This is the life!

Oh, we can't do or say anything without Mason picking up on it. The other day, he got himself all set up in this lounge chair, kicked back and said, "aaah, this is the life." !!!!! Give the child a beer, and he would have been a dead ringer for Rip.

I won't get in the pool with both kiddos by myself. Mason thinks he knows how to swim, but absolutely does not, and as you've heard me say (write?) previously, he is absolutely fearless. He'll jump off the diving board and go all the way to the bottom. Luckily, Rip's always been there to pull him back to the surface! (or Poppa Ray!!) Anyway, that's why I wouldn't get in the pool with him without another adult. I'm afraid I won't be strong enough to keep up with him.

So imagine my surprise the other morning when I was looking for Christina and the boys, and found them out back! Check this out!




"Nana" is amazing. She tackled something I as a mother wouldn't attempt, and she did it WELL! She got Mason set up in his little floaty suit, blew up Brody's crab floaty, got all of them sunscreened up, and was having a blast with them in the pool. I'm impressed with that girl everyday, but this one really topped all! I wonder all the time what I would do without her. Luckily, I haven't had to find out. But I dread the inevitable day that I do have to learn. She's such a special person. . .as a friend, as someone we consider family, as our home's "Director of Childcare," as my helper, as our neighbor, and as a pseudo-daughter to Rip and me. We adore her.

And then I got to go back inside to a quiet house. Yes, this IS the life!!!