Bargain Summer

A summer to remember is what this summer has been.  Not because we went to Disneyland, Wild Waves, Hawaii or anywhere that cost any money.  It was not awesome because we went on a 10-day hike, pet a Grizzly bear went river rafting.  It will be remembered, at least by me, as a great summer because we spent it together, and it was the summer before you officially started school.

We have done some pretty cool things though, albeit they we mostly free and local.  Remember that bike ride we took down the Western Chehalis, where we saw that owl and ate lunch by that pond

which had all those lily pads?  Remember when we were riding over I-5 with all those ‘hills’ screaming “I am getting freezing!!!” and how you got caught up in the moment and forgot to break, blowing through roundabout? How about that hamburger we ate after we spent the day out on the beach?  Or how about our hike down to the sound where you crossed your first ‘log bridge’ by yourself.

We are lucky enough to have a neighborhood pool, and this was the ‘summer of swim’.  We went almost every day.  It the first year that you swam in the deep end and could touch the bottom.  Just last night you swam to the bottom of the pool and grabbed a toy from the floor of the deep end.  There is such joy in your eyes when we swim together.  The swimming goggles I bought myself were well worth their exorbitant price of 18 dollars, just to look into your goggles and see them filled with bliss and just a little water.  Thumbs up, whale cries and underwater death stares were all part of the fun this year.  Momma probably wouldn’t love the lifeless and limp pose I taught you, as you silently float to the floor of the pool but it feels kind of peaceful doesn’t it?  A nice palate cleanser, if you will, for the times when I launch you into the air.

It’s been a cheap and fantastic Summer with you Owen.  Making my current lack of money well worth it.  In fact, all the driving together on the weekend, as I try and get my yard sale hustle on was pretty awesome too.  All the people we met, all the homes we have driven past countless times wondering, “what type of folk live there?”  I have lived in a lot of places, just in this town, and it was cool to share those places and kind of reconnect with this town with you.  

We will be going on large hikes, epic water slides, fantastical theme parks and beautiful islands.  Some of these things we will be doing rather soon.  It is good to know that we can be so satiated with the simple things, isn’t it?  Isn’t it reassuring that life can be blissful, even with the simplest of activities or sometimes with no activity at all?

I hope you have enjoyed our bargain rate Summer, this last one before you start school. I know I have enjoyed it, beyond measure.  I am going to try and figure out some sort of employment scheme that will allow me to continue this shared experience, because I can’t imagine not spending Summers with you.