Summertime....and the livin' is easy

7,6 and 5 they were...
searching for shells with their Grandma,
feeling the salt on their skin,
watching the waves lap the shore.
We put "coins" in the water in the hopes the waves would come.
We would pretend to be sea horses frolicking in the water.
I had to be brave, for the littlest one was a bit afraid
and I, I couldn't swim a bit and was more than afraid.

By this time, there was a new cousin.
You were all swimming well now. (except me of course.)
The littlest could outswim you all.
I nicknamed her mimming and she was something in the water.
Mermaid is what comes to mind.
Ah, they were all mermaids then.
They would sit nicely and let me do their hair,
braids of all sorts, side tails, pony tails.
The littlest would allow it, but she would tear it out 2 minutes later.
We would eat dinner on the lanai.
Auntie had cooked something wonderful.
The girls would clean up.
The lights would come on in the trees across the canal.
The fan swirled overhead.
The frogs croaked loud and in rhythm.
We would tuck them in.
Giggles and then quiet.
Sleeping the wonderful sleep of the young.
What summers those were.