Aren’t old photo’s great? We have albums and boxes of them in storage at our house and I can spend hours looking at all of them. Those pictures bring back such great memories of important dates, holidays and family vacations.

In some of our beach vacation pictures there are shots of me carrying all the stuff our family of 6 needed for a day at the beach. I looked like a pack-mule! I’m piled up with everything for all four of our kids; toys and boogie boards and sand pails with shovels, beach chairs and towels too! You can see on my face that I’m not having a great time in the heat, trudging the 2-3 blocks from our rental house to the sandy shore!

But what I wouldn’t give to go back, just for a minute and do it all over again. I’d take in the kids giggling, the smell of them being smothered in sun screen, and the excitement they had of going to the beach! Precious memories.

Here we are on the verge of another summer. Lot’s of us are looking forward to a get-away with the family, maybe to the beach or the lake. Maybe just a staycation going to the neighborhood pool. Whatever it is, may I make a suggestion? Take the time to take it all in. Don’t get overwhelmed with all of the tasks that fall on your shoulders to ensure that everyone has a good time. Because one day, sooner than you think, it’ll all be a memory in a box of photos or a scrapbook. Memories of a time that went by so fast, but you didn’t see it at the time.

Have a great summer, but don’t blink, you’ll miss all of the good stuff.