Sadie Skinny-Dipping

For Father's Day, we spent time with both my parents and James'. The weather was warm as usual, but not stifling so we went in the backyard of Su Su and Poppy's to play with the dogs. Sadie adores Rusty and Rascal and eagerly ran outside shouting "woo woo!" Once outside, she immediately ran over to the fresh water Su Su had prepared. She dumped a large block of ice in the water and a new game was instantly born. Sadie kept picking it up and playing with it until it eventually melted. She liked the water so much that she started trying to pick the bucket up and spill water all over herself. It was then Su Su brilliantly recommended, "Why don't we get out Sadie's blow-up pool?" James blew it up with the occasional assistance of Sadie. We then opted for the front yard because we assumed Rusty and Rascal might not understand how to share a giant blow-up pool of cool water. :)

Sadie adored the water. We would have packed her swimsuit, but didn't intend to swim so were rather unprepared. We even considered letting her swim in her diaper, but the sheer weight of a soggy diaper is both squishy and an obstacle to any tiny swimmer's mobility. We therefore determined that if Sadie wasn't embarrassed of being stark naked, then why should we? A girl after Poppy's own heart, Sadie happily sat down in her pool stark naked! She belly-laughed as she sat down quickly splashing water out of the pool - instantly spraying all of us. We screamed and that was all the incentive she needed. She kept up her hilarious act for quite a while as we sang "London Bridge..." while she relished the opportunity to splash whenever we came to the word "down." Eventually, her energy began to wane and she responded by assuming a nice lounging position fit for a Roman royalty. She looked up at the green leaves on the overhead Oak trees and seemed to wear a smile of contentment.

After a quick break she was at it again, this time walking in and out of the pool. I would love to include all these photos here, but am admittedly afraid to put naked Sadie butt anywhere on the internet. So, you can just use your imagination and know that watching her run up and down Su Su and Poppy's driveway buck naked as she screamed and laughed was, well, a sight to behold.

At the end of the day, you have to take stock in the blessings in life and I am thankful for a simple memory of splashing in the pool. After all, when she's grown and has her own children someday, I will share with her the advice that the little moments are what make parenting great - what make life great. And as much as we mean to stop and remember, we forsake good intentions and the memories escape us. So, take some time today to scribble down one wonderful moment before it is gone and mixes into the sea of every day joys - too numerous to count or appreciate all at once.