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.

Today there was plenty to do with friends: feeding India’s pet guinea piggoing to the park for bike riding
hiding in bushes, running while holding hands, and digging holes.Meanwhile the four of us adults can do a ton of talkingBut the highlight of the day was meeting our newest baby friend- Leila.
I caught her with her eyes open here, looking at her brother.
Then there was lunch break followed by fort building and slip and slide fun.
I loved watching each of them take a turn
and give their slide it’s own stylebut it was hard to not also be nervous about someone getting hurt in the chaos.
I was relieved when Olivine was sitting in the kiddie pool away from the sliding.
She dried off first, because eventually the entire crew migrated to the mini pool. When it was time to dry off, these two whispered about getting married. Oh how I remember the days of laying on warm cement with heavy breathing from playing until legs ache.  I wish I could bottle up this sunshine and these days, to carry me through the rest of the year. It’s why I keep this blog. I need the visual reminders of these days, when I am in the middle of hard working school days or feeling like a subpar parent. I want to capture the scene of driving home today and Henry asking if today is summer. When I ask back “why, do you like it?” He nods with two thumbs up and my heart is grateful that he notices a change in the season because the mood has shifted. We are slowing down a bit, having more time together, and lightyears away from the stress of the school year.

empty glasses with umbrellas (left over from book club), a little summer fun.a kale salad that is easy, basic, yummy, and my kids will eat it by the bowl full.a new recipe of feta and chive biscuits/scones. Who doesn’t like cheese and bread?no trace of the pupusas we had for dinner (three dollars each at the farmer’s market-made to order)but you might find some jars of lemonade and cherums. I love hybrid fruits. These are a combination of cherry + plum = cherum. I love the name and that they fit in tiny hands.

A new month means a new calendar page. Since school is over he doesn’t have the cool crafty calendar page from class, just an internet printout (but it gets the job done). He likes filling it in, talking about holidays that are upcoming. He drew balloons on my birthday (thirty-five) and is slowly understanding a concept that I know is abstract and challenging for kids.I am excited to fill up the days and leave a few blank. We are digging the concept of staying in pajamas all day and having movie marathons (E.T., Indiana Jones, Splash,…you know..the classics).