Maydays

We had a gorgeous spring heat wave in May - 80 degrees and higher - so we abandoned homework, order, and well-balanced dinners for the beach and whatever food we could carry. We have several of these freakish bouts of unexpected weather every year and sometimes it takes me days to realize it's hot and it doesn't matter what season it is - we must go to the beach because there's no guarantee it will ever be 80 during the summer. This time we didn't waste a minute adjusting expectations, but got down there as soon as possible and stayed as long as possible for a few days in a row. Good move, Melissa, setting aside the drudgery of homemaking to create happy memories with the children.








May was also a month for me and Claire to make the most of a rapidly decreasing supply of quiet days together while Audrey is in school. We revisited a few out-of-the-way parks, met friends to play, and went to story time at the library. We were home sometimes, too, doing housework together, enjoying a good PB&J with pickles and carrots on the side, or riding her bike around the block, and going to our community garden every other day. We love Audrey, but we also like our little routine after the rush of getting her off to school and before the rough transition we make when she returns. Every day Audrey comes home from school sweaty, dirty, starving, and grouchy and then has to do homework, which puts her in an even better mood, and who can blame her, but it's murder until she gets a snack, works the playground angst out of her system and rejoins the family.










Audrey ran and jumped in the West Torrance High track meet again and won second place in the long jump and third in the 50 yard dash for her age group. She wanted to be first and we could not convince her that second and third are GOOD, so she pouted quite a bit. We were intensely proud (of her speed and jumping skills, not the pouting) and had visions of being the parents of an Olympian, but then calmed down and took her out to lunch to celebrate. We had another opportunity to be really proud of Audrey this month: she is reading chapter books and actually did that thing where you walk around reading because you can't stop. I remember learning to love reading and watching her do the same thing is a joy. Audrey brought home a beetle in May and is conscientiously helping to take care of it. Her name is "wormy" and she has a 90-day lifespan, so we have to cherish every moment.










We spent Memorial Day in Hemet with my parents. My dad served hot homemade bread with butter and jelly every night around 8 pm, and we all stuffed ourselves sleepy. Mark and my dad put the gutters up around their new roof - good job, men. Mark and I took the girls on a little hike up a stream in the San Bernardino National Forest. My parents' pool was pretty cold, but they fired up the jacuzzi and we got raisin fingers. We also spent a day at Soak City in Palm Springs - 90 degrees and a great time until we hit traffic and took 4 plus hours to get home. It did give us the chance (desperate measures potty break) to visit the dinosaurs - I haven't seen them for years and years.














It was a good month.