Last weekend I ran in a race with some girlfriends, then the following day the whole family headed up to my parents' house in Sisters for three days of playing outside and riding bikes and relaxing in the couch and just generally having a grand old time.

This morning we went to the park with grandparents, aunts and cousins. This afternoon friends came to visit and we planted vegetables together.

In other words, it's just been sunshine and merriment everywhere you look, the last few days.

But I didn't get pictures of any of it.

Nope. Either through forgetfulness or busyness or choice, I left my camera behind for all of our springtime fun, and found myself torn between thinking, "Oh, I wish I had a picture of that!" and "Hey, this is kind of nice."

I take a lot of pictures of my kids. And why not? I don't have to buy rolls of film or pay processing fees to view my shots. With digital cameras, you can snap-snap-snap away and end up with literally thousands of computer-archived shots of your family, doing everything from brushing their teeth to climbing a mountain. I think the kids growing up now are likely to be the most-photographed generation to ever exist.

I love documenting all the ever-changing cuteness, commemorating the milestones, looking back through the photos and marveling at how fast the kids have grown. It's like my husband said, watching Evie as she ate a Happy Meal and carefully dipped each and every french fry and chicken nugget in ketchup, then meticulously lined up her pre-ketchuped meal in front of her, "I always want to remember how adorable you are." The more you realize what a precious and fleeting thing a childhood is--how in a span of a dozen years, not an ounce of your baby is going to be left--the more you want to snatch it all up and save it forever.

But it's kind of freeing, sometimes, to forget about capturing an official record of your family life...and instead, just sit back and live it.