Summer, where are you?

We actually managed two more days of summer this past week.  Which makes the grand total somewhere in the six-seven day range.  It's pretty much been poopy in WA so far and it's a huge bummer.  I was looking forward to getting out more with Jude and spending more time at the pool.  We've been able to go swimming once, that's it.  Super bummer.

Saturday we visited with my brother and his family.  The only downside to the whole trip was the hours upon hours spent in the car with my mother.  I love the lady dearly, but being stuck in a small car with her from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. was more than even I could handle.  It's like having the subtitles on, or a sports commentator in the car.  "Did you see that house?"  "Look at that car!"  "What kind of flower do you think that is?" along with an endless tirade of statements of the obvious and non-sequiturs that leave you questioning your own sanity.  Not road trip material.

Despite that it was good seeing my brother, seeing them all.  There's a hint of sadness there still, but I was really glad to see how well they're all coping with their recent tragedy.  I needed to see for myself that they are ok (and just ok, I don't expect the grief to leave for some time yet, if ever).

The other upside was getting to take Jude on a ferry.  He thought that was pretty cool.  And watching him play with his cousin Piper.  Jude seems to prefer interacting with girls as a whole.  They're less aggressive by nature so there's less conflict for Jude.

 

 Luckily we have vacation coming up, which means OR, which means a way better chance of getting some SUN.  We cherish it here since we only get a couple of months of it and this year has been a bit on the depressing side.  Jude keeps asking to go swimming and I feel bad that we haven't had many opportunities to take him.  He had such a blast the last time I took him down.