it has been great to explore the amazing powers of Superman as well as Spiderman, and the Incredible Hulk, I found a few things lacking in our conversations: female super heroes and girl power.
So, this morning, I changed things up a bit and started telling the story of the female super hero that I know best: Wonder Woman. Growing up, I LOVED her and created my own super hero adventures, spinning around in my room, and transforming into Wonder Woman just in time to save the day. While pretending to be Wonder Woman, I was powerful and unstoppable.
I felt that the girls and I could all use a dose of Wonder Woman today; thanks to YouTube, we were able to watch scenes from a few episodes of the 1970s television show; it was inspiring to see another strong female (even as a fictional character) and now they’re hooked!
Today, we chose to demonstrate our strength and athleticism, we played and ran with determination, and celebrated our own power.
Today, was about girl power!
Counting down the days
The excitement builds; a special day is almost here! A paper chain helps count down the days.
Pausing
Pausing to quietly search for the right word. Her poem is almost finished.
Three at the window
For me, quiet, relaxing mornings are one of the joys of summer break. I am thankful that there is no need to get sleepy kids out of bed, no need to find backpacks and pack lunches, and no need to rush out of the house to make it to school before the morning bell. I welcome the change.
At our house, (most of the year, but especially in the summer) the girls and I enjoy starting our day by creating; the girls wake up and start drawing before breakfast and I enjoy taking photos in amazing morning light.
As the first full week of summer break started today, it seemed like the perfect time to set up the art table again. There is a need for a dedicated space where art supplies are ready anytime and where the girls can come together and create. So, after moving a bit of furniture around, I set up a place for them at the front window, and they immediately started drawing together.
A few minutes later, their sweet pup joined them and all three sat together at the window.
I treasure these moments!
keep opening doors 