And so begins summer

What a weekend! Jam packed with lots of summer activities and changes in weather. There was lots of sun and lots of rain...torrential rain. When I slipped into bed last night after a night out on the town with some girl friends, I thought I was back in northern Australia in the rainforest. The rain was teaming down on the roof. The gutters couldn't keep up. And poor brown seal was out on the clothes line getting a complete wash after his swim in the kiddie pool on Saturday! Schmoo and Bean (ok, mostly Bean) had decided that brown seal should actually start swimming, so he spent a whole bunch of time being pitched into the pool.Saturday was a great day. Papa got up with the early birds and I got to lie in until 9am. I actually contemplated getting myself organized for the gym class at 9:15am, but opted for my bed instead and ended up going for an hour bike ride in the sunshine instead. Papa spent most of the morning out in the backyard, weeding his garden while Bean ran around and Schmoo sulked in the house. Is it possible that a 5 year old is hormonal already? I think she was just excited about the birthday party she was going to in the afternoon. We had lunch and then she got picked up with the other kids to head out to a local beach for the afternoon. Bean stayed home with us and actually managed to have a nice long nap. He was just getting up when Schmoo came home after 4pm. I had a leisurely afternoon, reading my book and doing some chores. Papa got to enjoy his soccer game in relative peace and then ran some errands before returning to the garden for more weeding. The garden looks great now and is ready for its last addition - some spinach.

I got all dressed up and headed into town around 6:30pm for a girls night out. A friend of mine was celebrating her 40th birthday so there was a group of about 10 ladies who took over a local cozy restaurant for drinks and dinner. While we were there the thunderstorm rolled in and the rains began. At 10pm we ran down two blocks to another lounge for another set of drinks. I even managed to enjoy a mojito, in honour of my Mexcian adventure earlier this year before reverting back to my water drinking so I could drive home. My original plans to wander home were thwarted by the rain storm. It was a fun night out and I got to meet some new people as well. I got home after midnight to a super quiet house.

Today was a crazy weather day. The rain continued through the night and it let up a bit first thing this morning when Schmoo got up at 6:30am. Both kids came into our room asking whether they could play together in Schmoo's room. Schmoo was even ready to help Bean change his pullup. I got up and did the deed and then crawled back into bed. After several more disruptions for food, Papa got up and left me to doze some more. Such a good Papa! I got up and did a quick grocery shop before packing up the kids to take them to our local spray park's grand opening celebration. It was a perfect example of a small town family event. We saw tons of people we knew and the kids had a great time running around the park. Schmoo had her face painted as a tiger to match H's who had already been there for an hour. All the kids did laps around the soccer field for a while, as Bean ate our snacks and then they put on their bathing suits to enjoy the spray park. After some more park play we packed up and headed home for a nap.

Papa got to enjoy an entirely quiet lunch hour to watch Spain vs. Italy. They were just finishing the penalty shoot out when we got home. I put the kids to bed and Schmoo dutifully went to sleep. Bean wasn't such an eager participant. We had several requests for the bathroom and of course, one poo in his pull up. He ended up playing in his room for two hours, refusing to sleep, despite my threats to leave him at home for our dinner plans. We got Schmoo up at 4pm and got organized to head out to our friends' house for dinner. It was our usual gang of three families. It was raining on our way out, but it cleared up again after dinner so we could play outside with the kids and enjoy ice cream sandwiches for dessert. There was lots of running, swinging and soccer playing before we packed up and brought the kids home. I think an early night is in order as tomorrow will be a busy day. Grandma Lady is scheduled to arrive for a whirlwind 1.5 day visit so the kids will be eager for her arrival tomorrow afternoon.