I always thought living in Seattle might be cool. I am reconsidering that after the last few days of rain. It's only been 2, but I am done now. Grateful for my green grass though.
Recently a friend gave me a great compliment. She said that I was so "positive", able to see the bright side of things no matter what. I have been running that through my head the last few days and I am pretty sure I am not earning such a compliment.
My very hardworking husband was unable to take the 10 days off he had hoped for when he started his job, it got knocked down to 4. Although very disappointed, I tried to rally myself into a great 4. And then 2 days before leaving, it got knocked down to 1. I was heartbroken. I was so looking forward to this time as a family, and quite honestly, the help. I adore my three kids, but there is a reason there are 2 parents. I try hard, but I am not a "one-woman show". Nor do I want to be.
Anyway, totally bummed I tried to make the best of it. I took the kids to see my grandparents for an overnight, took them 4 wheeling, got them full of mud doing it and earned "cool mommy" points. We all got spoiled by my grandparents with our favorite foods, and the kids had more pop than they usually have in a month. Then off we went to the cabin. We were going to be joined by Shaun at midnight and have Sunday together, along with the extended family. Before he had to go back that night for work on Monday and Tuesday. He was then going to come back on Tuesday night to spend all of Wednesday with us.
On the way there on Saturday, however, our van broke down. The belt that runs the whole thing slipped off. The water coolant wasn't working, the battery was dying, and the power steering was gone. I literally wrestled the car into a shop with lights flashing and bells dinging. The kids were freaking out, and honestly so was I. The silver lining? I made it to the shop instead of stopping in traffic and getting hit, the guy was stuck there an hour after closing doing paperwork and let me in, he had a loaner for me, and my brother in law came from the cabin and helped me get all our things out there for the week. After that I took the kids to Space Aliens to eat (and hold them over) and then dragged them to the grocery store. I will never again look disapprovingly at a mother with her kids at the grocery store after 9:00 pm, sometimes life just works out that way.
Sunday was awesome, lots of fishing, a ride on the pontoon, time with Dad and grandma. Bella even got to practice using her very first filet knife on some of the sunfish we caught. (More mommy points for buying her the thing. But dad gets all the glory for teaching her. I know how, but I can't watch her with a knife. I know I learned at the same age, but it's different watching your kid.)
Everyone left us on Sunday and on Monday we enjoyed Munsinger gardens, for 2 hours. Bella said it reminded her of the book "The Secret Garden" she had read and all of us thought it was the "best day ever". Finally we got the call that the car was done. Way too much money later, we headed back to the cabin.
Tuesday we SOO enjoyed the company of my best friend Jodi, her 2 little ones, her sister and her baby and later on, my cousin and her 2 little ones. Outside of the toilet pumping water all the way into the kitchen, we had a fun day. The kids all fished, played in the sand, went swimming and laughed! After her sister and my cousing left, Jodi and I braved and conquered the grill (coal and lighter fluid style) and did a campfire, complete with smores for our kids. Shaun showed up just in time to take us all on the pontoon for a ride. ( I will be THE coolest mom if I ever learn to drive that thing.) After we got the little ones down, Shaun and I enjoyed doing some "research" on some wine for his store while we played some cribbage.
Soooooo excited for the next day, we all went to bed.
And woke up to thunderstorms.
About 10:30, we finally called it, packed up and headed home. In the worst rain I have driven in in a long time. Just missing the tornado that went through minneapolis we got home. UGH!!!!!!!
We decided to hit one our wished for destinations for the summer, the Science Museum. The dinosaurs rocked, the Titanic was awesome (although a GREAT date night, wouldn't recommend for little ones), and the anatomy area was sufficiently gross for the kids to just love. Lots of fun, way too much money, geez, but lots of fun!
We finished the day with a pizza and a game of memory.
Although our summer vacation was not even a half a week, it wasn't to Duluth, it wasn't to Gooseberry Falls, not even the North Shore, or the Boundary Waters - it was laughs, it was fishing, there was water, there was boating, and there was all of us. It wasn't much, but I'll take it.
I'm only pouting a little.
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