Memories, Rain or Shine

Since I'm not keen on taking pictures of the (or in the) rain, photos from the past two weeks haven't exactly been piling up.

But I do have a few. And I'm going to share them now, before another week goes by. And before Ohio breaks any new rain records. Oh wait--that already happened. Can you say rainiest April in northeast Ohio history?

That ought to teach me not to whine about the rain when April had only begun.  Because April tends to take things a wee bit personally. "Oooh. Them are fightin' words. You call that rain, Lady? I'll show you RAIN!"

Simmer down, April. Sheesh. We get it. You're in charge of showers. And you take your job VERY seriously. 



So, without further adieu, here are a few of the rare April moments we spent sans umbrellas.

Dani is into scaling walls lately.  It's a big help to me when this new passion can be practiced outdoors, as opposed to say, using her new lego table (thanks Grandma!) to climb to the top of her closet to pull down her "summer d'esses", the ones she's begs to wear Every. Single. Day.

 

And I just had to post this one, because how often does Ohio give us sunshine AND new friends?

Okay, this next picture might have been sans umbrellas, but the truth is, we probably could've used one. Notice the boots and winter coats for the easter egg hunt? Lovely.

The day after the Artic Egg Hunt on Swamp Lawn, the sun actually showed its face, in time for soccer! Dani still can't dribble without giggling. Which is totally fine. I heard Mia Hamm was the same way when she was four.

While his sister's team played, big brother waited on the sidelines and talked strategy with his teammates. Well, not strategy so much as science. I overheard him speculating about our planet's internal temp with a fellow six year old, "Do you know that scientists believe the earth's core is hotter than the sun?"

Good to know that if he can't bend it like Beckham, he's on track to make the high school Mathlete team.

Pig tails and freckled noses. Pause with me here for a moment while I melt into a pile of mush from all the cuteness.

Okay, so forgive me for being one of those parents. But I just have to tell you that when it was Caed's turn to play, he schooled the budding soccer players in more than science. The little guy tore it up out there. But so much more than the goals he scored (more than 15, but who's counting?), his great attitude and sportsmanship made me really proud.  Really, I'm not just saying that. Okay, so maybe his sportsmanship and burgeoning athletic ability were tied in the parental pride category. But can you blame me? One minute I think he's headed for Chess Club and Future Engineers of America, and the next I'm wondering whether he might be playing U14 Premiere at age 11. And you've gotta admit--soccer is way more fun to watch than chess.

 

Okay, my shallow gushing over sports was a bit embarrassing. But now that my secret is out--that I'm going to have to try ridiculously hard not to live vicariously and compete through my children--I can move on to less incriminating pictures, like these--of Easter at my sister's house.

 

 

 This last picture? It makes me a hundred kinds of happy. This is why I can forgive Ohio and April for raining on parades and egg hunts and just about everything that transpired in the last month, because they gave me this picture. Of family, together, and sweet memories, rain or shine.