Friends

Friday dawned a clear day, with blue skies as far as the eye could see and the promise of temperatures above 70°. I was determined to get out in the newly-arrived summerness and enjoy it, so the kids and I decided to head to the lake to play in the sun. That morning, my friend Heather emailed and said she and her kids were heading out to enjoy the sun too, so I quickly replied with our plans. We agreed to join forces and meet at the lake.

It was a gorgeous day and the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They played so well together and allowed Heather & I to sit back and relax and snap pictures to our hearts content. We chit-chatted, snacked, and generally just enjoyed ourselves.

Brady and Sam worked together, creating some kind of intricate moat/waterway along the water's edge, digging with their shovels and buckets. Zoë and Natalie alternately snacked and played in the water. It was so fun to watch them, developing their own little friendship. Heather and I about melted when they walked, hand in hand, down to the water to dip their toesies.

After such strenuous play, they retired to the wagon for a picnic. Again, nothing cuter. Except maybe that Natalie, when she couldn't remember Zoë's name, would simply call her "Friend".

The boys, meanwhile, braved the cool waters of the lake. But only for a minute, before they came racing back out. It was pretty chilly.

It was an extremely pleasant day, even though Heather and I both ended up burnt to a crisp. True Pacific Northwesterners we are - at the first glimpse of sun, we rush right out to soak it up, failing to remember that our bare skin hasn't been exposed to such bright sunlight in about 7 months and may be a bit unprepared for such a extended dose of UV rays. I've been limping along for two days now, with shins that are painfully burnt and feel like they have been sliced with white-hot razor blades, so you can be sure I'll remember to slather the sunscreen on next time.

There really is no place better in the summer than our town. The temperatures are generally pretty mild, rarely hitting 90°, the days are extraordinarily long (the sun doesn't set until about 9:15pm and it's not truly dark until about 10pm), everything is SO lush and green, the air is clean, and there's always lots of outdoor activities to enjoy. There's really no place like it in the summer.

It's days like this that make the long, miserable winter a distant memory and will sustain me thru the next one to come.