Weekend Things ~ Beachy Saturday/Rainy Sunday

The boys and I had some business we needed to conduct at the Apple store, which necessitated a trip to the Portland Mall. The last thing I want to do on a sunny day is go to the mall, so to salvage the day, we made arrangements to meet up with some dear friends and spend time at the beach afterward.

But first, the mall. E and Z kept saying they'd never been to a mall before, which isn't quite true, but close enough to true. Which is more of a consequence of geography than personal philosophy. Although I can't say I feel like we're missing out on anything (and this from a suburban girl who practically grew up inside of malls).

After we took care of our device issues, I took M into a fancy store where he picked out a shirt and tie for eighth grade graduation. The pair cost more than I care to admit, but I reasoned that after 14 years of wearing mostly hand-me-downs from friends' kids, he'd earned a pricey shirt. And it was less than the fluorescent orange double-breasted suit he claimed to want would have cost.

 

We left the mall and headed to our friends' house and took a stroll downtown to buy a box of Holy Donuts and then beelined for the beach--utilizing the full 70s mode on my station wagon with seven of us piled inside and two kids the third seat in the "way back."

E was the only one brave enough to fully enter the frigid water.

Even he got too cold after a while and joined the other kids in constructing public works projects in a small stream.

After we got tired of being sandblasted by the wind, we took the kids back to my friend's house and then she and I went back out on the town on a bra-buying mission. At the bra store we learned that we have been putting our bras on wrong our whole lives. I also found that I've been way off in choosing a size. Which might explain why I can never find a bra that fits right. I still only found one that seemed to fit, and I'm not entirely happy with it, but at least I'll have a better idea of what to pay attention to when bra shopping in the future.

Sunday the rain came--a much needed rain after a dry spring. And a rain that I've been secretly wishing for--an excuse to stay inside and do some things that need to be done and some lazy, rainy day fun things, without feeling guilty about not going out to enjoy the sun (I did manage a few between-rain-shower walks outside and sent the kids out in the late afternoon when they were in full crazy mode).

E and Z made slime and rubber balls from last month's Tinker Crate, which we never got around to opening when it came (and now we have another one waiting in queue).

I also got a chance to complete a small sewing project--a pencil roll for my Master Naturalist Program mentor, for her to keep her nature journaling supplies in.

I didn't get everything I wanted to do done--reading, writing, taking a nap were all on the list but never crossed off--and at the end of the day, I said, "I want another day exactly like this one, with nowhere we need to go and nothing we need to do." To which C and M chuffed and mocked me for expressing a homebody sentiment when I always complain about what homebodies they are. But it's true...I would love another day in which to putz around at home. In fact, I'd love to have a lot of days like that, as long as they were interspersed with fun adventures to places like Portland and the beach.