While taking our daily constitutional, I was hit by a strong memory.

We were at the tennis court, which is backed by a heavily wooded area. Ethan was examining these woods and venturing in and out when he would find a trail. Seeing his jeans wet almost to the knee, smelling that specific scent of damp, half rotten leaves and the sound of raindrops hitting my jacket hood instantly brought me back to 20 years ago.

My Aunt Daralyn's house on Lost Lake in Monroe. All of us kids playing in her woods, building forts, catching frogs and getting completely and entirely wet and dirty. I recall that I loved her house and these times of play with my cousins. We'd come in from outside, exhausted. Say hi to our Mom and Aunts (usually with some complaint about a sibling or cousin for good measure), perhaps beg a cup of hot chocolate or cider and plop down in front of the fire or TV. If we still had energy left, we might go upstairs and play dress-up with Aunt Daralyn's well stocked chest of dress-up clothes.

Isn't it interesting how such simple stimulation of senses bring back complete and vivid memories? A single sensations alone might not have made me think of those play days long ago, but the combination was something special. I wonder what will trigger fond memories for my kids.

Anyway, when we got back I was freezing (why did I wear flip flops?) and although the kids had dry and toasty feet, their little hands and noses were red. So I heated them up some hot chocolate, put it in a sippy and you can bet those cups were emptied in no time :)