Not Yet

 Lake Minnetonka

Well we held onto summer last weekend with our fists clenched tightly around her sunshiny, carefree days.  We did I tell you.  Friday brought with it the relief that it always does.  A big sigh.  Another week conquered.  The eldest Things were in their jammies promptly at 4pm, with no intentions of big plans.  Their high livin' Friday night included some of their favorite TV episodes, popcorn and snuggles.  Sounds sublime.  Thing 3 was off with a friend for a night away at our church's retreat center and Thing 4 headed to footie training with his mates.  Husband Jared and I had a spontaneous dinner date with some friends and it was one of those nights that you just feel good about. 
Joyful if I dare.  And I do.  Do I ever! 

 

Saturday was an early morning, much to our dismay.  With the school year having started and the alarm ringing all too soon we do like slow mornings.  That's alright though we had Thing 4's soccer match in St. Paul and that meant we were on the road by 7:15am.  Needless to say Thing 4 was asleep in the back seat before we were even on the highway.  Their team won and to my surprise we had a pocket of unaccounted time in our afternoon.  Being that we were so close to the farmer's market, how could we not stop?  My sentiments exactly.  We walked straight to our favorite stand, piled high the produce and walked away with a bushel of tomatoes to boot.  I got a wild hair to can tomato sauce.  Man do I love that place.  All the farmers with their produce spread on tables, customer banter, bushels and baskets of berries and tomatoes, cucs and sweet corn.  The best of the summer.  Once again, we held tightly.  Food of summer is the best.  Melon salads, sweet cilantro, corn roasted on the grill, blueberry crisp.  I could go on and on and on some more.  But I won't.  I'll stop right there so I can finish telling you about our Saturday and another attempt to not let summer go. 

Tomatoes from the market that were roasted and then canned for tomato sauce
 

On the summer list this year was windsurfing.  All four Things took classes in Turkey and became licensed windsurfers.  Thus ensuring that they could windsurf wherever they were in the world and not have to take another lesson.  So they were all about it when they first saw windsurfers on the lakes up here.  Then they saw paddle boards.  Being that they had never before tried that I coaxed them into adding that to our summer list this year.  When I was given the go ahead I made reservations and there we were.  Lake Minnetonka was all ours.  Not really, we had to share it with many a sail boats, tour boat and kayaks too.  That's alright, with no other instruction than bend your legs slightly and hold the paddle this way, Things 1, 2 and 4 were off.  Thing 3 missed out on this adventure.  Husband Jared and I watched from the shore, trying to coach them.  Paddle harder.  Move your arms faster.  As if we were some sort of experts.  I was hoping I would somehow be able to finagle a turn on the board but I was just as happy sitting back and watching the three of them navigate this new experience together.  They got it!  More quickly than I thought too.  There they were out in the open water, rocking on the waves, trying not to lose balance and shouting at us about how hard it really is.  Fantastic!

Thing 4

 Thing 1

Thing 2

And here we are, watching from the shore, soaking in the sun.

 

That was a good place to be.  Until Thing 1 came close and said she was done.  To her credit she lasted for a while out there.  Her knee was bothering her and she said it felt as though she had just done an hours worth of PT.  Understood.  I pushed my nervousness to the side and gracefully climbed aboard.  Oh, who are we kidding, there isn't an ounce of gracefulness in me.  I practically fell off in front of a crowd of people before I even left the dock.  No doubt I provided some entertainment for all those watching.  Anyhow, I made my way out to the other Things who were kindly waiting for me and off we went.  Hitting the choppy waters head on, or nose on, whatever it's called.  We raced from one side of the marina to the other and maneuvered around boats trying to get into the dock and sailboats that were anchored.  It was fun and quite the workout.  So much so that when our time was up the Things and I declared it ice cream time.  We couldn't pass up an opportunity to visit Licks.  And we didn't.  Drippy ice cream cones brought just the relief we needed on this hot afternoon.  They also helped buy us some time to browse the street fair and listen to some music on Excelsior St.  A dreamy afternoon.

 

The wonderful weekend didn't end there.  Sunday was still in front of us and when Saturday ended with a late dinner of grilled shrimp quesadillas and sweet corn I wasn't sure I was ready for more.  Then I woke Sunday and remembered it was family fun festival at our church and even better our friends were coming for a visit.  Sweet!  Husband Jared and Thing 2 had early morning runs, we worshipped together and played together at the festival.  We watched the kiddos run from bounce house to bounce house to the ponies and then do it all over again.  The littles tagging along with the bigs.  Their tummies were rumbly after all that excitement and the whole lot of us, thirteen to be exact, ate lunch, watched some football and played some more.  Just the cherry on top for this already full to the brim weekend. 

 

So please summer don't leave us, we really do fancy you.  All your long wistful days and dreamy nights.  Don't go.  Not yet. 

Thing 2 with Jada and Kolbe