Summer Days Are Coming - May 10 On 10

Playing outside.
Digging in the dirt.
Searching for critters.
Finding and housing said critters.

If you took a time machine back to when I was a child you would find me doing all of the things listed above just about every day after school and during the summer. I would collect a variety of different animals, bugs reptiles and amphibians. From roly poly's, to earthworms, to lizards, frogs, turtles, and my ultimate favorite (and the most difficult to find), the salamander. My younger brother and I even caught a little garter snake one afternoon that ended up crawling out of the container we caught him in and headed down into the wood railing of our slide to hide. Which, in turn, caused us to steer clear of the playset for a few days to avoid a second encounter with the slithery little guy. These memories are so vivid in my mind, and are such a happy memory that comes flooding back into my mind often. Especially these days. 

Fast forward some 30 years, and I am now watching my daughter follow right in my foot steps with my son not too far behind. My little mini-me is pretty much obsessed with roly poly's, and my husband is gladly feeding her obsession with her own roly poly farm. We received our farm a couple of weeks ago and we are waiting patiently for the little chia plants to grow before we add the fast recoiling, tickles when they walk on you roly poly's. Every day, she wants to go outside and look under all of the rocks and dig down in the soil to try to find another roly poly to add to her makeshift farm before the real one is up and running. She tells me that I'm very good at finding roly poly's, but Daddy isn't. I mean, it's not a competition, but if it was I would definitely be winning! I have had a lot of practice, after all!

Even without the roly poly taking over her attention, being outside is where she is happiest. She digs around for a bit after breakfast while brother plays in the sand table, and in the evenings she and my son venture out with their Daddy. My husband is so great about getting the kids out to play in the evenings when the sun has dropped a bit, and the temperatures and skies allow for them to do so. We know these days are limited as the scorching Houston summer heat is right around the corner, so they are soaking it up! When I wrap up my work for the evening, I love to go and take in the last bit of sun with them and see the big smiles on everyone's faces, as well as all of the silliness that comes with it! (Yes, that is an office chair that my son is spinning around in;)

Childhood is a beautiful thing, and it's even more incredible when it's lit by the sun above! <3

Keep it real,
Nikki Gould

This post is apart of a blog circle of so many wonderful photographers!! Be sure to follow the loop by clicking through the links at the bottom of each blog post, starting with the wonderful Caroline Collins of Caroline Collins Photography. You can find her blog post HERE. 

What moment in your child's life do you want them to never let go of? Is there one specific thing, or are there a number of things you never want them, or yourself, to forget? Let's get together and make photographs of what their childhood looks like and what that family time FEELS like! Contact me by clicking the button below and let's get started! 

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