May Gray and Memorial Day Weekend

We have been experiencing an unusually large amount of May Gray this year. Last weekend it was in the 90s-- between 85 and 89 degrees in our house most of the weekend (because we stubbornly refused to turn on the air conditioner and ratchet up our energy bill). This weekend our house has hovered at 69 degrees. A twenty degree difference. And my sinuses are angry about it.

Don't get me wrong-- it's not that the weather is too hot and then too cold -- that's not what my gripe is about. It's the hot then cold at all. Just pick something and stick with it for a while. But all this back and forth, back and forth. Well, it's enough to give me daily headaches and a dry throat. Of course, I'd prefer the warm weather. Especially on a three day weekend.

But despite the May Gray, we decided to head for Sea World yesterday morning. I didn't bother to make sure our annual passes were valid-- after all, we weren't going there on Memorial Day. Oops. It was a black out date. In quick maneuvering to quell the trembling lower lip emanating from the captain chair in the back seat of Jason's mini-van, we told the kids we'd just go to the aquarium instead. It's been over a year since we've been. It's a small facility, an off-shoot of USCD. And Jason absolutely loves salt-water aquariums. We used to have one in our living room. Until Casey was born.

So to the aquarium we went. It's not a great place to snap photos -- not in the indoor exhibits, anyway. But I did manage to capture one shoot of my boys:

And because we could see the beach from the aquarium tide pools and deck, Casey asked if we could go. We said we'd try-- but we weren't holding our breath. After all, it was Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, and the beaches tend to be packed. But we soon discovered that the rule about avoiding beach crowds on Memorial Day Weekend only applies if the weather is actually nice. We had no trouble finding a spot right along the sidewalk in the parking lot.

So we removed the kids' shoes, telling them they could walk in the sand. We weren't sure how Marcie would feel about it. The last time she was at the beach, she was only 15 months old, and she spent the entire time sitting on a blanket or being carried. It was, like yesterday, a very gray day. But it was in February, so at least that made sense. Anyway, turned out Marcie had no trouble getting her feet wet-- literally or figuratively. Here are some shots from the mid-day escapade:

And this last photo is one of my favorite because of the kids' expressions. Despite the lousy temperature (though, one bonus of that was that the water wasn't that cold in comparison to the air temperature), they really enjoyed themselves.

Fortunately, I had a towel and a change of clothes for each of the kids in the car. They fell asleep on the way home. As Jason carried Casey in and laid him in bed for his nap, Casey opened his droopy eyes just long enough to whisper: "I had so much fun today, Daddy. Thank you."