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Monday, September 5, 2011

Ready. Set. CRAM!

Here in the Pacific Northwest we are known for our rain, and we get a lot, I’m talking A LOT of flack for it.  But we have a secret, and I’m going to share it with you. 


You see as a native to the Pacific Northwest I know that if you get through the rain, and the wind, and the rain, and the never-ending cloudy days, and the rain, and the hail/sleet/snow (on occasion), and the rain…well then you get to summer. 


And summer in the Pacific Northwest is simply perfection.  You have temperatures in the upper 70’s to mid 80’s most of the time, absolutely no humidity and the view, oh my heavens the views.  Snow-capped mountain ranges, water everywhere, and everything is as green as green can be. 


Well this year Mother Nature completely screwed us.  Yep, I said it, and I’m not kidding.  She flat out screwed us out of our summer.  We’ve had a summer phenomenon that has been titled “The 78 Minute Summer.”  Which means that we have had exactly 78 minutes of 80 degree or warmer temperatures.  This after all the rain, wind, and grey days, really isn’t much of a summer at all.


But this last week we got a glimmer of hope, local meteorologists in our area were hinting at nice weather for the weekend.  Could it be?  Could we really see temperatures up in the 80’s?  Somebody pinch me. 


Of course it has to hit the weekend before the kids go back to school, so in order to not hear “but MOOOOMMM we didn’t have a summer, I can’t go back to school” out of the mouths of my children set on repeat what did we do?


Why we did what any good Native Pacific Northwesterner would do, we crammed every single summer activity we could think of into three itty bitty teeny weenie days! 


For me the fun started on Friday!  I finally went and got Buggy’s 1 year pictures taken (hey better late than never) and then that evening I went out with my girlfriends for an epic Girls Night Out full of smiles, laughter, karaoke, dancing and did I say laughter?  It was so much fun, and just what I needed.  Well, with exception of the 1:30am walking through the door.  THAT was brutal!


Saturday we got up bright and early so we could take the boys to the State Fair.  We go every year and always have a fabulous time.  We saw all the animals, learned about sheep’s wool, watched cow’s getting milked, pet some dogs, fed horses, ate enough greasy food that it will no doubt be coming out of my pores for the next few months, and rode all the rides we could.  We had a fabulous time but by the end of the day we ended up with three crabby boys, two of which didn’t want to go home and a baby who never took a nap.   As we were heading for the exit I received a swat on my butt from my sweet 5 year old boy in protest because he did not want to leave before going down the slide.  After I got out of my state of shock I was the “mean mean mommy and told him how sorry I was but that he already chose his last ride to be the bouncy cars and that we are now going home.   Besides, the slide was the only ride that had a line the length of a football field in the whole friggin fair!  It would have taken him FOREVER to get up there.  He screamed all the way back to the car, and then was fine.  *sigh*


Sunday we woke up bright and early AGAIN!  I’ve got to find things to do where we can start at a reasonable hour.  This time we were taking the boys boating.  It was a gorgeous day, not a cloud in the sky and it was WARM…perfect boating weather.  We went to a gorgeous local lake that had beautiful views of the mountains and foothills.  We were so excited!  We had a day filled with swimming, tubing, sunning, singing, and screaming.  Wait…what?  Yep!  Screaming!  Buggy, who once again didn’t have a nap, absolutely hated wearing a life jacket!  So he spent a lot of the time screaming bloody murder!  *sigh*  I told my husband that I just realized that the next time we would be able to be on the water and be relaxed is when our boat is 25 years old! 


That brings us to today!  Today is where we are pulling out all the stops.  We will have swimming in the pool, slip and sliding on the grass, running through the sprinkler, having epic water gun fights, throwing water balloons and basically doing any other water activity we can think of in our backyard.  Followed by a BBQ with wonderful friends and family!! 


I do believe it is safe to say that we simply could not fit anything else into this last weekend of summer.  It’s been a blast and I’m thankful that we had these last few days be as nice as they have been.  And when the kids come to us tomorrow morning with “but we didn’t do anything allllllll summer”…


We can tell them “yes we certainly did.  We did it allllll last weekend!”


What is your favorite thing you did this summer?  What favorite memory will you take away from this summer?






46 comments:

Heather said...

We had a non summer like that a couple of years ago and it really does stink!!

I feel for all "the screaming" you went through this weekend. I think when you have multiple children there is always one who is slightly out of sorts.

