Catapulted into summer

I know I’ve been a little repetitive in the fact that we are having unseasonably nice weather. It just cements in my mind that when Little S was born, the earth shifted on it’s axis.

Case in point-a week after her birth, the rainy and cool spring weather gave way to crazy 95 degree heat! Then, her whole first summer, it barely got up to 90 most days, and stayed cooler and rainier than normal (which I loved). We had more thunderstorms than normal the summer she was born, her first winter was marked with lots of snow that stuck around; again, not typical for Portland. Now, to mark her first year on this earth, spring completely got lost in the mix and we’ve plunged headlong into summer with 80 degree days and endless sunshine. Normal for this time of year? Cloudy, rainy and maybe 70 degrees on a good day. That’s pretty much the weather until the 4th of July. THEN, it gets like this.

Which, is a very long explanation of why I haven’t been sitting at a computer. The garden has been calling, and I’m actually having to water the delicate little plant starts every night. I don’t normally haul out the hose until late July. I’m dreading our next water bill already!  The upside is that I actually have a lot of things planted in a timely manner. Don’t quite have all the tomatoes and peppers in the ground yet, but, the weather is giving me a sense of urgency to get on it!

Here’s what we’ve been up to in these parts when we aren’t gardening:

Little S and I paired up with friend Deb and her daughter, Little E for a 30 mile bike ride! Fortunately, Deb has a bike trailer and is a strong cyclist, so we put both girls in the trailer and away we rode. My first real ride in almost two years. The bumping of the trailer provided a good rhythm for a nap. Little S slumped to the side with her head on Little E’s lap, Little E folded over top of Little S. You’ll have to take my word for how cute it was; neither Deb or I had a camera.

However, we’re starting Little S off learning about bike safety, and she got her very first bike helmet for our ride. Here she is getting used to her helmet and practicing tricycle safety

And-learning to leave her helmet on

 

We followed that fun adventure with a visit from Grammie and Grampie K. While they were here for Memorial Day, we went to the Multnomah County Fair. Little S met some real live animals.

The music pavilion featured a Mexican band, and from the first strains of the music, Little S started dancing! We stopped and listened to a few songs, and she just wiggled with glee. We’ve started listening to a Spanish radio station at home so she can find more fun music to bop to. After all that dancing and exploring on a warm day, we topped it off with a shared ice cream cone from the Oregon Dairy Women.

Little S loves ice cream as much as her mom does!

The fun just kept on coming with a visit to the Children’s Museum. It was much more fun than her first visit a few months ago. She’s just growing and developing so fast that a few months made a huge difference in her ability to interact with the exhibits.

She loved the little tidepool and splashing in it

Her and a new friend were being quite the percussionists

She spent lots of time climbing up and sliding down with her new playmates

 

She spent an hour and a half just playing and interacting with other kids her size. She had such a great time, we know that we will definitely be going back there again. Somebody slept REALLY well that night!

Today, I was working and I heard a rustle and looked up to see this

 

(look closely-not at the cat)

 

 

 

 

Followed in short order by this

After I finished laughing, I realized how tall she is getting to be in order to see over the dining room table when she stands up. She also spent most of the day on her feet, and is really enjoying when we help her walk by holding her hands. Her little doe-legs are still too wobbly to support her weight unaided, but, I’m afraid the end is near. I better go buy a new pair of running shoes to keep up with her.