Have you ever gone outside on a beautiful, sunny, March morning when the snow is still crusty from the freeze the night before and the sun is warm on your face?
And when you were out there did you ever look at a nice big spot of snow that didn’t yet have foot prints on it and think, “Hmmm?….”
“Ahhh yes!”
“This does feel just like the beach!”
Weekly Photo Challenge: Narrow
At the lake.
A narrow strip of sand.
A tiny beach.
Just right,
for one,
small,
girl.
“Mom, do you know two reasons I’m glad to be home? Not having to wear sunscreen all the time and knowing what kind of flies are here.” -Ivy
But the sunscreen was worth it…
And, as much as Ivy hated those biting flies, braving a few strange bugs for this kind of wildlife?
Not a problem!
Thanks Granny and Gramps for a trip full of great memories!
Now we’ll do our best to warm up the weather for you before you get home!
A Friday ritual.
A single photo – no words – capturing a moment from the week.
A simple, special, extraordinary moment.
A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Afloat
These wind boarders were all sorts of “afloat”…
…and we had front row seats!
As John braved the chilly evening, swimming out into deeper water with the older girls, Jane and I ran in and out of the shallows.
But before too long the two of us were chilly and had moved on to playing in the sand. Digging holes, building castles…
Me: “Look Jane! Now it has water all around it, like a castle with a moat, or an island.”
Jane: ” NO! It’s a LIBRARY!!!”
Soon Jane was cold, not even a sand library could keep her by the water, and off she went to the play structure at the edge of the beach.
Jane was happily playing on the slide.
Ivy, Clara and John were happily swimming out in the cold water.
A young park employee was happily(?) using a tractor to haphazardly move picnic tables about.
I was happily sitting on the sand.
And then Jane erupted with screams of terror.
“MOM! MOM! I scared! MOM! I scared!”
I ran to her side.
Jane pointed one little, shaking finger at the park employee, who was still bouncing about on a tractor, curly hair tucked under a bandanna, and cried:
“I scared of the pirate!!!”
Poor Jane. 
She was so scared of the pirate.
She was so scared and I, her rotten mother, could hardly keep it together long enough to calm her down before dissolving into a fit of giggles on the beach.
Poor Jane.
Behind the Willows 