We didn't do much here this weekend- the weather wasn't great and my children all had football/cheer all day yesterday and today I WILL catch up on my cleaning!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a rough summer, well except for the 1 week. lol
So glad you were able to make the best of it.
My favorite part was an extended visit with family this summer. Usually we have work and other obligations that we run in and out so fast, but this year it was a very relaxing visit. ;)

Alison said...

So sorry about the lack of summer, but boy, did you make up for it with that packed weekend! Hope you have a lovely Monday!

Unknown said...

Wow, what a busy weekend. Sounds like so much fun though. Glad the weather out there finally cooperated...for a few days at least.

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Heather,

Yeah the non summer has been pretty tough to take this year!

Cheers for a productive day today!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Optimistic Mom,

It definitely hasn't been the greatest! But we are trying to make the most of the sun we do get!

I'm so glad you got to have time with your family this summer! That's so important!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Alison,

we are definitely packing it in! I'm going to need a vacation after this weekend! HA! But we are making memories and that's what counts!

I hope you're feeling better!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Jennifer,

Thanks!! We are soaking up every single second in the sun that we can. Have to store up the Vitamin D for the fall, winter, and spring!

I hope you're having a great Labor Day!

tracy@sellabitmum said...

Well I am now exhausted reading this and need some wine. Noon is none too early, right?

Kimberly said...

That's it...you win Mom of the summer because Dude...you rocked it for the kids.
I'm sorry that your summer weather was a bust. If it's any consolation...I got tonsillitis this passed week and we were supposed to go to the cottage for a last hoorah...but we ended up coming home the second day because I couldn't handle it.
But it has been a good summer overall. We made it camping. I think that was my favourite part of summer.

Unknown said...

This sounds like a wonderful weekend! What fun! We went to a local town fair yesterday. JDaniel didn't want to leave either.

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Tracy,

I'm totally going to need a vacation after this weekend. Noon is not too early for wine at all. If your pouring, I'm buying!!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Kimberly,

My squeezing everything into this weekend is purely selfish because I don't want to hear the whining! Not exactly Mom of the summer material, but thank you so much for thinking so kindly of me.

I'm so sorry you got tonsillitis and had your trip cut short! That sound horrible!!

Camping! That is something I haven't tried with all three kids yet. Well, unless you count setting up the tent in the backyard as camping!! :)

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

JDaniel4's Mom,

It has been wonderful even though it's been completely hectic!

What is it about fairs and kids not wanting to leave? I was sure we ran them silly while we were there but they STILL had energy when we left. I wish I had some of it!

Shell said...

I was thinking that it would be nice not to have such hot temps- we were over 100 for much of the summer.

But, I don't know what I would have done if we hadn't even been over 80!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Shell, it is pretty much a huge downer when you are walking around during the summer months wearing a fleece jacket. But I couldn't imagine day after day of 100+ degree weather.

We are finicky creatures aren't we?

mamamash said...

Oh wow. A 78 minute summer would make me crazy. How do you deal with the lack of warm weather?! I'm glad you were able to enjoy the weekend though.

Unknown said...

I did hear from another blogger in your area that you did not have much of a summer this year. Glad you got some this weekend though! :-)

And my favorite thing about this last summer was our trips to FL and TX. I love to travel!

Kimberly said...

I can't stand the humidity but there is no way I could have a summer that didn't get over 80 degrees! Anything less is like winter to me. ;)

Grumpy Grateful Mom said...

What a great weekend! I'm glad you fit it all in. And the screaming makes it more memorable I think. :) When I worked on Mt. Rainier for the summer, we had snow at the beginning of July! But, there were so many beautiful days that summer. I love that area.

Bridget said...

It sounds like summers in AK. When it's nice it's amazing, but when it rains it stinks! I'm glad you had at least one fun summer weekend. Like us, it is almost time to hunker down for the long winter.

Amanda said...

We almost had a non-summer here in Vancouver, too. I almost lost it in July. But we crammed a whole lot of summer into August and now I'm feeling relatively satisfied. Still, I wouldn't complain if this glorious weather were to continue...

Sounds like a fantastic weekend. Glad you and your family were able to make the most of it!

Liz Mays said...

Even if it was at the last minute, I'm really glad that you did have your summer because that sounds pretty perfect.

We had summer here but it was 90 degrees plus and it started in April. I'm kinda jealous of yours!

Kristy @Loveandblasphemy said...

70's and 80's is summer perfection to me too. We are going to move more into the mountains soon and I hope to get some of that back (right now, Colorado Springs can have some pretty hot days in the summer). Thanks for visiting me yesterday for my guest post at A Mountain Momma!

angela said...

