There's a favorite summer snack around these parts, the watermelon. My boys eat their weight in watermelon. I've learned that this sweet little snack is much better prepared outside. They make the messiest of messes. There is juice everywhere, seeds flying by your head as they have seed spitting contests, and their clothes well... if the juice gets on 'em, you can just about throw them in the play clothes stack. They're usually done for.
Then there's the "black dirt". Oh, the dreaded black dirt. If there is black dirt, my children are just drawn to it. I've come accustomed to it now. It's a part of who we are. White socks=dingy grey socks. I vividly remember as a little girl, my momma saying, "Jennifer! put your shoes on or take your socks off!" I am being paid back ten fold for ignoring this request as a child. I buy new, pearly white socks only for them to turn dingy within a week. I give up. Grey it is for the Higg boys.
It's not about the socks. It's not about keeping the boys clean, it's about them enjoying their time as kids. The day that I sat on the porch and shot the pictures of them playing in the "black dirt" is one I'll never forget. For the longest time they had no clue that I was taking pictures of them. That's usually the pictures I end up liking the most. Dirt covered faces, clothes, and skin. They play so hard they even get dirt in places we won't discuss.
Just look at their faces and smiles, you can't tell me they weren't having a great time. I think the best part was when Carter walked away for a minute and Tucker spotted his McDonald's cup. He took off and drank as if he were a camel in the desert. Poor Carter came back to an empty cup. This night I had to beg and plea with them to wrap it up and come inside for their baths. Boys will be boys, I suppose.
These days are quick. When they grow up and have kids of their own, I hope they remember days like this. Dirt, giggles, tractors, and each other.
