Tractor Rides, Aunts and Biscuit

Our girls are here. This is the summer when they are six and three and who they are right now will not be repeated. This is Emma's fourth summer and Paige's second summer .Em comes with missing teeth and a lot longer legs than last year. She still has her strong will and sometimes peculiar fashion sense and she is actually a bit more helpful this year. Paige comes quite independent often declaring 'I can do it myself' with attitude. She is fearless on the monkey bars and can pump herself high into the sky on the swing. She roams outside like a country girl and follows Grampie everywhere. They did some calculating this morning, figuring out how old they will be next year and the year after and how old they were last year and so on. It is activities like that that fill our days. It is the little moments that blend together to make the big and lasting memories of being together. Last night Emma was getting up to wash her hands after supper and slipped in behind her Grampie's chair to go to the laundry room. As we stood at the sink she said " I love Toad . He said 'Can you get by little Toad?" No major thing , just the building blocks of a major relationship that will carry them both throughout the years. This morning the girls were thrilled as our timid and standoffish Biscuit who rarely comes into the main part of the house and who has never gone all way to the top floor, followed them right upstairs . They were so excited to have him join them. Monkey could have managed her bath without both girls and Biscuit beside the tub but privacy is for another time. Paige ran to meet Grampie as he came out of the woods and she hitched a ride to where he unloaded the twitch of wood. She chastised him for not wearing his seatbelt. He assured her it was all right not to wear it in the tractor. Then the girls headed to town with their aunts. They adore Aunt Brianne and Aunt Ashlie. Their excitement each time they get to spend time with their aunts and uncles makes the visit extra special. These girls are growing so fast. We will throw in trips to the beach, family outings and a huge family vacation to PEI but this visit is about the kind of things I have mentioned. It is in these moments that it becomes so clear just how very important building the lasting relationships with the ones we love really is. So again, we enjoy the time we have with our girls doing the simple things that come about just by being together.