The Essence of Cade

One rainy, thunderstorm day this summer the cousins were going crazy at Grandma Gourley's house during a family BBQ. The ever lenient grandma decided to let the kids out to play in the water.

And they were off...





...creating the memories that childhood summers are made of.


Running




Tackling (Thank you so much, Uncle Chris for teaching my son this. Myself, and his nursery friends' moms, will ever be grateful)





and laughing...





while everyone else watched from the deck.


There was chasing



some new tricks


and occasional short rests to catch one's breath.



The fiasco was ended with loves all around.




And somewhere in the midst of the fun, I snapped this photo of Caden--one of my very favorites I have of him. It captures the very essence of my son. A big smile, tousled sun-bleached hair, mischievous raised eyebrows (a trait he inherited from the Schow-Barker side), on the move, and just glancing, for one small second to make sure his mom is watching.