Dirt

Sometimes it's easy to forget that they're just little. 

 And that these little people have so much to learn and experience. 

That so many of the little things in life we don't think twice about, are so very important to them. 

Like dirt, for example.

We've walked this path several times.

It's a quiet little dirt road behind Cody's parent's house, lined with big, beautiful trees, cows and horses, and the prettiest rolling hills in the distance. It's one of my favorite places to take pictures. But typically, I don't think much about the dirt and gravel. Actually, I thought about it this day in particular, because it was annoyingly filling my sandals up since they just turned it up, unpacking it from the ground. This day there was no light grey contrast for my pictures either. It was brown and well, dirty looking.

As I thought how annoyed I was with the dirt, Harper decided to take a liking to it.

Even more so than the horses she had begged to see for the past two hours. Despite the horses and the cows being relatively close to the fence this day, she couldn't keep her hands out of the dirt. Even though at first I saw the brown dirt and gravel as nuisance, I quickly realized that this moment didn't need pretty social media perfect pictures and a little dirt was never going to hurt me, my sandals, or my two-year old. A two-year old who needs these kinds of experiences. 

So this day, we didn't care much for the horses or prettiness of a "perfect" picture. We cared about making memories and learning - something that is way more meaningful and real. We remembered to soak up time together, see the beauty in all of nature, and remembered that being clean is sometimes a little overrated.