Good Riddance, Summer!

Anyone who knows me, knows I HATE summer. Anyone who knows me knows I HATE the word "HATE," but there it is. I hate summer. I survive it, get through it, whine and belly-ache about it, and generally, loathe it. But...I do love celebrating it's end, even if it is a bit premature.

So yesterday we celebrated summer's demise by going to the local water park as a family. I wanted to take my camera to share the day with you, but, you know, it is a WATER park. I can tell you, it was a lot of fun! Our local water park has a mining theme so there were mountain slides, raft rides, covered wagon slides, floating barrels to walk across and dumping water buckets along the lazy river. What fun! We were there for a couple of hours when all of sudden the lifeguards blew their whistles and everyone exited the pools. I loved the announcement over the intercom that followed: "Due to circumstances beyond our control The Water Mine will be closed for the next hour and a half. We're sorry for this inconvenience." Yep, someone pooped in the pool. Lovely.

The Martens' gang sat there wondering whether to wait it out and pay the exorbitant pizza prices for a late lunch or call it a day and leave. After much deliberation, we decided we'd grab a cheaper lunch outside of the park and go shopping for soccer gear for the girls. (They begin their first venture into soccer on Wednesday!) The girls, like any children, were disappointed, but were spirited by the suggestion of a carousel ride in the park across the lawn from the water park. It was free; we loved that.

On leaving the water park, we were told that if we wanted to relinquish our armbands (so we couldn't return later in the day), they would give each of us a pass that would be good through the end of next June. That cracked me up, because the water park closes on Monday and they are only open on weekends between Memorial Day and the card's expiration date next summer. How many guests will actually be able to keep, let alone retrieve, their free passes in 10 months? Seemed to me like a pretty safe bet for the water park. Oh well. For us uber-organizers, retrieving those free passes in 10 months won't be a problem! Hopefully, the water temperature will cooperate. Knowing summer around here that won't be a problem either.

Good Riddance, Summer! You've had your fun! Now let's get on to cooler weather!

By the way, it's a high of 79 today and I've got the windows wide open - which hasn't happened for months around here. It's just a two-day teaser, thanks to the crazy weather over the Atlantic, but I'll take it! Is it time to bake a pie yet?