1m2aSandbox

As I pulled into my driveway Tuesday night from work, the sun was setting and shadows were lengthening all around me. Twilight was upon us, and it was nearly the girls’ bedtime. I idled in the garage a few moments, waiting for the girls to do their typical rush-out-the-door they always do when they hear me come home.

Nothing.

And then in the silence, I heard the faraway sound of girl’s laughter – coming from the back yard. And that’s when I realized –

It’s back yard weather once more.

We’ve finally cooled off enough to hang out in the great outdoors after school, and both girls were swinging wildly and having a great time, getting as tired as puppies before bedtime. I absolutely adore this time of year, when the girls rake massive leaf piles at the end of the slide, then take turns plunging down into its crunchy goodness. We love being outside and carefree, and I was quick to put the outdoors to good use for my favorite time of day – after school Down Time.

When the girls came home from school yesterday I’d converted our backyard picnic table into a platform I then covered with cushions. I cranked some Hawaiian music on the iPod and the girls flopped with relief onto the giant pillows, content to gaze at the sky.

But wait – there’s more.

Earlier yesterday I hit the library, so I had a big fat stack of new books for us to read. I’d made a new batch of tropical chex mix and cut up a fresh apple, and even splurged and made chocolate milk.

What can I say? We lived like queens.

We lolled, and read, and munched, and swung, and lolled and read and munched some more. The girls nestled up against me as we read book after book, the afternoon unspooling lazily around us. At one point, Cora rolled towards me, smiled into my face, and said, “This is the absolute most perfect time ever.”

I couldn’t agree more.