Weather Forecast

Yesterday was a perfect summer day, sunny and warm, but not too hot. It was the kind of day made for sitting by a pool, watching the boys go crazy. Unfortunately, yesterday was my "try-tackle-the-hideous-mess-my-house-has-become" day, and I did not take the boys to a local wading pool.  As they were ramping up for some serious out of control behavior, I realized my Tuesday was wide open. I had plans that were cancelled, so I was looking at a whole day with no obligations.  Perfect, I thought, I will take the boys swimming!

Finn saying "No Thanks" to getting wet

I spent the afternoon researching various wading pools in our area, the boys suggested maybe even going to swim at a local beach, or maybe even a combination of both. Taking a break from my research, I checked Facebook, only to see a friend post a picture of a new splash-park just north of us. The caption on the picture was: "Our new favorite place!". The place looked amazing, the girl looked like she was having a blast, and I knew that was where I wanted to go.

This morning I got up, walked Elsie, packed a picnic feast, packed a bag of swim clothes, towels and sunscreen; and was out of the house by 10:30. I even called a few friends to see if anyone could join us. I figured since Finn is touch and go on the naps, I would just skip it today and plan to spend the whole day (or as long as I could take it) at the park.

What I didn't account for was the weather. Even thought yesterday's forecast showed sun, today was gray and overcast. Not to worry, I told myself, the clouds would burn off. As I was leaving I checked once again, and saw that thunder showers were now being predicted. What? What happened to sunny and 70, baby?  But still I pushed on, I still felt that today was going to turn into one of those glorious sunny afternoons that make you wish you were at a park somewhere, under a big shady tree, watching your kids play in the water.

Trying the water again

Instead, we sat outside for over 3 hours because I was sure the moment I left it would become sunny. We watched the park empty until just a few families remained. We ate our lunch, played on the playground, and even tried getting wet a few times.  At first, only Jack was brave enough to actually stay in the water playing. Micah only lasted a few minutes, and Finn wisely choose to keep his clothes on.

We sat through overcast skies that never quite burned off, we sat through some small rain showers, we sat through the ice cream truck coming three times, we sat until we ate all the food and my phone battery died.  Then we called it a day and packed it up.

We never did have a warm sunny day, but the boys still had fun. As we were leaving (carrying our garbage home to compost, FYI) Finn said this was the best day ever.  As with so many things, it wasn't what I planned or was thinking it would be, but the boys had fun and that is all that matters. In a season of life where I constantly feel like I am failing them, it was nice to take the time to do something just for them.