Summer! (Babble)

We seem to have skipped spring entirely here in Milwaukee, which is a shame because my favorite temperatures are the upper 60’s and lower 70’s and I think we got about two days of those.  We still haven’t put away our winter coats because that will jinx everything, but I am so excited that it’s not 40 degrees and I’m not hearing about frost warnings upstate that I don’t even care that we jumped straight to the 80’s.  We’re sweaty but happier.

So what does summer mean here?  Well, even though Leon’s is open and busy year round, summer is really the right season for frozen custard.

There’s a lot of good frozen custard around here, but Leon’s is our favorite.  We stopped there the other night after Mona’s traumatic day of getting blood drawn and that improved her mood.  It’s a drive-up, and there is no place to sit, so you end up eating in your car but that’s okay.  Leon’s has never screwed up our order despite the fact that it’s full of overly specific kid requests (one chocolate in a cup with chocolate sauce and lots of cherries, one cup with chocolate on the bottom and vanilla on top with caramel sauce and lots of cherries…. etc.).  Leon’s has never disappointed us.

This summer we are finally attempting to do something with the backyard.  Last year I was too busy trying to organize everything on the inside of the house after the move and before Ian came home from Iraq.  We had the new garage built and painted our ‘Welcome Home’ mural on it, but beyond setting up the play structure in our new space the backyard was fairly neglected.

But this year we are going to use it!  We lay down new sod where there used to be little rocks (the rocks looked pretty but were hard on small unshod feet), we finished moving a bunch of big rocks and logs that just got piled up last year, and we are awaiting the arrival of our new trampoline that I found on sale.

There is this spot in our yard that once upon a time held a hot tub:

But we are not hot tub people.  When I get in the one at the Y I always feel like I’m in a stew pot waiting for someone to add carrots.

Last summer we had the sandbox on that octagon, but we’ve moved it to a shadier spot on a different part of the deck where it works better.  We’re going to try the trampoline up there instead and see how that goes.  It’s at least an interesting way to see over the fence.

Tonight was so pleasant that we ate outside.  We’re still in the market for a decent table for the deck, but no matter:

I’m not sure why Quinn thought it would be a good idea to eat on the slide, but he sort of managed.  He slid down twice but didn’t lose his pineapple pizza.

We still have almost two more weeks of school to go, but we’re looking forward to free concerts in the park and parades and fireworks every weekend and ice cream trucks.  Our lives are like night and day compared to last year at this time.  A two month wait to have Ian home again seemed interminable, and there was so much more tension.  I’m looking forward to our first summer in this new house together as a complete family.  I think we’re off to a great start.