Summer? Is That You?

Sorry for neglecting the blog the past few days. We ventured out to Central PA to visit my parents and I took a break from life for a bit. Actually, in all honesty, their computer is slow and I hate sitting and waiting for pages to load.

Anyway, we had a wonderful weekend at there and it really got me excited for summer.

We talk endlessly about summer and all of the adventures we cannot wait to go on... like the zoo, random walks through parks, vacations, and the local water park. My number one thing I am excited about is getting Kirsten into a bathing suit. I cannot wait to see her chubby legs sticking out of a bikini as she wades in a shallow pool, tugging at the hat I insist she wears, and finding a way to swallow half of the pool water.

This weekend really made the whole "it's summer" thing real. We went on walks around the neighborhood (which, by the way, is the best walking neighborhood on the planet. Tons of kids, great streets, and amazing houses), cooked out, and just were lazy. I love that about summer, the freedom to do whatever you want.

We live in Western PA where the snow is always 80% of the year, it was so cold that I am honestly surprised my fingers have yet to fall off, thus making malls the only place to really go for a walk or social interaction for about 6 months out of the year. So my bank account officially stays at zero and I stuff myself full of pretzels and iced coffees. It is fun for the first 2 months, but that longing for summer begins very shortly after Thanksgiving.

This weekend really opened my eyes to the little girl that Kirsten is on her way to becoming. She sat in the exersaucer at my parents' house and actually played with the toys. She spun herself around when she heard a sound behind her, turned the little rattles, and pushed the buttons to hear the kitty or puppy. She would look up at me with the largest grin, giggle, and then go about her business. She was almost validating what she was doing by checking in with me and saying, "Look mom, I'm a big girl!"

This gave me images of her sitting up and playing with toys, actually playing with them and not just shoving them in her mouth. Sitting in our backyard while we grill and enjoying the evening. Or being able to ::gasp:: entertain herself. I realize we are worlds away from so many things, but the renewal of the seasons and everyone's sanity really only makes these milestones that much clearer.

And with that... we are heading to the backyard to hangout and grill some steaks!