Last week was most definitely Spring. There were thunderstorms every day and temperatures that struggled to go from cool to mild. Then the holiday weekend hit and the mercury started climbing steadily until it hit 90, and it has been camping out around there ever since then.
The very moment that my babysitting job ended for the season, Summer rushed in. And it appears to be here to stay.
I love Summer. Really I do. But here we are, a few days into this season of leisure, and already we've had a little too much sun and are wondering what to do with ourselves. Yes, there's always Local Theme Park, but it's hot and bright and the effort involved makes you feel like you have to spend a few hours there, and sometimes that is just too much.
We went outside around noon to play in the sandbox because Olivia was getting so restless in the house. Being stuck in the house makes her miss her playmates. Luckily, our playset stays shaded until about 1:00, so it seemed like a good idea to get out and play a little. Until I lifted the sandbox cover and disturbed the very comfortable little family of mice and their new nest.
Yuck. Yuck, yuck and so very icky.
After some quick thinking, I talked Olivia into packing up all of her sand toys so we could head to the beach. Our housing development is arranged around a series of lakes, one of which has a beach and swim area. I kind of hate lake swimming because of the living creatures and the seaweed. As it turns out, Olivia hates those things too. She desperately wanted to go off the diving board (which was being dominated by a bunch of loud, obnoxious teenage boys), but she was having a hard time getting past the ickies in the water, so I was spared that experience. We did get in the water a bit, and then I made a few castles which she proceeded to destroy with her shovel and toys, and it was a nice time. After about 90 minutes, we were full of sand and ready to go home and shower off.
I'll have to add this to my list of "free Summer activities that won't take all day".
Tonight: Her first pony ride at the newly-opened local stables. Not exactly free, but something fun she might like to do now and then.
I'm going to need to get better about planning Summer activities, or it is going to be a long Summer.
1 comment:
We live just down the street from a beach on the Sound, and I have a feeling we're going to be spending a LOT of time digging there this summer. Here's to free, easy activities!
Post a Comment