1001 things to love about summer

We're only one week into summer vacation, but it's amazing, really, how quickly and effortlessly we've turned away from busy schedules and structured days and embraced relaxation and endless hours to fill with whatever fun we can dream of around here.  While the routines of most of the year are predictable and comforting in some ways, it's easy to fall into automatic pilot mode when there is so much to do, to just keep plowing ahead without taking time to stop and enjoy the little moments as we live them.   For us, the summer months are very different than the rest of the year, and in that uniqueness I seem to notice so many more of the simple details that make life beautiful.  Every day this past week, I've often felt so grateful just to be here, to be alive and breathing and experiencing the many wonderful things that the summer months bring:

Sleeping in every morning.

(Yes, 7:00am is "sleeping in" at our house.  It's been glorious!)

Not having to rush the boys through every step of the making beds-eating breakfast-brushing teeth-getting dressed morning routine (which means that there is lots of time to look for, and even laugh about, Will's shorts when he somehow loses them in the five minutes between when I laid them out on his bed and when he went to put them on).

The shorts were finally located on the bathroom rug (where they were very well-camouflaged) after 20 minutes of us tearing apart Will's room looking for them this morning.  I wonder how the sneaky shorts got there?

Buying a silly hat for Will when he fell in love with it at the party store where we were having fun looking for invitations for Noah's summer birthday. 

How could I not buy it for him when he looks so cute in it?

Snacking on fresh green peas in the pod...

and sweet, juicy cherries.  Mmmm.

Having the boys around home for lunch, rather than packing lunches the night before to send to school.  It's so nice to have such good helpers and such cheerful company mid-day!

Noah made all the toast for today's lunch, and Will took great care and time to set the table the way he wanted to: "restaurant style", with the utensils all wrapped up in the napkins.  :)

Water fights and all the crazy laughter that comes with them.

Beautiful butterflies on garden blooms.

Homemade popsicles...

and the funny faces that result when kids use the popsicles to draw mustaches and beards on themselves.

Catching up on magazine reading in the welcoming shade of a friendly tree.

Having time to sit and think.... or tell fortunes, as Will likes to do.

Apparently my future involves moving to the countryside and eating sushi, and Noah is going to be an Olympic swimmer.

Delicious family dinners cooked on the grill.

Every season has its share of simple, yet wonderful moments like these, but sometimes we're just too busy to see and enjoy them.  Summer lets us all slow down and be mindful of how marvellous it really is to be living this life, right here, right now.  As the sunny weeks of summer roll on and this "novel" way of life begins to seem like a routine, I will try to remember how fantastic it feels to find new joy in everyday things, and to truly appreciate this short, sweet season while it lasts.