In the words of Kaleb, it is legit hot today. It is 50 degrees and sunny. It is not legit hot, but since spring is practically (drink) non-existent in New England, it is, at least, a legit beautiful day. (Drink) On these (drink) rare days, around here, everyone puts on shorts and flip flops, cruises around in their convertibles, and gets involved with a giant ice cream cone. It's too cold for all of this, really, but after being cooped up all winter, it just feels necessary. This year, we worship these days ten-fold because, well, quarantine. I find myself berating the kids if they're inside for more than 10 minutes. "It's beautiful out. You HAVE to go outside. You can play video games and Snapchat for the next five days of rain, but today YOU WILL GO OUTSIDE SO HELP ME GOD." While I welcome these days with open arms, they are almost annoyingly obligatory. It's like our duty as parents to pack as much outdoor fun into one afternoon to last at least a week. I have to say, we did a pretty solid job today of exercising our New England spirit.
There was mulching.
And the lawn furniture came out.
They worked up a sweat on the trampoline and were so hot that Kaleb insisted we head to the pond for a dip.
I hate taking the kids to the beach. I know it sounds really grinchy, but seriously, the amount of equipment you have to shlep with you is insane. Buckets, shovels, towels, sunscreen, boogie boards, chairs, and of course, snacks. Today there was more gear required because I knew they would freeze so I threw in fleeces and sweatpants for good measure. Like I said, it's only 50 degrees.
Not surprisingly, we had the entire pond to ourselves aside from a few guys drinking beer and smoking pot in the parking lot. The kids said it smelled like skunk. I told them to go play in the water. They last longer than I thought, but the fleeces were in high demand and their teeth were noticeably chattering when we finally packed it in.
This is the part I hate most of all. Loading them into the car all wet and sandy is totally cringy. There's no way around the car becoming an instant sandbox. Wet towels are heaped in the trunk, sandy flip flops piled atop a stack of muddy boogie boards. They asked for hot chocolate on the way home. Are you kidding me? This afternoon they were literally stripping outside and now they want hot chocolate? Give me a break.
It's arriving home that is the killer. The laundry, the showers, the sand EVERYWHERE. How do kids get sand in EVERY crevice? And Kaleb's hair is like a sponge for sand. I'll be finding grains in there for weeks. Then you've got to hose down the boogie boards, vacuum the car, make hot chocolate.
But there's a silver lining - they're exhausted. (Drink) With any luck, they'll crash tonight. Plus I've taken full advantage (drink) of a rare New England spring day. Of course, when you get a taste of summer on the horizon, it's very hard to back pedal and mentally prepare for a few days of impending rain. (Drink)
I'm afraid this is one of those posts that will end abruptly. They worked up an appetite today and (drink) have started pulling snacks out of the pantry just before dinner. I hate when they start with the snacks at 5:00. They're like vultures. I must go cook. Mama out.