Rain, rain go away!!

"Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass--it's about learning how to dance in the rain..." courtsey of my sweet friend Amanda

I have always loved the rain. When asked what my favorite type of weather is I would always say RAIN! When I was a kid I would sit out on the porch for hours watching it. Sometimes playing in it. But I loved to watch it. I think it has a calming effect on me. My mom said I always remind her of my grandpa (her dad) like that. She said he would sit and watch the rain for hours. Sure the sunshine is nice, but it gives me the feeling that I should be "doing" something. When it is raining you can just sit there and feel content in "what else can I be doing in the rain?" ;)

However, I have to have the "best summer ever" with my kids. And I have lists of stuff we have to do! And since I knew the next day Scott would be on day shift for 4 days, I had wanted to take the kids over to Glendale- a local lake. I figured they could play in the sand and water. We could pack dinner. Then came the reports of rain.... What to do?? We also had to wait for the guy who is going to replace some windows for us.

At 3:30 I decided to go for it. I called my mom and asked if she and my sisters wanted to come. I grabbed Luke (left the older 2 with dad- he was mowing) and we headed to Subway to pick up dinner and Giant Eagle to get stuff for the cooler. We did it all in 50 minutes. Quite impressive really!

We got home, and packed up the truck with cooler, sand toys, chairs, and other stuff. Got in and headed out. Then the sky got dark. The windshield started to have drops. "It is raining," I said to Scott. "It is stopping," he said. Then the sky got really dark. Then the rain came down really hard. Will began to sing "rain, rain go away...today and tomorrow." We pulled up and it was pouring!! We grabbed the kids and the food and ran to the pavillion. The kids were shaking and freezing. I was freeezing! The sky was black. I looked to the sky and thought "oh please." We sat down to eat. The kids were more interested in throwing rocks in the puddles. Soon it slowed up. Then the sun came out. And we could see a faint rainbow. Then it got warm again.

What a blessing! We headed down to the "beach." The kids had a great time playing in the sand and water. Luke rode trucks everywhere and played with his boat in the water. Will loved building a river and dumping water in it. He even met a couple of friends for a little bit. Rachel thought this "beach" was the greatest. Hey, if I thought I could have gotten away that easily I could have saved some money and not scheduled the beach trip at the end of July! They were very tired come the end. Finally when the sun was close to setting, we packed up and headed home. Scott said that if we had any cash on us we could get some ice cream. Whoa! I am all about making memoried but I was about to fall over and still had 3 little ones (plus me!) to get cleaned and ready for bed! So we headed for home and decided maybe our next adventure would be ice cream and putt-putt!

I could have missed this great time had a focused on how tired I was, how much needed done at home...the million of things on my to-do list. But I am glad I took this time to "dance in the rain."

But Scott is on his 4 day shifts now where he gets home around 6:30-7. By the time he eats dinner, he is wiped out. And since he waked up at 3:30 A.M. and then leaves the house at 4, I can't really blame him. So for the next couple of days we may be on our own! To the playground in the backyard!! ;)