soak up the sun

i'm starting to feel guilty about the condition of this house. it seems in the midst of all this summer fun, i have forgotten how to do laundry or dust. well, "forgotten" would be a nice term for it, when in actuality, i just don't care. we've been up to our eyeballs in summer time fun and i wouldn't have it any other way.

occassionally on a monday, i will throw in a load of towels. after a long weekend of swimming, its next to impossible to find a dry, let alone fresh towel around here. i do try to make a nice pile of flip flops and tennis shoes by the back door and put the sunscreen away from time to time. and every once and a while i will collect the popsicle sticks from the planters by the front door. i've moved to us exclusively eating off of paper plates, this creates less loading and unloading of the dishwasher and more time spent running through the sprinkler.

jack has figured out how to do a cannon ball and its his most favorite thing ever. vivian got reluctantly pushed into swimming last week, and now she doesn't want anyone to touch her, she just motors on. ah, my fair haired, fiercely independent, little water bug! eleanor, obviously the baby of the bunch, is a bit of a water diva and not too thrilled when she gets stuck in her little boat. she likes to be held and right in on all the action. for all the bitching and moaning your dad likes to do about the pool, it is our summer time sanctuary.

of all the times i can recall from childhood, most of them revolve around summer time fun. (and how it always snowed and ruined my birthday parties, but that will be reserved for another posting!) every day we would go to aunt vicky's house and swim until we were sunburned, exhausted and famished. my mother was definitely on to something there. i remember fresh limeaids, dilly bars, the scent and sting of paba sunscreen and practicing diving incessantly. those were the best, lazy days of summer. 

we have been so busy this summer with all of these activities! jack has already had safety town and you big two just finished an exhausting week of bible school. we've been singing a lot of "deep and wide" and "head shoulders knees and toes" - although vivian doesn't quite have all the hand motions down and sometimes your ears end up where your toes should be. 

and cars. oh, the cars. its been all about the cars this summer. 

and loads and loads of lightnin' bug catching. and sometimes killin'. sometimes vivian gets a little lenny on us and squishes them from time to time. your dad and i can hardly believe this skill set you have, its uncanny how many you can catch, how quickly, how gently. like a moth to the flame, those little glowing creatures love you. it has to be something to do with your amazing, youthful vision, because i can hardly see them to catch them! 

these are the days! the dog days of summer! and the roths are going to suck up every single last minute of it! 

"I'm gonna soak up the sun
Gonna tell everyone 
To lighten up (I'm gonna tell 'em that)
I've got no one to blame
For every time I feel lame
I'm looking up o I'm gonna soak up the sun
I'm gonna soak up the sun"

soak up the sun, by sheryl crow