We only have a little over 3 weeks until school starts, which means the Hubs and I have hit that “Holy Crap!” stage where we’re starting to feel the pressure of fitting in everything we wanted to do in a really short period of time.  That’s why I spent over an hour last night googling various hotels at the ocean to see what I could find. A tip: don’t wait until 2 weeks before you want to go to the beach to look for lodging. It becomes either an exercise in futility OR an exercise that reminds you how you really wish you were independently wealthy.

In the spirit of seizing the day, we spent a very fun evening out and about tonight.  First, we went to a friend’s house to visit with the polo ponies that live in their backyard.

Yes, the Bean is wearing my shoes. Some battles I don’t pick.

This was the kid’s first time being that close to horses and they were enamored- it was awesome! I have been debating getting them signed up for horse back riding lessons and this sealed the deal for me.

After we got done playing with the horses, we headed to a local nature center to see the Reptile Man.  This guy is a semi-celebrity locally- we’ve seen him at parties, nature places, at the kid’s school, etc- with all his many reptiles. Snakes, alligators, lizards and tortoises.   It’s not my cup of tea, but Scorch thought having a 6 foot long boa draped over his shoulders was the coolest thing ever so I’m calling the whole evening a success!

I hate coming to my blog just to complain, which is why things have been quiet. Life over the past week has been… challenging. You know, sick husband, acts of nature destroying some of our property, summer colds, crazy schedules.  The usual.

*sigh*

At one point last week, I just sat there and literally started counting my (many) blessing out loud because for the past few weeks it seems like if we didn’t have bad luck, we didn’t have any luck at all.  Thankfully life goes on and what seemed overwhelming and nausea-inducing last week seems manageable and  under control this week.  Perhaps the day-long wine tour on Saturday with some of my favorite relatives to celebrate my brother’s upcoming wedding helped!

It certainly didn’t hurt!

Now life’s getting back to normal. The Hubs is hanging in there and I’m bound and determined to suck out every ounce of fun from our last 3 weeks of summer because this time is going by way too fast for me! I checked out library books today and they are due back in September- I almost choked. The Heat’s aren’t going down without a fight- just as soon as we all stop blowing our noses/coughing up a lung.

Good lord, I love me some spring time. After a long, cold winter, I love seeing the green pop up, the temperatures rise and everything coming back to life.  Everything- including our schedule.  On any given week between now and the end of school we have 4 baseball games a week and a concert/therapy session/swim lessons/whatever. So basically we’ve moving and shaking 3-4 weeknights every week which is fun. But exhausting.  In order to work, pick up the kids, cook, eat, clean up, attend said event and get my kids to bed at a reasonable hour, our nights are scheduled down to the minute. Like, if I’m off by 5 minute from when I should have started dinner, instead of eating a home cooked meal, we’re getting McDonald’s drive through on the way to a game.  That’s fine every once in a while, but that’s not the way I want my kids to eat daily.

So what I’m saying is we’re busy.  Which makes it all that much sweeter when we say screw it (or, I say screw it, the kids don’t say that), throw the schedule out the window and just enjoy a beautiful day. Which is what we did today.  First, we made friends.  Well, the kids made friends. I stood 5 feet behind my kids and screamed at them not to put their fingers inside the fence because that swan was going to chomp them off (I loathe birds).

Then I let the kids play in the stream. Love, love, love that they are old enough that I don’t have to shadow their every move.  They are smart enough to not try to actively drown themselves and the worst thing that will happen is they get wet.

The rain is supposed to start tomorrow and after 2+ weeks without it, we do need it. Knowing that it’s coming made soaking up the sunshine today all that more sweet.

Ever since Scorch was 4, we’ve been saying that we’re going to take him skiing. But we never have. Want to know why? It’s because I hate being out in the cold. Every time the kids ask to go sledding (in our backyard, no less), I cringe because I don’t want to stand out in the cold.  I may be living in the wrong area of the country.

But sometimes the weather gods smile on us and this weekend was one of those times. March is a fickle, fickle month in NY- you’ll get days of snow mixed with with tantalizing glimpses of the spring to come. It’s both wonderful and maddening.  Saturday it was in the high 40s with full on bright sunshine and you would have thought we were back in FL with the way we reacted. At one point I brought out a lawn chair and sat in it with my jeans and my winter jacket on just to soak up some of the sunshine.

The best part of the day, hands down, was the sledding. The snow left over was not only thick enough, but it was also slick enough for the kids to go nuts down the hill. Normally when we go sledding we last about 45 minutes before we start to freeze, but this time around we were out for over 2 hours without any of the normal warm clothing needed- no snow pants or hats or scarves or long johns. Just our regular clothes, jackets and some gloves for the Bean. It was pure perfection!

Old Man Winter can leave any time now, but if he is going to stay, I hope he stays just like this!