in summer!

Elsie is my lover of summer. This has become quite clear as she tells me often, "I like Christmas, but I don't like wintertime because it's cold and has snow." I get such a kick out of her ability to articulate this feeling so succinctly...and frequently. Also, asks often when it will be summer. On a few lovely days this spring she asked if it was summer but Rory would always tell her, "no, these are just great days in springtime." He feels strongly that we have to have some sort of spring and not let winter melt into summer.

But on Friday night Mimi called to see how Elsie was feeling after she had two nights with a fever. And while she was checking in we got to talking about Monday and our plans for Memorial Day. At some point while I was still on the phone with Mimi, I told Elsie she'd need to bring her swim suit on Monday. Elsie asked, "Because is it summer on Monday?!!" And I told her yes. Monday was going to definitely be summer. 

Elsie went completely bananas. She started dancing around and laughing. She ran to her room and found her swimsuit and told me to "pack it for Monday!" as I continued to make plans with Mimi. Then she picked out her tank top and shorts that she would wear and brought them in my bedroom too. And she proclaimed, "I am so happy that I am laughing and I might cry! Like you cried when you had me because you were so happy!" She was positively deliriously happy. Then Ivar came in the house and I heard her yell to him, "Ivar! It's summer on Monday! And we need to bring our swim suits to Mimi's!"  He came and showed me that he picked out shorts that matched Papa's fishing boat. And then he ran to the garage and found the beach toys and put them in the jeep. 

It was Friday night and we were all packed and ready to go. For Monday. When it would be Summer.

So it officially began. We grilled burgers and hot dogs, ate watermelon and ruffles, played in the sand, went for a boat ride, Ivar taught Uncle Kyle how to use his equaler (calculator), the baby rolled around on a quilt in the shade, and I read a Real Simple magazine outside while looking at the lake. This summer is off to a good start!