The humidity is the pain, but I would be sad with that kind of summer :(

I LOVE that you had a summer-in-a-weekend, though. What a great way to make memories!

Anonymous said...

Soak it up sister! Glad you at least got to jam everything into the weekend!!

Do you want some of our heat? It is over 90 here in CA for the week!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

mamamash,

I'm pretty certain that my mass amount of blubber help with the cold weather! :)

Turns out, we are suppose to have fabulous weather for the next week or more. Go figure!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Elaine,

It has been a really strange year weather wise!

I love to travel too! I wish we did more of it this summer. Oh well, there's always next year.

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Kim,

It really sucked. But the good news is that this week it's finally starting to feel like summer. Just in time for the kids to go back to school!! Darn Mr. Murphy and his stupid law!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Grumpy Grateful Mom,

That's so cool that you worked on Mt Rainier!! When we actually HAVE a summer, the weather here just can't be beat!!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Bridget,

AMEN! Would you like to join me in a glass of wine as we get ready for fall and winter? I'm certainly not ready for the dark days! :(

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Amanda,

Thanks SO much for visiting and commenting, I truly appreciate it!

The cramming all you can into one month certain has been the way of things in our area hasn't it! I'm glad you got some summer this year!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

blueviolet,

YES! I'm so very thankful that we got some actual summer even if for only a few days! Of course, now I need a vacation because I'm exhausted!!! HA!!!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Kristy,

Thank you so much for visiting! I LOVE visitors!

Yes, high 70's to mid 80's is total perfection for me too! Oh moving into the mountains in Colorado! That's just got to have the most beautiful views!!

Hope you visit again soon!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Angela,

Yeah, I don't do humidity! I really get crabby because I'm not used to it...at all!!

I was so thankful that we did get to do some of our regular summer activities even if it was only during one weekend!!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Mommy Needs a Vacation,

We certainly did jam it all in. But the kiddos had fun and thats what its all about right? I had wine for in the evening so it's all good!!

As it turns out, we might be getting a bit of the CA weather this week. Suppose to hit 90 by Friday. Of course the kids are back in school starting tomorrow. Go figure!

Missy | Literal Mom said...

Hurray for a great final weekend! You really squeezed it all in, as you should have. Hope the start of your year goes well.

Kelly K @ Dances with Chaos said...

It is funny how your last weekend resembled my two week visit to Iowa. :-) Fairs, rides, meltdowns, BBQs, boating, pools..

The 78 minute summer sounds like heaven. Keep in mind in Texas, we had 80 days of 100+ heat and are in one of the worst droughts the state has seen. Monday brought much needed relief with cooler dry air, but the winds have caused major wildfires in the area, so Labor Day meant no grilling.

So yeah. The 78 minute summer would be bliss to me.

Our winters usually make up for it.

My favorite thing this summer was my first ever mommyvacation. I went to Calgary for six days - the furthest I could logically travel to escape the summer heat - and visited some awesome online friends. Without my children.

It was amazing.

Tina @ Life Without Pink said...

Sounds like fun! My summer feels like a blur but I loved that we went to the shore for a week as a family, super fun!

The Mommyologist said...

Sounds like you made the most out of your last few days!! Where did summer go? I am SO ready for Fall though...

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Missy,

It was like sprinting towards a finish line that's for sure! Today is the first day of school and we got Big T who is going into second grade (how the heck did THAT happen?) without issue! Hoping for a great year!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Kelly,

It does seem like we are running on the same wave length doesn't it??

I can't imagine it being that hout for that long. I wish we could just split the difference of your weather and mine, then everyone would be happy.

YAY for a mommyvacation, I LOVE those! Good for you!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Tina,

It was a ton of fun!

Why does summer always blur by? Winter sure doesn't do that! I'm glad you got some family time in at the shore! That sounds wonderful!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

The Mommyologist,

We sure did. Thankfully the weather was finally good to us.

Funny enough, it seems that we are just getting our summer weather. It suppose to be into the 80's for at least the next 10 days! Go figure!

Unknown said...

This summer was such a blur... Cole was too little for most of it to be outside much, but my favorite weekend for sure was the weekend we had a bunch of Craig's family in. Seeing my girl play with her cousins, was truly wonderful.
So glad you got a nice weekend! Sound like you made the most of it too!

Hopes@Staying Afloat! said...

Krista,

I'm so glad you got to have some time with family this summer. It's so fun to see cousins playing together!