My kids. The trees.  Everything.  Except for that bench.  It’s so much smaller than I remember!

Just three years

Once upon a time, my kids were nowhere close to being able to reach the ground on this bench.  When we took this picture, Justin and I had barely been together for a few months (if that). This was our first summer together. Of course, at that time, we felt our kids were huge – weren’t they just babies?? This was one of the times when we were letting the kids get to know each other, and so we went on this tame little hike (mostly;) to spend some time together. The kids had wasted no time bonding – they had instantly loved and cared for each other just as much as their parents had. When I saw this little bench, I desperately wanted a picture of them on it. Kayla couldn’t quite get her little self up there, so Elijah helped her climb up.  They’re only 8 months apart, but at this age, that still represents quite a difference (and even now, the difference is still significant). Visiting this spot again on Sunday afternoon, Kayla towered over that little bench.  And do you see those trees?!  They’re not perfectly lined up (that’s harder than you  might think!), but you can see the size of the trees then versus now.  WOW.

I guess when 3 years is half of your life, you will be double the size of the original shot, huh?  Still.  The memories. And oh, my heart.

Very mixed feelings about having done this assignment.  It’s very emotional, and it gets major bonus points for that.  But while I’m in awe over the growth of the trees and the kids, and amused at the difference in the vegetation from the early summer shot versus the early fall shot, it still was a heck of a reminder of how big my kids are getting. At the same time, it’s fun to remember this time, when our new life together (all four of us) was just beginning.

I guess maybe I should remember that 6 years from now, I’ll be feeling the exact same way about their sizes today versus then. Maybe I should focus on how small their little hands are now as compared to what they will be, as opposed to how big they are now compared to what they once were.

This was the Return to the Scene of the Crime Visual Assignment, worth three out of my ten stars this week.  I just used my iPhone camera for this one.  The work here was in the planning and the positioning (and that was enough, to be sure).