What’s a little dirt? On Tallis’ face it actually looks rather cute. This series of photographs are a bit reminiscent of Pippi Longstocking, aren’t they? Or perhaps the scene in Mary Poppins where she whips out her cosmetic case to freshen up with some additional soot after being swept up the chimney. Dirt is great to play in. At least it is when you are a kid and you get to dig and roll around in it for fun. The girls ferociously frolicked about the yard, enjoying the shear quantity of dirt while Matt and I fought it, moving one huge pile of dirt from one side of the yard to the other. They dug in the dirty pea gravel, “skiing” down the slope of the pile while we heaved shovel-full after shovel-full into the wheelbarrow.

Dirt has been a major source of fun this week. Summer has decided to hang around a bit longer here, prompting us to take full advantage of the yard, deck and pool- both for work and play. Though I have to admit they have spent far more time in the dirt than the pool. The grown ups have been in the dirt pretty regularly to, making good progress to boot. So smudgy faces have become a bit of the afternoon norm. That will continue, as this weekend will be a big push for yard work. Thank goodness we have sun to enjoy it in!