Lula's Taste of Summer

I love living in Washington. I love the green, the trees, the mountains, the rivers, the beaches...I love Seattle- the market, the shopping, all the hubub, even all the passive-agressive Seattlites. (just a little joke :-)) I love Eastern Washington and really do miss living there time to time. What I love most about Washington is the Summer. Not a lot beats the beauty of the Pacific Northwest on a clear, warm, summer day. The mountain in all its glory can leave me speechless while driving down 167.

Unfortunately, we haven't had many of these precious days this summer. I had so many things I wanted to do with Lula during our weekdays together. Zoo trips, beach trips, day hikes... so instead, on the few and far between sunny and warm days we have had, we have resorted to her running around the yard naked and playing in the sprinkler. She has no clue of the day trip ideas her momma had mustered up...she is thrilled running around in all her glory and occasionally lapping water from our sprinker. It is almost picturesque, really. I mean, I always saw those photos of people's kids, bare-bottomed squatting over a sprinkler with huge grins on their faces. I knew I always wanted that for myself. And, here she is, running around, learning, exploring, and making up little adventures in that amazing head of hers. I love my little girl, and have to pinch myself that she is actually my daughter and I get to share a life with her. Here are some pics my dad snapped this summer of our little sprite.

This summer has been anything but dazzling, yet it makes me appreciate those perfect days all that much more. When we come in for the day, Lula sits on my lap and I stick my nose right in the nape of her neck. I breathe in all that yummy summer and all the fun she had. Grass, dirt, hose water, dandilions, sunscreen, popsicles, sweat... nothing beats it and I breathe her in so I won't forget it. In a few moments her Daddy will dip her in the warm bath and all will wash away- leaving only her own sweet smell with a hint of baby Aveeno.