It's a bright, bright sun-shiny day

60's are giving way to 80's.  The grinding sound of plastic big wheel tires on pavement is music to my ears.  Little swim trunks are drying on the line.  New sandals have been furnished, to a whimpering Nugget who dislikes the strappy feel of them at the beginning of each summer.  But by September, he'll be wiping away tears when we tuck them away in the closet, knowing that sandals = water play.

The Nugget watered our carrot seeds with a squirt bottle.  He plucked a perfect yellow dandelion, "It's for Grammy."

There is a plastic tray that collects dust on top of the fridge all winter.  I wiped it down and used it to carry our lunch outside to the Nugget's picnic table.  I blew a tiny spider off his shoulder, and instead of screaming or squirming, we both laughed about how the spider must have thought he was a tree and needed a lift down to the ground.

I blew air into the inflatable wading pool while the Nugget reveled in jumping through the sprinkler, and turning the faucet to make the streams spray higher...and lower...and higher again.

Then back into our cool house for naptime (after living in this beautiful old little bungalow with plaster walls that keep us from having to use the a/c until it hits 90, I wonder why builders ever switched to drywall).  I forgot to rub his little legs down with baby powder, so there will surely be sand in the sheets.  I had got to sweep up a giant pile of dirt and sand from the floors from all the in and out traffic this morning...of dirty dog paws, gritty Nugget sandal-ed feet, and fresh-from-weeding-the-garden Mama feet.

The backup corduroy pants and long sleeve shirt have been swapped out of the diaper bag and replaced with clean shorts and his least-favorite tee.  We met friends at a park for a Bubble Date.  The children galloped, skipped, and ran across new brilliant grass and decorated bald dirt patches with their footprints.  Little brows got sweaty, little cheeks got red, little hands eagerly grasped for water bottles.  Each child went home coated with dried bubble solution, like those sponges that come infused with soap, primed for warm baths.

We tucked the Nugget into his bed with the ceiling fan whirling overhead, his Giraffe clutched at his side, his shortie jammas on for the first time this year, looking so different now over big boy underpants instead of a bulky night diaper.

It was the kind of day I'd like to keep in a jar.