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.

Lazy Days of Summer

Updated

Must. Move. More.

I'm still having a hard time with the motivation to get any exercise. And my afternoon slump is a good indication that I'm slacking off on the exercise. I definitely find that I feel sluggish and want to take a nap if I don't get my daily dose of exercise. I also want to eat more. It's a strange thing how exercise uses up calories and yet seems to suppress the appetite.

This morning Youngest girl wants to go to the park and I want to go for a bike ride. So, we've made a compromise. We'll bike to the park!

This afternoon we have an invitation to a friend's pool. It's supposed to get close to 90 today so that will be a great place to hang out for the afternoon.

The older girls are at camp and this evening we are driving out to meet them there for a family 'hot dog BBQ'. Tonight is the BBQ for families of the younger kids and Middle girls says they have some songs and skits prepared for us. Tomorrow night will be a repeat but this time for the older kids so our family will be there once again for Eldest girl group. They are both having a blast at camp - I'm already planning on signing them up again for next year.

OK - time for a bike ride!


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You can't ride my little red wagon

Front wheel's broken and the axle's draggin'

You can't ride my little red wagon

Any more today!

Well - we tried.

We got about 1/2 mile away from home and my bike gave up the ghost. Or rather - it chose to stick to one gear and some wire thingy that was sort of attached to my gear shift thingy was sticking out funny (yes, I'm quite technical when it comes to all things mechanical). I was stuck in one gear and the shifter was no use. At least we were able to ride back home without any major issues but it was clear that if we wanted to get to the park we were going to have to take the car.

Once there, Youngest one was completely unmotivated to actually play at the park. She enjoyed the swings for about 2 minutes and went down the slide once. I tried to entice her with a walk along the river but we barely made it 10 yard before she gave up on that idea and asked to back to the swings. We got to the swings and in the 2 minutes it took to get there she decided she was no longer interested in the swings anymore. It was time for mommy to take the lead and declare that it was time to go home. We ate our lunch and are having a bit of quiet time before we head to our friend's house to swim in her pool.

Here's hoping we have a more successful outing this afternoon!

Summer Camp update

Aside from being 15 minutes late, the camp bus arrived back into town safe and sound with all the campers accounted for. The girls came off the bus no worse for the wear and with smiles on their faces which I took as a good sign. They both were quick to say that they had a fun day at camp. At one point, Middle girl even reported that she was sad when it was time to get on the bus to leave because she wanted to stay even longer! I fear we may have a party girl in the making in that one. She never likes to see the good times end.

One of Eldest girl's first comments to me was, "you're probably going to be mad, but I failed the swim test." Huh? I cannot for the life of me figure out why she thought I'd be mad. (Apart from the fact that she sets high expectations on herself and tends to be a bit perfectionistic. I'm guessing that failure was not an easy pill to swallow - it never is, but she seems to have a harder time of it.) She was very mad because of the way the swim test was given. Apparently, the kids were asked to swim a particular length from one side of a u-shaped dock to the other and then tread water for a given amount of time. Eldest girl cried as she told me that she knew she wouldn't be able to do it and that she swam the distance fine but then was too winded to do the full amount of treading water. She felt it unfair that they made her do the water treading after the swimming. I explained that it was probably set up that way for a reason - namely that they needed to test her strength and stamina in the water. She would not be disabused of the notion that the test was unfair. I did my best to reassure her that I was not mad and that I was sure she did the best she could. She also stated that she knew she was not going to be able to pass as soon as they told her what was required. To which I explained that if she went into it thinking so negatively that perhaps that didn't help her get a positive outcome. I told her that perhaps she needed to go into it with a more positive attitude. I'm not sure I helped much with that bit but I really feel that negative thinking will lead to negative results and it's a lesson best learned young. Eldest girl has a tendency to think negatively and that has always bothered me. At the end of a fun day she will most often lament the things she didn't get to do instead of rejoicing in the things that were fun about the day. Or she'll let one sour moment overshadow all else. She did the same thing yesterday. She let her failure in the swim test overshadow the fun times. She also compared Middle girl's activities to her own and complained that Middle girl seemed to have participated in more activities. I explained that the kindergarten set tend to have shorter attention spans which might account for the increased number of activities but that they both arrived at camp at the same time and left at the same time which would indicate that one did not get more than the other. (However, Middle girl - by her very nature - might have possibly squeezed more fun out of her day! I'm just saying... Not that I would say that out loud.)

In the end, I think they both really did have a good day and they both climbed on the bus this morning happy and carefree as all summer campers should be. Eldest girl did tell us that she will have another opportunity to attempt the swim test again today. Maybe she will take my words to heart and think more positively ("I think I can! I think I can!" -- perhaps I should have given her that book to read last night...along with her current Harry Potter obsession).

Youngest girl and I have another quiet, but fun day planned. Yesterday we ran a few errands, took a bike ride through the neighborhood (something that is a rare treat since Middle girl doesn't want to do much more than ride to the end of the street and back and Eldest girl can ride her two-wheeler but refuses to practice stopping so she doesn't really like to use her bike for fear of falling...sigh), read a few books, did a few puzzles and she even took a long nap which allowed me to get some cleaning and pick-up done around the house. Today we have been hanging out at home this morning in the comfort of the a/c because it's stinking hot outside. After lunch we are going to a friend's pool for some cooling off and by the time we leave there it will be almost time to get the older girls off the camp bus.

Plans for tomorrow? A much needed haircut and lunch with Rick while Youngest girl hangs out with Grandma and Grandad!