Best Pool Party Ever

So the lovelies are planning a party. This really isn't a newsflash, this is what we call Tuesday or any day around here. But this one is bigger than most since it's meant to celebrate the beginning of summer - the pinnacle of wonderful when you're a kid.

This is the first year that both girls' last day of school falls on the same day, so they plotted to plan the Best Pool Party Ever to celebrate.

They made invitations which included these little gems:

School's Done - Pool's fun!!!

School's out! No homework-yay!

School's out, it's Time to Play!!!!!!!!

As you can readily see, they love exclamation points a lot and seeing them on their little invites does make me so happy too. They are so looking forward to the party and have planned snacks to serve and created a little online potluck sign-up for others to bring things to share. They've each made a list of friends to invite, which for Ainsley includes her entire class in case (in her precious words) "Someone would see me handing out an invitation and feel sad-hearted that they weren't a part of it."

They're inviting teachers and parents, neighbors and dear friends. They have planned which pool toys to bring out and where to arrange the patio furniture.

But you know what they haven't once mentioned or showed any morsel of concern for?

How they're going to look in their swimsuits.

Hmm.

I mean, I get that they're young girls and haven't yet been burdened with food issues and body image concerns. But I do pray that they'll continue to wonder why in the world anyone would ever do otherwise. I hope they'll never worry about what they look like when the aim is to throw a great party. The chances that everyone (including us) has a good time and is comfortable (anywhere we go) increases dramatically when we are comfortable with ourselves. I think this goes well beyond being swimsuit ready, because, gravity. It's really so much more about feeling comfortable in our own skin and thinking of how we might bless those we welcome to our home and into our lives.

I'm ready to follow their lead and approach summer with lots of excitement and lots of exclamation points!!!! It's so much better when we look forward (with great enthusiasm!!!!) to ways we can offer others a wonderful time and not once think about how we might be perceived along the way.

Here's to a summer filled with laughter, fun, celebrations, swimsuits, and cannonballs!