Fossil Digs

Summer time brings a whole new perspective for imaginations.

This small patch of dirt around our tree in the backyard became 

a fossil/dinosaur excavation  site.

I had so much fun watching and listening to their excitement as they would unearth their next big discovery. 

Who knew that under my favorite maple tree, in our backyard, and just mere centimeters below the soil would be dinosaur eggs, the head of a baby dinosaur, and fossils from a yet to be named species of life. 

It was so exciting!

Of course this has to be kept under wraps.

I know that we can keep our secret safe here.

I mean we wouldn't want the world's top paleontologists and archeologists 

descending upon us in swarms.

Normally I wouldn't mind if they wanted to come and 

dig a deep amphitheater size bowl in our backyard. 

(Hmmmm... it would be one more step closer to getting a pool....) 

I am sure they would discover some lost civilization right underneath our home.

And besides with all those people here, and I'm sure there would be a lot of graduate school interns, I would have a whole new selection of babysitters!

(1. Grocery shopping without kids...check,

2. I could finally watch Oprah... check,

3. take every facebook quiz with out interruption... check

4. have my friends drop their kids off here too and we could all go to lunch and then a movie.... check)

 (See what a full night's sleep does to me?)

I do understand my responsibility to share our discoveries with the world.

This would be my part to add another small jigsaw piece to the large puzzle of world history.

But...

 with preschool graduation, the end of kindergarten, dance recitals, baseball and lacrosse practices, play dates.... it's just the wrong time of year.

I won't even get into what this would do to the legalities of the neighborhood covenant.

Poor Mr. Bruce, (our very own Mr. Wilson), across the street would surely come to a early demise from the shock and disruption.

But despite the covenant, a neighbors death on our shoulders, creating chaos within local traffic... the bottom line is that we are far too busy.

(But then again, there is the pool idea.... it has been pretty hot these last couple of days...)

I'll need to think this through a little more.....

I feel like it's been such a long time since I have taken photos of the kids just being kids.

Images from our everyday life.

The evenings have been so nice lately.

I am always trying to capture memories of this special time in their lives.

This rich imagination, carefreeness, and complete unselfconsciousness will end someday.

Someday they will feel silly and not want to pretend anymore.

But for right now, I love that they can come and tell me the most outrageous stories and have complete faith in them.

It truly is a thing of beauty. 

Such a gift.

I am so grateful that I have been given this job of being a mother,

 to nurture silliness and try to keep it as long as I can.

They keep me smiling.