~ How I am Spending my Summer Vacation ~

So ... using the term "vacation" may be a bit misleading. As the above collage will testify, I am indeed one year older. And slower. And less agile. So spending my summer with a bevy of toddlers and 4 year-olds is testing the limits of my waning agility. The cake only has one candle on it because ... well, because the Gees were wary of catching their house on fire. But spending my birthday with them (and attending L'il Mr. Gee's soccer game) was a summer delight.

Then ... just when I thought I couldn't be any more excited, the Dub Girlz showed up (all 3.75 of them ... and they are all girls) and we promptly spent a day at the Magic Kingdom. And it was magical. Hot, but magical. (Yes, my AZ friends ... it was in the upper 80's and I had the audacity to complain about it. Sue me.) What can I say but yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life fer me. One of my very favorite sentences in the entire English language.

The Fourth was a Fun-Filled day from start to Finish. The 4 year-old's had a "sleepover" at Nanny's the night before and that was just the beginning of a day Full of Festivities and Food and Fireworks. We attended my first Fireworks in my local community and I cannot begin to describe how heavenly it was to basically walk there and back. We also walked to the pool and back. And to a picnic gazebo and back. I love my local community.

Could we smile any wider? I don't think so.

Hope your summer is as swell as mine is.

~ Fall Forward ~

So ... I hope I'm not premature in saying so but ... believe it or not ... we may actually be saying good-bye to the blasted heat that was the Summer of 2010, here in the Land of AZ. Last week: still in the triple digits. This week: rockin' the 80's. You won't hear too many people bemoaning the absence of the 90's in this equation. Let's face it, the 90's are so overrated.

This evening we are even enjoying a bit of light rain. Not summer "the wind blew my neighbor's pool into my pool**" monsoon rains, but a lovely light mist.

Along with the aforementioned advantages to Fall, look what I picked up today at Marshall's on sale because of it's obvious summer overtones? Sweet. (You know how much I love dots! And you know how much I love blue!)

Welcome Fall. Please don't toy with my emotions and revert to your old sweltering ways. Please don't make me beg.

'Cause I will.

** There was an evening this summer when I came home to find a rather large inflated child's pool ... floating in my pool. No lie. Some of my patio furniture was also at the bottom of the pool. It was a pretty big day for my pool.

Deja - View

So ... remember Twiggy? Here is the new/improved Twiggy for the new millenium. I think Miss Dub1 makes a splendid fashion/popcorn model, don't you? I love what she has done with her makeup.

And if it's new summer swimwear you're looking for ... Miss Dub2 models this dashing little number with flair ... all while demonstrating summer meal ideas.

Hope your summer is going swimmingly.

Sunny & Bright

So ... what to do in the summertime when the heat starts to fry your brain??

Let's start with a fun, fun summertime read. Gravity vs. the Girl by Riley Noehren is a fabulous (funny and touching) pick and not just because that pink cover is enough fun all by itself. If you have read this, or when you do ... let me know.

Next on the agenda: plant a summer garden, keeping in mind that there is more than one way to acquire a green thumb. Here we have the June block from Miss Sunshine herself ... Anne at Bunny Hill. For free. Yowza.

Last but not least, you could jump in a body of water like a pool or the ocean or a lake. Please take no offense at my suggestion to go jump in a lake ... I mean that in the kindest way, really I do. If no larger body of water is accessible at the moment, simply create some puddles with a water fight. L'il Gee thought that was the best alternative of all during his Father's Day visit.

I have found I am quite adept at creating some puddles by sweating a lot. Wow ... I am just full of practical summer fun suggestions.

Do tell. What are some of your sunny ideas?

June's Official Ambassador

So ... June has busted out all over and I'm just tickled pink. A whole summer ahead to absorb some vitamin D, fry some eggs on the sidewalk and take a few side trips. Which shall it be first? A little sand between our toes?

A little wind in our sails?

Or this one. And just what could this one be?

Do tell.

Welcome to June. What are your June destinations?

Going, going . . . gone.

It's almost over.
You know . . . Summer.

This was a weird year in that we had our "summer" vacation when most of the world was unpacking their sweaters. We came back from vacation and lo and behold . . . it was clear down in the 90's here in the desert! The mornings had a little chill and occasionally the temperature in the house actually went lower than the A/C setting. I started eyeing the fall decorations in the closet, but was wary of those triple digits rearing their ugly heads once again.

I am thankful that our summer went out with a glorious bang. I am thankful that our last memories of summer involved children, grandchildren, sun, sand and thousands of calories of restaurant indulgence. I am thankful that even though Arizona boasted record-breaking heat in umpteen different categories, I lived to tell the tale.

Goodbye Summer. Goodbye blister-inducing-steering-wheel. Good-bye baseball games and barbeques and beach bonfires. Good-bye monsoons and sunburns and pool algae. Some will be missed . . . and some will not. All will be remembered.

P.S. Thanks to PDaddy for the superb pics of a beautiful sunset.
P.P.S For more Summer to Fall transition reading (from a Midwest viewpoint) go here. You won't be sorry.