Sweetness of Summer

For months, the humidity seeped through the cracks in doors, dampening foreheads with sweat.  

Temperatures climbed upwards, causing us to spend days playing in water or retreating to the coolness of the library.

Playing at the park meant ponytails to keep hair off our necks and baths every night to scrub away the thin film of sunscreen, sweat, and dirt unique to little boys enamored with feeding wood chips to plastic dinosaurs and the little stone turtle in our backyard.

We lingered in wayward sprinklers on neighborhood walks.

Slid feet into sandals and flip flops and Crocs.

Ignored the back-to-school sales and the days slipping by on the calendar.

Rode the lazy days and evenings towards Labor Day without realizing how near that weekend loomed.

Then, September.

Labor Day in Michigan marks the change of seasons more than the autumnal equinox. 

Even if the temperature climbs back into summer-like heat, we have already pushed aside our swimsuits to make room for sweaters, and the heat is just a reminder of what lies in wait at the end of a long winter.

Years ago, my family welcomed fall with a soccer tournament at the Peach Festival, a Labor Day celebration in a nearby community.

This year, I decided the kids would experience the Peach Festival for their first time.

And they did.

And the experience was nothing like I imagined.

Driving as a passenger with my mom meant not really needing to pay attention to where we were going all those years.  With Ryan in buckled down study mode, I scoured the website map and still drove to the wrong location on my own.

Friday and Saturday were sweltering, and Saturday’s storms cooled things down for the remainder of the weekend, possibly a little too much.

With the temperature dropping by the minute, we wore hoodies and wandered around the craft show tents with sides, to block the wind.  I found myself wishing for pants or gloves or my comfortable brown boots as I tried to indulge the kids on the swings for a while.

My hair stuck in my lip balm; I used more than several tissues chasing running noses around the playground. 

Six eyes watered from the wind, and I let myself slide into thinking maybe I should have waited another year, a warmer year, a year Ryan could have joined us.

But then Abbey saw the farmers' market stands and forgot the wind.

Carefully, she inspected the four peaches in each "cute little basket" until finding the perfect combination.

And in the car, out of the wind, we enjoyed a few last bites of summer.

not a fan of the peaches

maybe he's waiting for fresh picked apples this fall

Every MONDAY join us… 

Write, Post, Link-Up, share your story and your voice.
Be part of carrying the weight of confidence, empowerment and share our mission to empower, inspire,
and remind women, parents and children
that the time has come to celebrate ourselves!

How have you have lived the Be Enough Me feeling this week?

If It Has To Rain

We continue to meander through my bucket list, though there's still a bunch on there, and the Back to School ads are beginning to paper the walls.  We'll just have to step it up a notch!

run through sprinklers

truth be told, it was running through the hose set to "sprinkler"

I had to hose them off after the park; they were so sweaty and covered with wood chips!

cleaned off and cooled off, Dylan ran around in a diaper until bathtime

go to an outdoor concert

the concert was at a little stage at an outdoor mall

but the kids and some friends danced and ran and smiled for an entire set

for days, Abbey talked about the "girl singer with the half tambourine"

no pictures, because even I don't take my camera to the mall

go through Dylan's baby clothes

this 

became this

it's a work in progress, but the clothes are organized or donated!

splash in puddles with the kids after a summer rainstorm

it was still hot

and steamy

she dressed herself

Operation Organization

Yesterday, I complained a little about our house.  The post had been floating around during runs and in my writing notebook for a while, along with today's post, which is about how to work with what I've got.

As Abbey and Dylan grow, our house shrinks.  Toys and crafts and books and shoes litter the floors and shelves and closets.  Unfortunately, not even Abbey's imagination can conjure up a Fairy Housemother to whip up a new house or even an addition to the one we have, so I'm going to have to work a little magic of my own.

Enter Operation Organization.

I'm not a physics genius, but it stands to reason that since I can't create more physical space in my house, I'm going to have to reorganize what's inside the space we do have, including eliminating some of the unnecessary clutter.

I've made resolutions.  I've scoured IKEA for ideas.  I've browsed Pinterest for even more ideas. 

I become overwhelmed by the possibilities and not knowing where to begin and get distracted by the shoes on Pinterest and wake up to find that my Fairy Housemother not only forgot to leave me a new house but didn't even wave her wand at the stuffed menagerie taking over Dylan's room.

I'm hoping that by putting my organizational plans out there for you to read, I'll feel compelled to keep up with my plan.  So hold me accountable, ok?

Basically, I hope to move a lot of the toys to the basement, organize Dylan's room, better organize Abbey's room, and carve out a little area I can use for writing. 

I'm going to start with Dylan's room and closet, because his mini-closet somehow ceased to be a clothes closet and became a hazardous catch-all for seasonal items, outgrown clothes, Halloween costumes, crib mobiles, and a partridge in a pear tree.

Dylan's room is on the first floor, meaning it's become a little bit of a playroom as well

this is what it normally looks like outside of his closet

because this is what it looks like inside his closet

I decided it was the best place to store our winter coats, snowsuits, and zebra costumes

See, it's not pretty in there.  If you don't hear from me for a few days, feel free to check our local IKEA store.  Or the neighborhood bar.

Hopefully I have a much neater and user-friendly closet to show you soon!

A Few More Drops in the Bucket List

My Summer Bucket List is getting checked off a little at a time...

play bubbles

 

nothing but the utmost in bubble concentration from these two

walk to get ice cream after dinner

(ok, it was before dinner, but after lunch!)

paint my toenails (ok and my fingernails) bright blue

enjoy the heat (it won't be along for long)

 

Abbey's new favorite heat-enjoying hair styles

braids or a "ban", known to the rest of us as a bun

Duck Snacks Go Organic

in all of the talk about eating organic foods, we've forgotten to ask a simple question

do ducks prefer pre-packaged, organic snacks? 

we came armed with test snacks

(meant for the kids, but who's keeping track?) 

indeed, ducks do like organic cheese snacks!

of course, they also enjoyed the week old, Target hotdog buns leftover from our camping escapades

a friendly duck ate bread right out of Abbey's hand

she stayed brave within the circle of Daddy's arms 

sorry little duck

this store's closed

Going Down the List

There are fifty things on my summer bucket list, and more of them were crossed off this week!

run through sprinklers

frog sprinklers at the zoo

we always do this last, because Dylan inevitably ends up soaked

pictures (again) courtesy of my friend Rachel

take a spontaneous road trip

(day trip to Michigan State!)

photos from the Children's Garden

drive with the windows down

no pictures of this

that doesn't seem safe

Summer Checklist Update

Last week, I wrote my summer bucket list - fifty things I want to do this summer.

Let's see how I'm doing...

Pick Strawberries

photo courtesy of my lovely friend Rachel Padget Waller

I lost my camera somewhere at the cider mill

(that was NOT on my bucket list)

While camping last weekend, Dylan played in the lake, and we built sandcastles.

(that's three things from my list!)

Visit the Toledo Zoo

Ryan, the kids, and I made the drive on Thursday, which was after the disappointing loss of the camera.  We're fairly partial to our zoo, but Toledo has something Detroit doesn't, and that is a baby elephant.  Lucas the baby elephant was 27 days old on our visit, and honestly one of the most adorable things I've ever seen.  Abbey kept saying, "awwww, he's cuuuuutttteee," and smiling.  Of course, she also kept saying, "He's sooooo little!"  He's actually 345 pounds, which isn't that small at all, but compared to his 8000 pound mama, I guess it's downright tiny.