sprite and gummy bear popsicles

A and JRoss, the two spunky seven-year-olds I nanny this week, begged to make popsicles today. And not just any popsicles, mind you. They had to be sprite and gummy bear popsicles. Because that's definitely the first combination that comes to mind when you want a popsicle. Obviously. ;) I would not recommend actually making them because they're not that yummy but hey, go ahead and humor yourself.

Last week, A and JGrant and I went on a bike ride almost every day and every single time JGrant rode down that one steep hill with no hands I about died of a heart attack and I about died of something worse than a heart attack whenever a car drove past him because what if Something happened and....?!?!

And a few weeks ago, A and JGrant and I went downstairs and built a pretty legit blanket fort and threw a lot of pillows in it and watched Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 on Netflix.

And the very first day of my job, A and I had a girls party for a few hours while JGrant was at his grandma's doing yard work, and we painted nails and blew bubbles and ran around the yard and popped them. A also has a bubble gun and it was awesome

Confession: I miss being a kid.

I remember when I thought weird-sounding combinations of food would be totally awesome and I remember actually making them and feeding them to my dad. And now that I think back on it, Dad probably hated the chocolate-cinnamon drink that I made from scratch that was either always too bitter or way too sweet...but he always had a small sip and I thought I was a genius for coming up with something so brilliant and delicious.

I remember teaching myself how to ride my bike with no hands when I was seven or eight because all the bigger "cool" boys knew how to do it and I was determined to show them that tiny me could do cool things too. #girlpower And so I spent countless hours riding up and down the street outside my house until I had mastered the Art of No Hands and I felt like a bawss. I'm also pretty sure I gave my mom quite a few heart attacks...did I mention I never wore a helmet either? 

I remember making some seriously capital-A awesome blanket forts back in the day with all my siblings. #momentofsilence And all the games we played in the fort: house, boat, pirates, spies, adventurers...

I remember painting my nails bright red one day and thinking I was so grown-up because only grown-up women wore bright red nail polish. And I remember showing my next-door neighbor, Dakota, who was a year older than me, and asking him if he thought I looked super grown up and he told me that yes, he thought I did. And I felt like quite the lady.

Kids are awesome.  I'm reminded every day by the two (sometimes four) children I nanny that it's okay to act on imagination, it's okay to be daring, it's okay to build forts and play "pretend" and it's okay to want to be a grown-up sometimes too....a grown-up who runs around and pops bubbles that is. ;) 

Happy truth: I don't have to stop being a kid.

.....so who wants to build a fort with me and play house? #totallyserious