Membership has its privileges.

Another summer, another membership to Davis Farm for my girls and me.  I like to visit so many times before school is out that the hefty membership fee has already been paid for and our summertime stops are like salty caramel and toasted nuts on top (if it were my sundae).  I think that already, we're getting close.  This year, my favorite thing to do is look for frogs in the small pond just after the main entrance and just before the pony rides.  It's sort of zen and quiet and simple, and Marley and Rudy join in and sometimes surprise me with a little guy I've missed.  Also this year, Marley is desperate to cradle a baby goat and romp on any playground, and Rudy, in typical Rudy fashion, will amuse herself anywhere she happens to be.   

 1. Please take a moment to imagine Rudy in charge of a zany hay ride, wildly steering a classic red tractor down a bumpy farm trail, all while merrily singing and shrieking to a wagon load of happy, bouncing Lambies.

2.  This dramatic image is even more ominous when you consider the splayed, neglected Lambie off to the side.  Every so often, Rudy tosses or drops a Lambie on her way to something momentarily more exciting.  A reassuring reunion always follows.

 3.  Look at these two.  Precious and mischievous, and so relaxed and ready for playing in spouts and spurts and troughs of water.  You would never know the arguments that went on hours before or followed hours later.  Sisters.

4.  Rudy was no less excited about the splash park this year than she was last year.  She still skips and hops, laughing and screaming with glee.  And she got her big sister into the spirit, too.  During their first visit to the splash park, they held hands and raced together through arcs and buckets and mists of water the entire time.  I just leaned back in my chair and watched with a proud and happy smile on my face and thought, "I need to remember this.  I need to remember this when they're arguing or driving me bananas." Later that day, I really tried to remember clearly enough to compensate for the nonsensical screaming fits they were throwing at each other.

5.  That water is cold.  And it wasn't long before I wrapped two shivering little girls with chilly wet skin into their beach towels and tucked them into some chairs to dry off and warm up.  And then they were simultaneously cool and cozy and loved, and that is the sort of thing, along with the saltiness of a packed snack, that I hope makes for a pretty perfect childhood memory.