Spring Summer Has Sprung

Well, hi there, beautiful.

We've been laying (lying? I will ponder this.) low and off the grid for a little while due to a wonderful foray to Michigan for spring break at The Professor's parents' house. I've said it before and I'll say it again: the academic calender is a wonderful thing.

For some reason we always head north for spring break every mid-March, and while we wouldn't have our visit any other way, I always observe that really, as far as a mid-winter break in the Midwest goes, we are heading in the wrong direction. This year the universe listened and summer sucker-punched winter in the face and I suddenly found myself scratching the bottom of the suitcases looking for something, anything appropriate for all of us to wear in temperatures kissing 80 degrees. (For comparison: one spring break we visited Traverse City and I, Kansas City girl that I am, was amazed to see ice on Lake Michigan.) In Michigan, mind you, the seasons are typically 2-3 weeks behind our own, so imagine our consternation when we pulled up to our house at the end of the week only to discover that everything was blooming, it was too late to cut anything back, and spring had caught us with our figurative pants around our figurative ankles.

Yesterday I ran to Target to scrounge up some flip-flops for the kids (since, you know, I have no summer clothing for them, as usually I can worry about wardrobe changes in May) and was mildly amused to find that everyone else in the community had had the same idea and picked the sandal section bare. Today for church I squeezed the twins into some 4T clothing from last summer (their clothing looks like it's been painted on) and their sister is wearing their train-oriented play clothes outside.

It has been a truly bizarre last few days.

This week we're gearing up for the big boys' fifth birthday party. Wow, five. I don't even want to ponder that number. In typical Case fashion, the "party" is really just dinner with cupcakes and a few presents. I figure they'll start school next year and get exposed to real birthday parties and suddenly their demands will be many and complicated, so why kill myself now when cupcakes and Anakin Skywalker napkins are all they need for a good time? I'm all about the easy.

I'm off to drag my sweaty, dirty kids in for a rest. Please note: sweaty, dirty summer boy body may not be the most appealing odor, but red-headed sun smell certainly is.