The first few years we lived here Portland was having a drought. When I say drought I don't mean a California drought-there was no water rationing, no band on sprinklers, no posters saying "If it is yellow it is mellow, if it is brown flush it down", and I am pretty sure the schools weren't having water conserving poster contests. (Why yes, I was raised in Cali in the 1980's.) Every time a news article would pop up about the NW being in a drought Joe and I would laugh. Not just a little laugh, I mean a full blown, what the hell are the talking about it is freaking raining right now, belly laugh. Yeah, we hoodwinked ourselves into thinking Portland has good weather-damn Portland drought.
The less than normal, actually pleasant living condition amount of rain ended right around the time Elle was born. And I got to say, I have no idea how people raise children long term up here. Every day is a rainy day activitIES-emphasis on the plural-kind of day. My friend Amanda, a self professed NW escapee, believes strongly that only convicted criminals should live up here. My sister calls it Purgatory-everyone waiting for the gray to be lifted and for the sun, the glorious sun, to shine down on to them.
I simply call it a terribly difficult place to raise kids, and today proved to me that I am correct. For HOURS on END Elle entertained her self in our backyard. There was no, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy" every few minutes. There was no giant kid messes in my house. There was no Pintresting activities, and then scurrying the house to make sure we had all the ingredients. Even Hannah, who is either sick or teething, spent some happy time just relishing in the warmth. Kids are meant to be outside. Kids are meant to shout, run, jump, and just play like the crazy animals that they are. At the end of the day both were exhausted from the exuberant sun and CRASHED.
(Less than two months before every day is more a sun day-a reminder that helps with the sadness of leaving behind so many beloved friends).
Loving the water table-although used rarely always a great thing to have around. (Poor Hannah was feeling miserable all day. On and off fever, lots of chewing, lots of screaming. I think it is probably teething...)
Oh the fun sunshine smiles. But doesn't it look Elle is hatching a plan of some sort in this one:
And she was...That blue bowl ended up doing this:
Doesn't Hannah look a tad disgruntled? Like I said she is sick/teething.
However, my guess for the face is that she is wearing:
Why? Well, Elle may of gotten her when going crazy with this:
And literally played FOR HOURS in the cold, cold water. Look at that lip shiver.
LOVE THIS! And I'm thinking we need a water table :)
ReplyDeleteWe moved to Portland during the drought too! And C and I did the same thing, wondering what these crazy people were talking about. One of the things I miss is the first few days of sunshine up there. It's like the whole city is manic, but in a fun way.
As a Californian myself, every Spring I find myself considering a move to AZ, TN or SC. Yet the thought of leaving my friends makes me ill. My dear local friends are why I put up with the many gray days here in Portland. Spring is the only time of year I get sick of the weather. We moved away from CA because of the concrete jungle and the many amounts of people. I do not miss that at all! And my boys will go out in the sun or gray to play. When I was a kid, during the Summer I spent my days in the pool in our backyard. I get sad to think my boys will not get to experience this. But when the sun is shining it's like I am a bird flying in the sky without a care in the world. My husband has the option of transferring to SC or AZ and I get excited and sick when I think about leaving. I do love Portland but I yearn for sun and a lot less mold. lol. But my dear friends are not replaceable. ok, my rain rant is done for now. As you can see I am torn.
ReplyDelete