Free

It started out innocently enough.

A perfect, sunny Sunday.

Let’s paint the boat! I exclaimed, knowing full well where this would go.

And yup, just like I predicted, things got messy. And fast. But I think everyone agreed, these two had a blast. And in spite of how it might appear in the pictures, they did actually paint the boat. Eventually.


Am I the only one who has a hard time keeping clothes on their children? I’ve really given up, though since Leo is pushing six I do make him at least keep his underwear on. Usually.


Oh my goodness does this little girl look like her namesake. It makes me teary sometimes.
At the end of the long, hot, messy day, as the sun started to hang low in the sky but the heat was still blazing, I chatted with our neighbor over the white picket fence. She looked looked down at buck naked Ellie who was cooing to my neighbor's almost two-year-old, and paid me one of the biggest parenting compliments I’ve received in a long time, if ever.

“Your kids have such a great childhood. They’re so free,” my neighbor observed.

I sure hope so.