What Happened to Summer???

OK, I am not one to complain about the weather. Generally speaking. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE the seasons. Each one brings something new and exciting, and in general, in Colorado, they last just long enough to keep me from getting bored or tired of what they have to offer.

The winter always offers the beauty of snow, the fresh world, the stark contrast of bare branches and the evergreens against the sparkling snow.

Fall offers crisp mornings, with that smoky smell (even though no one around here burns leaves), and the riotous colors of the leaves, the crunch as they begin to fall.

Spring offers up sparkling frost on the ground, the grayish green haze as the trees begin to bud and blossom and leaf...

And summer. Oh summer...the long days of sunshine, heat, buzzing bumblebees. And, in Colorado, it often means late afternoon storms. The clouds pile up, roll in, darkening the sky, and the thunder rumbles, the lightning flashes. And, when we're really blessed, it will actually rain. It will pour buckets, or pelt like mad for about 35 to 45 minutes. And then, the clouds will part, the sun will shine, the sky is clear and intensely blue. Everything glistens and gleams. And the air is cooled greatly.

This year, however, it seemed as though winter lingered, well past March 21. It was cold, wet, raining almost every day. It was Spring long into June, which is a bit off from what I remember growing up here. It seemed as though overnight, it went from wet, rainy spring days barely reaching 60 degrees, to this oven-like heat, baking us with temperatures in the 90s.

We've had a good monsoon season, as in, I have mushrooms growing in my lawn because it has been so wet...

All in all, I'm loving it. It's hot enough to drive me indoors after lunch most days (the mornings are spent with a run, some time in my yard pulling weeds, deadheading my flowers and the like, then breakfast and whatever scheduled events we have (t ball, dance, errands). Between that and lunchtime, we're outside usually in the back, kicking or throwing a ball, running around, making lots of noise (much to our neighbors' chagrin), splashing, swimming, squealing. Having a grand old time...

But, all of a sudden, I realized that school starts in just 4 weeks! Yup, 4 weeks from Friday, will be Captain Chaos' first day of Kindergarten. He technically starts a few days later than the rest of the grades at his school, and I'm ok with that. Princess starts the following week, and I'll be down to just 2 children at a time every afternoon, both of which will be napping. 2 mornings a week, I'll have Littlest One and Captain at home, and Littlest One will be napping (Lord willing).

I realized that in just one year from now I'll be getting ready to have just the girls at home during most days, and 3 days a week I'll only have Littlest One at home. In 2 short years, I'll be home alone, with no children, for a few days each week. GULP! In fact, one morning a week the school year of 2013, I'll be alone. Totally alone. No children for 3 hours.

It's a daunting, and not at all helped by the fact that summer vacation is almost over...

Well, I'm off to take the kiddos out for "special lunch" at the local Chik-fil-A so they can enjoy some chicken nuggets and time in the playground. I'm having the realization that High School graduation really will be here before I know it, and I fully intend to build as many memories of awesomeness as possible.

I'm taking some time this afternoon while they nap to plan out some trips to the zoo, the museum, the bounce place, the library, and putting much time on my calendar for "having fun" as possible.

If it means I'm up at 5 and not in bed til midnight, so I can do the other things like cleaning and laundry, then so be it.

They really are only this age once.

What fun memories do you have of growing up???