I hope I don't regret it, but I really haven't taken very many pictures of our completely awesome summer.  I decided at the beginning of May to try to live in the moment instead of outside of the moment, hence, I haven't been carting my camera around very much.  Luckily for me, there such a thing as a cell phone camera, so if I really see something that I just can't resist, I can still snap a picture, but my waterproof, lime-green camera has spent most of the summer sitting on my desk.

It's taken a great deal of will power.  My Japanese instincts insist that a camera is as important as underclothes and a bathing suit, but I am determined to play this summer rather than record.  I've had a lot of fun, and I think we've built some good memories.

We've gone to the beach a couple of times this summer, and all of the girls head straight to the water.  Reagan will play in them for a few minutes, at least as long as Mommy is in the water (which is about 5 minutes tops).  Once Mommy heads for the umbrella and lounge chair, Reagan heads for the sand, shovels and buckets.  I've always declared that I go to the BEACH not the OCEAN, and I've finally got a kid that likes to do the same things I loved doing as a kid.  Reagan and I have spent a couple of lovely afternoons together digging trenches and moats and building impossible walls.

And then there is Kate, who is the waterbug of all waterbugs.  She will stay in the water until her skin is withered and wrinkly.  We have to make sure she doesn't keep going deeper and deeper!  If she had her druthers, she would be surfing already!  She has amazing heat stamina.  I start to wilt, and she's ready to run.  She turns a lovely, silky brown that matches her golden eyes and hair.  Most people know her as a bookworm, curled up on a chair next to mom reading thick volumes of musty paper, but Kate loves to be active, warm, sweaty and wet!

And then, I discovered that Reagan can read.  I'm not sure when that happened, but it did.  Sometime between the ages of 4 and Kindergarten, she figured out how to recognize letters and words.  It makes Georgianna jealous, so I won't be surprised if Georgie starts reading early, too.

Emily has been a whirlwind, amazing, fun-loving, totally-awesome Auntie!  She and the girls get to do all sorts of fun things while I'm stuck at work.  They go swimming, do the dollar movies, hang out with other kids, go bowling, walk to the park, have picnics, visit Target.  Of course, she makes them clean their rooms and pick up the house which is super nice!

We're a little concerned that maybe we're making them do too much work.   Last night when we were talking about God creating a new heaven and a new earth, Reagan said, "yes, we wreck the world, so when God makes the new one, I have to remember to put my toy away before I get out a new one!"