Freeze

I walk past the high school sign almost every day, going to get coffee or groceries or ice cream with the girls. Since June, it's said, "Have a Good Summer!" This morning, it said, "Fall Sports Begin August 11." And the air was sharper today, cooler somehow in spite of still being 75 and sunny. When we took the girls to the park tonight, we talked about how it felt like early fall; we talked about home football games and Annie's birthday and Labor Day weekend. Even though fall is my absolute favorite season, I am so not ready for it be here, yet. I am still reveling in summer! I want to freeze time. These last few days have been particularly full of moments with the girls where I look around, hoping to catch another person's eye to say, "Did you see that? Wasn't it precious?" A few examples:

-Checking in at the pool today, we were waiting to get our cards swiped when the phone at the desk rang. Jemma perked up, stood on her tiptoes so the guy working the desk could see her, and said, "Hello! Hello! Hello!" until he answered the phone.

-Leaving the pool, we were waving good-bye to Connie, Ben, and Sam. "Bye-bye!" Annie yelled. "Ove you!" yelled Jemma, not to be outdone.

-Walking home from the park tonight, the girls sat side by side in the jogging stroller without fighting at all. This is a rarity. Then, to add to the surreal cuteness, they both inclined their heads toward the middle until they were touching, resting together and smiling as the world went by.

-When Jemma woke up from her nap today, Annie was still sleeping. Jemma kept saying, "Ah-dee?," nodding her head, then saying, "Shhhhh!" loudly in the hallway outside Annie's room. (I lured Jemma away to the playroom for about 10 minutes, at which point Annie came out of her bedroom and announced that she had been playing with Play-Doh. But that is another story.)

-Taking a walk this afternoon, Jemma was in the stroller and Annie was on her scooter. Annie noticed a big, gray cloud in the distance, so she was asking lots of questions about the weather and if I thought it would rain. After I finished explaining, she cocked her head, made a face, and said authoritatively, "You just never know!"

-In the car today, Annie was humming a tune that sounded like "Oh My Darlin Clementine." I asked her what song she was singing, and she busted out "The Days of the Week Song," singing them to the Clementine tune. (Simultaneously, Jemma was singing the only song she ever sings in the car. She has to be holding Annie's little Cinderella figurine in her hand, and then she'll sing, "Rella, Rella, Rella, Rella" for about 15-20 minutes at a time.) On a related note, the song the girls and I are currently dancing to in the car is "Stuck in the Middle With You."

I could list 10 more, but it's all the same, really: I'm just enjoying them so much right now that almost everything they do (ALMOST) is amusing to me and I want to remember it. This is not always the case, so I'm going to note it, enjoy it, and keep it going for as long as possible.