snow, snow, go away

I miss summer. I know everyone is saying it right now, so it's not exactly original blog fodder, but I don't care. I miss it. I'm not one of these people who looks forward to the winter half of my year so I can skate and snow mobile. I couldn't give a rats you-know-what about skating and snow mobiling. I don't cross country ski, I don't toboggan when it's not for the kids. I won't miss any of that stuff.

There is an ocean in front of my house. Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but you should see the monstrous pond in the street. I think today it's going away, but yesterday we walked up and down the street with the kids so they could play in the puddles. The one in front of the street is more pond than puddle (or at least it was yesterday). It was at least three car lengths long, and went from one edge of the street to the other. As annoying as the puddles are, it's amazing to see them. You know what those puddles used to be right? SNOW! The more water, the less snow. I can't wait until it's all gone.

I know, how un-Canadian of me. Ha. Stupid snow anyway.

I have stuff planned for the summer. I can't wait to share the season with my kids again, and to have Mitchell enjoy his first summer. He was born in August last year, and didn't get much out of it. This one will be awesome. He can take his first steps in his bare feet in the grass with the sun shining down on his fuzzy peach head.

Want to know some of my plans? Okay!

Steven's dad and step mom are big blue grassers. At the beginning of the summer they camp out at a big blue grass get-together. Last year we joined them for a day, this year we'll likely do the same.

I'm going to take my kids (and ever-reluctant husband) camping. This year I won't be eight months pregnant, but we'll have an extra kid this year so we'll see which is better. I love camping. It's actually a lot of work with the kids but it's worth it. Last year it was kind of too cold to do much swimming, I'm hoping this year is warmer. You haven't had fun until you've crammed a family of five into a tent and listened to everyone cry into the wee hours of the night.

We'll likely hit the zoo again with Lorelie and Andrew, friends of ours from the city. We've done it the last couple of years. Every year there are more kids in our group. The zoo is exactly the same every year, but the kids like it, the monkeys probably get a kick out of the kids, and Lorelie and I get a good visit in!

Steven's maternal side rents a cabin at the nearest beach for a week every summer, and we all hang out there. We don't actually do much, just sit around and look at each other and eat, but it's nice. This year there will be four kids. I used to think I was going to single-handedly repopulate this family, but Deanne & Travis have finally contributed! It'll be neat to watch the kids grow and mingle and spend this time together.

My kids' birthdays all fall in the summer. I'm debating on whether or not to do birthdays for all of them. I'm thinking of having just having cake and coffee for family members for each of them, and then letting Jordan have more of a little party with kids and hot dogs. That's the nice thing about little kids. Imagine telling your 14 year old that you were going to toss some hot dogs in a pot and let her have a couple of friends over for a couple of hours. At the age of 4 it's awesome!

Then there is just the daily back yard summer fun. I think my kids spent almost as much time in their swimsuits as they did in their clothes last year. Have I mentioned the water slide? The water slide rocks. I hook the garden hose to the top of the slide in the play structure. I tuck the slip and slide underneath the bottom of the slide and extend it out into the yard. I then turn on the water and let them go nuts. You can imagine the joy.

Have I mentioned coolers? Last summer I sat outside on first my old deck, and then the new one, and wished that I could have a sweet strawberry cooler on a warm summer night. But I was pregnant. This summer I will not be. This summer I can tuck my sun-bronzed kids sleepily into their beds and sit in front of the crackly fire with my husband and relax into my lawn chair with my cooler. It's the little things.