While I put this together last week, as I’m going over it again I can’t help but laugh. Rain is falling outside and swimming lessons were canceled because it’s barely 50 degrees outside. Today does not feel like summer. But I am hopeful for more warm, sunny days.
The sun is hot on my face, but I ignore it and take a bite of my frosting-covered graham cracker. I watch as my sister runs toward the playground, as soon as I finish, I jump up to join her.
We spend hours running and laughing. Everything is perfect.
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“Let’s all jump at the same time.” My cousin Jordan suggests and one by one we hop out of the pool and run around to the deep end. We’ve spent the past few days playing in this little house in St. George that we come to so often. We played hide and seek (the best spot is in the huge black tub), and a million card games. But most of our time has been spent in the pool in the backyard.
Water splashes down around us as we all jump in, coming up for air we’re laughing. My toes brush along the rough stony bottom of the pool.
Summer is pure magic.
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I watch as V shakes her head when her swim teacher asks her to go under the water. “Come on,” I whisper, just once. Be brave, my girl. Then, to my surprise, she does a bob, going completely under the water. She comes up, gasping. After she wipes her eyes she looks over to where I’m sitting, watching, I give her a thumbs up. Her eyes shine with pride as she looks back at her teacher.
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As an adult, I often forget that I am the main person in charge of creating magic in my own life. But in the summer (and at Christmas time) it’s a little easier.
Easier to say yes to watching a moving on another rainy day.
Easier to go to the pool and float around the lazy river again and again and again.
Easier to check out the new library that has so many activities I’ll have to sit on my bed for an hour when we get back, because of all the stimulation.
But watching her eyes light up, that’s magic.
Ways we’re making magic this summer: Playing nail salon // planting a garden // climbing trees // editing by the pool // visiting a local farm // swimming, lots of swimming // bike rides and nature paths // endless trips to the library.
and saying yes to a million tiny things that will all add up to something magical.
This post is part of a blog hop with Exhale—an online community of women pursuing creativity alongside motherhood, led by the writing team behind Coffee + Crumbs. Click here to view the next post in the series "Fun Mom Summer".
"Saying yes to a million tiny things that will all add up to something magical." Gorgeous.