Summer, or the lack thereof

While I have been racking my brain for indoor activities to keep my little one's mind and body occupied this past week and a half (of rain, rain, rain), she has effortlessly found her own amusements. Rowing her boat with Lambie and Monkey. A smiley face stamp makes a great oar.

Practicing her ballet positions.

My personal favorite - making play dough people. This one appears to be directing traffic.

Meanwhile, my husband and I have started the process of making room for Baby. There is plenty of room in our house for four people, but, as usually happens, stuff has grown to fill the space. We just have to get rid of some stuff. This is usually a pretty fun task. Who doesn't have extra stuff? Toys, books, clothes, gadgets, furniture, linens, dishes - all are being examined with a critical eye. Is it beautiful, useful, or loved? No? Out with it! My baby sister is about to move into her very first apartment, so hopefully she'll be able to put some of these items to good use as she sets up house for the first time.

It's not all work around here, though. I'm choosing to trust the calendar over the weather, and thus I believe that summer is mere days away. (This is a real exercise in faith, since it is after noon and currently 54 degrees outside. It's 90 degrees in my hometown in Illinois right now.) We're planning weekends away and days at the beach, we've booked barbecues and jam canning days (will there be berries???), and I've picked up a few summer reads: Jack and Jill by L.M. Alcott (one of my favorite childhood books, as all her children's books were); Mr. Darcy's Daughters by Elizabeth Aston; and Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder (this one was recommended to me by my dentist, of all people). I will proceed with summer-like behavior, despite the weather. So we'll probably end up wearing sweaters and boots to the beach instead of bathing suits and flip-flops, and we're more likely to come home with frostbite than suntans. I will not be shunned by summer.