During the car trip home from beach week with Dan's family last June, Dan would say in a playful sing-songy way "What I like about summertime is ______" He would fill in the blank with "playing in the sand with Chloe" or "taking Chloe and Dylan to the pool." Several times Chloe would interrupt Dan and say, "What I like about summertime is you Daddy because you're my friend." (No wonder Dan is wrapped around her finger.)
Back in early September, my friend Carey asked if I was ready for Fall. I flat out , told her that I haven't accepted that Summer is over yet. I love Summer - it's by far my favorite season. Fall is a distant second. I love the longer period of daylight and I'll take heat and humidity over having to wear socks and a heavy coat and snowpocalypses! So now with the days growing shorter and the weather getting cooler, I have no choice but to say a belated goodbye to Summer. Here's I've liked about Summertime 2010:
Beach weeks in Isle of Palms, SC with the Millers and Corolla, NC with the Pascuas. This is the first year that Chloe has really enjoyed the beach. Hopefully, Dylan will like it more next year. I enjoyed catching up with family that I don't get to see often enough. Plus, it's great to see the cousins playing toghether. My favorite moment of the interrupted-by-Hurricane-Earl week in Corolla was spending time with my parents the morning we were evacuated. That morning, my sister casught my parents going for a walk on the beach. Instead of going for a run, we decided to catch up with them. I do mean "catch up" by the time we got to the beach, coffee in hand for my Dad, they were a quarter mile ahead of us. Janice or Jennifer would yell, "Mom, Dad wait up." They would stop, turn, look at the three of us and then, keep going. Turns out they couldn't see that far and couldn't tell we were trying to catch up with them. I love how our family has grown, but the sentimental part of me enjoys the few and far between times when it's just the five of us.
Sting with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Jiffy Lube Live (Nissan Paviliion) - Not only were the tickets free - won by calling into a radio contest, I went with one of my best friends Carey. We hadn't hung out together in a very long time, so it was great to catch up. The weather was perfect. The seats were great and Sting's voice and the orchestra sounded awesome.
Hearing Chloe Tell Her Fish Story - Dan took Dylan and Chloe fishing for the first time at the lake by our house. Dan helped Chloe reel in a huge catfish. The catfish put up a good fight. When line was reeled in, the fish swam out taking line with it. Finally, Chloe got the catfish to shore, but the 6lb line broke when Daddy-o tried to pull it out of the water. Next time, Dan will bring stronger fishing line plus a landing net! It's cute to see Chloe extend her arms out to describe the size of the fish which Dan wholeheartedly confirms and to see her wiggle her hand when she describes that the catfish swam away.
Celebrating Jerry's 80th Birthday Dan's father Jerry didn't go to beach week since any touch of sun is really bad for his skin, plus he just doesn't enjoy the beach like he use to. Dan's Mom organized a birthday party and all of Dan's siblings plus the grandkids eagerly attended. Jerry had a great time spending time with his grandkids, telling them the "Two Little Blackbirds" story.
Cooking on a grill - Need I say more? Gosh, if I had known how much fun it was to cook on a grill, I would have blown the condo-no-grill-on-the-balcony stand a lot sooner! Dan and I grilled chicken, pork chops and I even tried my Dad's shish kabob recipe. Oh and if you haven't tried grilling pizza dough, definitely try it before the snow falls! Hmm, but I guess you could grill in the snow, as long as the grill is dry, right?
