perfectly perfect

By day's end I realized that the day had been perfect.  Perfectly perfect.  It was not one thing, or even the right combination of things.  It was everything.

The sky.  The sand.  The water.

Cousins.  Always cousins.

Breathing.  Deeply.  Contentedly.

The accomplishment of the high dive.  And going over and over and over again.

Learning a new game.  And winning first place.

Sandcastle building.  And winning first place.

A day that felt like a vacation.  A real vacation (but without the travel and packing.)

A day with many cousins around to lighten the load, and make the deep, contented breathing possible.

Lunch, and later, dinner.  Feasts prepared and brought by my Mama.

The sky and its many colors as hour upon hour passed.

Enjoying the smell of natural water on my skin, in my hair, on all of the kids.

Sand that has smoothed the rough edges, and not just on the bottoms of my feet.

A dock in the deep end to swim to.  Sitting there, talking and laughing with my sister.  I laid down to worship the sun.  Then did back dives off of the side.

Laughter.  And sunscreen.  And watermelon.  And family.  And sky, sand, and water.

Staying until the sun was well into setting.  With kids asleep moments after leaving for home.

Everything summer, perfectly perfect.

bjorn

This photo was a recent "this moment" posting.

Since then, the baby bjorn has been getting lots of cousin use. 

Like here, while egg collecting.

And here, at the beach.

And here, amidst a busy kitchen.

Pal is simply soaking up all of that cousin love.  The smile is unmistakable.

And this cousin here, the oldest of the bunch, was carried in that very same baby bjorn oh so many years ago.

 Be still my cousin-loving heart!

dreaming of chickens

As if I wasn't already wanting backyard chickens enough, a Cousins Camp trip to a small family homestead has made me absolutely smitten.

Without hesitation the kids gathered the warm eggs from right under the birds.  They also chased the sheep and cajoled the goats, fed the pigs, petted the bunnies and peered at the bee hives.

Of course they also did all of the usual cousining of much laughter, much fun, much love.  The very best of summer is spend with cousins, I say.

this moment {cousins}

Joining Soulemama, and many others, in this moment. 

In Amanda's words: "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."

Please link to your moment too -- I love to see what you are enjoying this week!

Wishing you a weekend full of goodness!