We had such a wonderful, busy, productive weekend and I have so many photos to share. Of course I need to edit them all first (I’m a little OCD on that front) so, in the meantime, I’ll share a quick photo for this week’s I Heart Faces photo challenge of “Water”.

To be honest, when I saw the challenge subject last week I was a little skeptical that I’d actually be able to take a photo this year that fit the bill. While the rest of the country has been baking, we in the Pacific Northwest have been enjoying an extended spring. What that means is rain, lots of rain. Quite frankly, I’m a little tired of the rain. OK, that’s an understatement.

So, when the sun came out this weekend we did what almost every Portland family does at one time or another, we (actually, I) blow up the wading pool and let the children play while the parents relax on their brand new deck.

May I say again, that the backyard deck is possibly the best invention known to man? We tried it out this weekend and it offered everything we had dreamed about and more (more, meaning a lot of mud thanks to a grassless patch of ground where we set up the wading pool).

Mayumi said it best when I offered her a glass of white wine while we sat and watched the children as the sunlight filled the yard – “I am very happy!” Me too, Mayumi. Me too.