Baby, It's Cold Outside

Wait. It is August...isn't it?

Then why am I wearing a jacket to walk in 40 degree weather at 6am? And why is it still only 60 degrees at 10:30am. What happened to the three H's of summer? It's not hot, humid or hazy around here. In fact, it's feeling rather like fall. Crisp and cool.

The first day of school is next week for Eldest girl so fall is right around the corner but it is not usually this cold the week before my birthday. On Monday I brought the girls to Old Navy for some new school clothes and today Middle girl is comfortably wearing a pair of jeans that we bought there. It is seriously too cold for it to be August.

However, the cool weather has not stopped us from enjoying our last days of summer 2008. Yesterday I took the girls - and my in-laws - on a picnic outing to a local state park that has a nice beach. I had never been there before but Rick and his family used to camp there every summer when he was a kid. I have been meaning to get out to visit this park for many years but every year it seems to elude me and I kick myself for not having made the time yet again. I was not going to let that happen this year so even though the temps were not supposed to reach more than 70ish degrees I decided that we would go ahead with the plans we had made earlier in the week. Part of the motivation to go was also the chance to find another geocache. I entered the coordinates in the GPS, packed a lunch and a swim bag (just in case the girls were brave enough to try a bit of swimming on such a cool day) and we were off.

The park is only about 35 minutes away so it seems ridiculous that I hadn't been there before. And the park itself is a gem. Nice clean beach, clean restrooms and changing area, picnic areas with grills, plenty of hiking trails and a beautiful lake which I hope we can take a canoe and/or kayak out on one of these days (We own a not oft-used canoe but we can't all fit in it and I am soooo tempted to buy a kayak. I just can't seem to justify the expense right now even though it would mean we might all be able to get out on the water together and therefore use the canoe - and the kayak - more frequently). We enjoyed a nice picnic, took a 2-ish mile round trip hike to the cache and the girls actually did enjoy swimming in the lake once it got a tad bit warmer in the afternoon sun.








The girls and their grandparents on the trail.








We also recently traveled down to Cape Cod to visit my parents for a few days where we spent some time at the beach, found some geocaches, and visited with various cousins, aunts and uncles. That trip was during the week so Rick had to stay home and work but the girls and I enjoyed that one last jaunt to the beach. I had also hoped to visit with my good friend K and her boys but she ended up in the hospital with a broken ankle the night we arrived on the Cape! Poor dear! (But, I mean really K - if you didn't want to see me you could've just said so...) ;-) I'm hoping to get down to the Cape again in the fall - perhaps she'll be healing nicely by then and we can get together for a few much-needed drinks out on the town. No excuses!








































Next week we are back to the grind - at least partially. I have a meeting Monday morning and will be working on Thursday getting prepped for the new year. And since I agreed to work on my birthday I informed my coworkers that we will be going out after work for a drink or two to drown my sorrows over the passing of another year celebrate. Eldest girl starts school that day and I was so pleased to learn that she will have at least two very good friends in her class this year - both are boys and one in particular she has a HUGE crush on (and which is fully reciprocated! Yikes!). The following week we'll be in full swing with Middle girl starting Kindergarten and Youngest girl starting back to daycare with my neighbor. She had such a rough time of it at the end of last spring that I'm a bit nervous. However, she is a bit older and she will be going more consistently to daycare (twice a week rather than somewhat sporadically). She will also spend one day a week with grandma and grandad which will please her to no end.

I have the older girls signed up for Monday afternoon swim classes and Middle girl is also taking a gymnastics class on Tuesday after school. Youngest girl wants to take dance classes but I have yet to find a class that fits our schedule and I already feel like this fall is going to be packed now that I'm back to work 3 days/week. Oy.

And I was thinking that summer flew by in the blink of an eye? Fall is shaping up to go even faster.