I lace up my Nike's, pull my hair up into a messy bun, and drag the bicycle and tricycle from the garage. It is 7:30 p.m. on the dot, which means it is time to drop everything and do what I do almost every evening at this time...go for a nightly trek of three loops around my neighborhood, followed by a walk around the golf course, just me and my girls...nothing but the sound of feet and wheels on pavement, little girl chatter echoing through the quiet streets. The night is perfect, my very favorite kind of evening....one that threatens rain, but never follows through with it, the air damp but not sticky, cool breeze on the back of my bare neck. We turn right out of our driveway, make another right at the STOP sign, then travel on to the dead end before circling back to walk up the long hill that is our street. My legs burn from the exertion, but I know it will be worth it when I get to the top. And it is. It is always worth the effort when we circle the cul-de-sac at the top, and look back down our street...a bird's eye-view of the beautiful sunset each and every night. Tonight the sunset is particularly majestic...God must be feeling creative ;). Those clouds....the ones that threaten the rain but never bring it..are full to almost bursting, glowing purple under the fiery pink and orange sun. The pure, natural beauty of it steals my breath, makes me stop to stare.

 

We run back down the hill, laughing the whole way, wheels spinning wildly, bicycle brakes held tightly, mama legs trying to keep up with little girl legs. We run until we reach the end, breathless and giggling. We continue on our journey, round and round the neighborhood, soaking in the sunset, the sights, the smells of summer: hotdogs cooking on charcoal grills, freshly cut grass, kids laughing, basketball bouncing on pavement. We turn left onto the golf course trail, and take in the beautiful view...fireflies, hundreds of them lining each side of the trail like runway lights. Lydia pedals ahead, catching lightning bugs in cupped hands, pulling honeysuckle from the vine, picking a flower to put in my hair. And it is magic. THIS NIGHT, THIS SUNSET, THESE FIREFLIES, THIS WHOLE SUMMER.....MAGIC. And I wonder for the millionth time...is there no way for me to bottle up all of this magic??? I want to remember...no, I am DESPERATE to remember...this day, this summer, this life. Because in a few months? These two little girls won't be quite so little. I will pack up the size "2T" clothes, fold the size "7-8" pajamas for the very last time. Their feet will grow into new, bigger sized shoes, and I will marvel at how all this happened right under my very nose...little girls growing up, and I didn't even realize it. Change, change, change. And I have lived enough to know that what we remember of a person is the latest version of them. I know the eight year old Lydia like the back of my hand, but the one year old version? She seems very far away, and I can't quite recall the way she said "mama", or the way her hair smelled after a bath. And the two year old Addison is so familiar to me, but I can't for the life of me remember how her newborn skin felt beneath my fingers. And it breaks me...splits my heart wide open. Because you can't bottle up the sounds, the smells, the MAGIC that make up a life. And so I write...my heart flowing from my pen. And I pick up my camera and watch life around me. Click, click, click; and for a moment, I capture a little piece of the magic. Maybe not the smell of the freshly cut grass, or the beauty of the fireflies lighting our evening walk, or the sound of my daughters' laughter, but MAGIC, still. And these words, and these photographs, they will tell our story, and they will help me remember...when the eight year old Lydia, and the two year old Addison, and the thirty-two year old me are nothing but a distant memory.

 

And for my sweet daughters...my Apple Cheeks...I know you will not remember the details of this summer. You may be able to recall bits and pieces, a memory or two...but I want you to know ALL about the summer of 2013: who we were, what we loved, and how we spent our days together. I have put together a couple of posts full of pictures of things I want the two of you to remember. This was the summer.... of a thousand backyard campfires, hotdogs on the grill, too many ice cream cones to count, two weeks at the beach, finding seashells and starfish, family cookouts, picnics on the beach, making homemade Nutella popsicles, trout fishing at the dam, teepee campouts in the backyard, running a 5K, Addison's first pedicure by me, swimming at Nana's, sparklers, birthday parties, and SO much more!!!! I can't wait to tell you all about it when you are older....this has been my favorite summer ever :).

 

Looking for bugs with flashlights...