The Official Start of Summer

Summer can now officially begin. The last day of school was today and at precisely 2:40pm you could almost hear the sound of pure happiness fill the air. As that last bell rang and the kids poured out of the buildings, summer officially started. Good ole summertime. Where a big shade tree and an ice cold Popsicle brings happiness like no other. Where endless days of sunshine and freedom and swimming and playing and running and biking fill each and every moment. Summer is my favorite time of the year simply because I get to be with my children almost every single day. I love having them home. I love eating picnics outside and watching movies together. I love that we can hike in the woods together, bake in the kitchen, sit by the pond, play with the puppies or sit together while we read great summer novels. I love having time to just enjoy each other without the worries of homework and schedules and deadlines. I feel like a child again when summer starts because I have so much fun with my kids. I am instantly young again. This summer I am going to squeeze out every drop of enjoyment I can. My younger daughter is now officially a rising senior in high school. Depending on her school choice, this summer could potentially be my last summer with her home. My son is officially a rising 8th grader and I am going to guess as he continues to grow older, he might find one or two things more interesting than hanging out with his mom. I know how quickly the summers of childhood fly by. Blink and you just might miss them. I hope I can find a way to slow down time and make these summer days last as long as I can. Tomorrow we will kick off summer with yet another trip to the strawberry patch. We can't get enough of those sweet sliced strawberries topped with a big tower of whipped cream. Nothing says summer is here to stay like a huge bowl of berries! Let summertime fun begin!