Animals are lining up, two by two

It is raining AGAIN today!! I think everyone around here sort of hoped that with the start of July, the unbelievably bad weather of the last month would clear out. No such luck. This was the second cloudiest June ever (those poor folks in 1903, the cloudiest June ever, must have really had it bad)... and the combined rain for May and June of this year is the MOST EVER in the last 132 years of recorded history. Oh, good, so glad that I was around to see all these records set for the WORST weather ever. On the silver lining front, at least we haven't had to turn on the air conditioning yet this year. You know, because it's only gotten out of the low 60's once or twice.

Still, we've been up to some fun stuff. Yesterday, I took the kids to the aquarium - it was a great day. We left the house a little before 8am to grab an early train so that we could be there right as the aquarium opened at 9am. I've only been there a couple times before, but I did recall that it gets super busy by late morning. But, it was fairly quiet when we started at 9. We finished up by 11am and spent a little time walking around the waterfront and the wharfs. I love it down there - just blocks from where I used to work. It was fun to see all the places that I used to sit with my lunch on nice days and places where I used to go for drinks after work with co-workers. The waterfront area has got to be one of my favorite parts of the city. Anyhoo, after we watched some ships and such in the harbor, the kids and I hopped the train again to go to Chad's office to meet him for lunch. After some thai food, we walked around a bit more and then grabbed a train home. What a fun way to spend the day - and such a breeze now that the kids are old enough to walk for a few miles on their own without getting tired. We also went into the city one day last week to ride the swan boats and walk around the back bay area.

Last Friday was our kick-off summer picnic for the MOMS Club - also when I gave out all my thank-you gifts to my fellow board members and coordinators. It was sort of my last official duty before turning the reins over to the incoming president. I feel very relieved to not have the responsibility anymore, as it became a real source of stress for me over the last couple months.

Chad got home around 10pm Friday night - so happy to see him! We stayed up till around midnight talking, which is fairly unheard of for me. 6 hours later, the boys came racing into our room and climbed all over Chad - they were so excited to see him! He had gotten them each a gift at the Lego store in Chicago, so between going to the pool and playing with those gifts, the day sort of flew by. On Sunday, we went strawberry picking with Rebekah and her son - that traditional summer activity, except that for us, it was 60 degrees, cloudy and sprinkling rain. Still, we were out there! We got a couple quarts of strawberries, which were all gone by the next morning. While we were picking, Brandon got his first ever bee sting! He was pretty upset, and Chad just held him for about 15 minutes till he was ready to start picking again. I took much pleasure in grinding that bee up under my shoe - I'm typically a "live and let live" kind of a gal when it comes to insects, but if that bee thought it could sting my son and get away with it, it had another thing coming. And yes, I know that it would have died on its own anyway, but why are you bringing that up now? Let's not smother the deep satisfaction I felt in killing the bee that so wronged by son.

Even with Chad on a business trip all last week, I managed to get in some good workouts. There was only one day when I couldn't get out either alone or with the boys, and I came up with a rather ingenious solution. During the boys quiet time, I ran up and down our two flights of stairs (basement to 2nd floor) for five minutes. Then, I jumped rope for five minutes. Then back to stairs. I alternated the two for a thirty minute workout that was pretty darn challenging - got my heart rate up and definitely worked my calves. After that, I ate a couple raw eggs and loaded the kids up in an old wooden wagon which I then pulled up several nearby, snow-covered hills.

Chad is actually on vacation for the rest of the week, starting this afternoon. He had a team outing this morning and now has a couple days off for the 4th. Good stuff. I think we are even supposed to get a couple days mostly rain free this weekend, so hopefully, we can get out for some hikes and such.