I'm not giving up on summer

Never mind that it's rained 3 inches in the last 3 days and I've worn my rain boots more in September than I did in February. Speaking of rain boots, I highly, highly recommend these wellies from LL Bean. Excellent quality and comfort for a reasonable price if you wear rain boots as much as I do.Which is too much, by the way.

But back to summer! I just don't want to say goodbye this year. Usually I look forward to apples and pumpkins, leaves and cooler nights, but not this year. Lucky for me we're headed to California for a trip to Disneyland on Saturday. A week of sunshine and 80 degree weather might be just what I need to keep summer going. When we get back it will be October 12th, so I think I can embrace fall then.

I do feel slightly guilty about taking my kids out of school for 4 days (the 5th day is a furlough day and we don't have school) since I complain about the short school year here all the time. But we've been wanting to take the kids for a while now, and I don't want to go when it's crowded. Kyle bought tickets in April and I haven't really thought much about it. Usually I'm excited for trips for weeks, and now we're just 5 days away and I'm just starting to prepare.

The thing I'm most looking forward to about this trip, besides the sunshine, is being with my family, just the 6 of us. Our two trips this summer we got to see almost every member of our extended families, which was great, but we haven't spend time together on vacation for a long time. It will be good to be able to listen to the kids and enjoy being with them. I'm determined to get Kara swimming and show Jillian and Hayden I can be fun and relaxed.

As a bonus, we're going to see two families from our Michigan days while we are there. Can't wait to catch up! We might also see my niece and her husband. It's going to be a great trip!