Remember when the leaves on the trees in our backyard would change colors in September?

They still do that, but I mean when we actually used to notice it.

We would wait for the day that enough leaves piled up on the yard so dad could rake them up into piles and our fun began.

One jump and the pile would fall apart, but we took the time to rebuild it just to tear it down again.

Remember when we would see our icy seven foot tall friend in the front yard?

He would stand there all day and wave to every car or dog walker passing by.

Our buddy would always be there waiting for us to go play with him,

for us to build up his igloo that he loved so much,

for us to drag each other around on the sled because he enjoyed watching us have fun.

When once the ice turned into water and his igloo vanished, he would return home and promise to visit again when the time was right.

Remember when we used to actually be excited for the first day of soccer practice?

When the season started out cold and frosty, had very unpredictable weather, and would end with us constantly shoving ice cubes in our knee-high socks because everything inside of them was scorching hot.

We would come home from Saturday morning games and ride our bikes around because it was too nice outside not to.

The swingset would finally get used again after dying all winter to be played on.

And all of this while the school year came to a close and the real fun began.

Remember when we would run through the sprinklers in the yard?

We would throw our suits on and goggle up because that is what fun used to be.

The ice cream truck would come buy and dad would buy us popsicles that we’d never finish.

Instead, it would melt down our arms and we’d wash it off by going through the sprinklers again.

Eventually the heat wave would go by, bringing us closer to the start of the school year,

And once again the leaves on the trees in our backyard would start to change colors.