Lovin’ Summer Love

What do I love most about summer? Uninterrupted time with my children. It’s the best part! They live with their dad. They shouldn’t, but they do (thanks to an idiot judge who doesn’t believe domestic violence is real or a valid reason for divorce). Summer is when we don’t have to rush our love into a 48-hour weekend. Summer is when he forgets about them–doesn’t call and rarely Skypes.

Summer is when we hug everyday, sometimes for no reason at all. It’s when we make memories and grow our bond even stronger than I thought possible; when we talk about anything and everything, laugh at ourselves and life, and play and play and play. It’s late nights and even later mornings. It’s playdates and pool parties, two things they don’t get with their dad. It’s sleepovers in mom’s bed, and all the kicks, punches, and crooked necks that come with it. It’s coloring with whatever colors we not, not just the “proper” ones. It’s learning to be mad without fights and fists, learning how unconditional love really feels.

It’s revisiting old favorites, and finding new ones. Our favorite new find this summer is The Anderson’s Sunflowers. Flanked on two sides by state highways in Cumming, Georgia, it is a popular spot for photographs and a little afternoon fun running through the fields. It’s the perfect place to stop and smell the roses, except the roses are sunflowers.

It was a mostly cloudy afternoon and it even rained a bit, but the beauty of it all made up for the lack of sunshine.

The kids thoroughly enjoyed it, and so did I, but it was better for watching their joy as they found more and more flowers bigger than their heads.

When it was time to go, we walked the perimeter of the field, and then grabbed a half-dozen souvenir sunflowers to take along with another memory of togetherness.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Summer Lovin’ – “Show us something you love. It could be your favorite novel, the light of the moon on your deck at night, the beach on a hot day, or that special you-know-who.”

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Your love, help, and support is still needed for Rara and Grayson: also known as The Queen Creative, Posting Tuesdays, and Rarasaur. Help is needed, if you can. Learn more at #RawrLove and get the latest update here: Send ’em if you got ’em.

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*Featured and Post Image are mine: The Anderson’s Sunflowers, 24 July 2014
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