Blame it on the Sun

We have been here for 51 days so far and it has rained on only 8 of those days.  Well, 4 of those days were just sprinkles and the other 4 qualify as real rain.  To say it is dry would be an understatement.  I don't remember a drier summer in a very long time.  Along with the sun comes the uncontrollable urge to seize the day and be outside which is not conducive to blog posting, sorry.  Blame it on the sun.  We need a rainy day just to catch up on our lives.  Kind of like a forced "time out".  So, you guessed it, it is raining today!  Our dry sunburned skin is thanking us for the break.  Sometimes you just need a rainy day.  I hope I am not regretting this post in a week when we have been cooped up inside because of all the rain.  Sometimes it goes that way, you know?!

First candle sunset I've seen, it was very cool!

Life has been very busy since the last post.  It's just that time of the summer.  Lots of cousins at the shore to play with and visit, The Games weekend and all of my children and their children and spouses have been here.  I have been hard pressed to pay attention to everyone here at the shore much less sit for a while and create a blog post with coherent thoughts.  Happens every summer!  We live for this one week and when it gets here we wish we could add a few hours to every day and have super human powers that allow us to do everything our heart desires in those hours.

My intention was to post pictures of the past week but due to technical difficulties my SD card is currently at the photo shop hopefully having all the pictures recovered.  Those precious moments have all been mysteriously erased from the card!  No pictures of the entire family in front of the farmhouse, the grandsons playing on the beach, the sandcastle contest, Daniel winning his "first medal ever"!, lobster dinner, and all that sunshine!  I sure hope they can work a small miracle and recover the pictures.  Technology....

One thought that crossed my tired mind the other day, while I was wondering why I was so tired was....doing stuff up here seems to take two or three extra steps.  Example:  laundry.  To do a load of laundry I first go upstairs and gather the laundry in the basket, then go into the basement where the washing machine is and load it and come back upstairs to wait and get a few other things done.  Once the clothes are washed it is another trip to the basement to put some of the clothes in the dryer and then take the rest up and hang them on the clothesline.  After they are dry it is back down the steps into the basement to get them out of the dryer, get the ones off the line, fold everything and then upstairs to put them away. That is about seven or eight sets of stairs just for laundry.  Don't even talk to me about mowing the grass.  How many calories do you burn doing laundry?  Is it worth a glass or two of wine?  How about an ice cream?  Surely the extra steps are helping me break even on the butter consumption.  No? 

Since we have so much time on our hands (I crack myself up!) we decided to build a gigantic deck at the cottage this year.  TJ has ambitious goals and has been known to overestimate his family's building dedication and capabilities a time or two.  "We can knock this thing out in a day or two", he said....a week ago.  He forgot to factor the labor force he was dealing with when he made this proclamation.    We are nearing completion or at least partial completion but it wasn't easy!
Deck building 101

What we have been doing instead of sitting on the beach and visiting, at least one of us is smiling....

If you build it they will come!  Especially if you have chips!

Things are getting a little quieter lately as people head back to real life.  I don't feel like I have been fully engaged in the shore life this summer, I am usually much more socially "out there".  Not sure why this has happened, but some of it may be because there are a few of my favorite hanging out buddies/sisters who were not here this year, it just does not feel the same without the usual suspects.  Not to discount the crowd that was here at all!  There were some good times!  Who does not love a good disco party?!

One of the "best costume" winners!  Stayin' Alive!

I am sure the next post will be full of inspiration and great recovered pictures.  Right now though, I need to go down to the basement to put the clothes in the dryer!  Later!