The Last Bits of Summer

Labor Day weekend has always signaled the end of summer for me.  The air feels different; even if it's still hot out, the heat doesn't have the same intensity we felt in July, where just stepping out the door felt like stepping into a sauna.  By Labor Day, the leaves have just started to turn, the pools are open for one last hurrah and thoughts start to shift to apples, pumpkins and what costume to buy for Halloween - because you know it's just around the corner!

However, Labor Day gives us one last day to celebrate the last bits of summer...and that's just what Ava and I did.

I dragged her water table off the deck, turned on the hose, filled the thing up to the brim and let her go at it.  She dipped her face in and blew bubbles, flung water from a cup onto herself and into the grass, splashed her little hands so hard that her shirt became soaked within minutes...and it was a perfect way to celebrate a warm, sunshine-filled Labor Day. 

Ava babbled non-stop, telling me in her own way all about the fun she was having.  She darted to and fro, picking up cups and sailboats from the yard and plunging them into the cold water.  She laughed and smiled and thoroughly enjoyed her water-filled playtime.

This last-bit-of-summer day provided us with blue skies and still-green trees as a backdrop, so even though the air felt slightly different, tinged with an edge of autumn, we could still pretend that summer was nowhere near over.

After stripping out of water-logged clothes, Ava enjoyed an end-of-the-summer treat: a cold, grape popscicle.  The purple juice dripped down her chin and her little hands became chilled, but she ate every last bite of that popscicle and whined when it was all gone.

I am thankful for days like this; simple days that pass slowly, where I can drink in this little person who I call my daughter, who grows and changes and seems a bit older each day.  The last bits of summer allow us a few more days to play outside in shorts and t-shirts, to suck down frozen treats, and to enjoy a day together without distractions and to-do lists and hectic schedules.  These summer-ish days are getting few and far between now...and I plan to get out and cherish each and every one of them!