Summering…

I have made a decision.  Instead of saying that I am living in a townhome waiting and wondering which home we will eventually purchase, I am going to say, “We are summering in a townhome near the lake.”  Doesn’t that sound so much better?

Although I am not entirely sure if one could call it summering, as I believe it may be required that you have another permanent home to technically be “summering” somewhere else.  Although according to Webster, summering is an intransitive verb which means, “to pass the summer.”  Now I am sounding like my favorite English Grammar blogger – which is odd because those of you who read me often will know I so do not write properly!  Although I did ponder majoring in English for a few weeks in college after a suggestion from an English professor.  Does that count for something?

Anyway, my point is the perspective.  Summering sounds so much better than temporary housing and since I am right on the money for the timing, I am going for it.  This is also making the transition for the children easier.  We have spent many vacations up in Yellowstone at my Uncle’s cabin and we always spend the first few days getting settled and then we spend our time relaxing, enjoying, and discovering.  So as we unpacked and settled into our townhome, Troy and I explained that we would be doing something similar here – except dad still goes to work everyday and eventually we will live permanently close to our current location.  This summer is all about discovering the neat things about this area and making memories.  It was a wonderful relief to see the kids excited about our plans…

Yesterday morning I took my two oldest kids for a walk/hike above a nearby housing development.  We left before sunrise and walked all the way to the top where we continued on a gravel road.  I was thinking exercise so I didn’t bring my camera and I was almost unprepared for this beautiful site…

I was glad I had brought my iPhone for music as I was able to capture the moment…  It was also fun to watch two non-morning adolescents who grumbled the whole way up the hill emerge from this experience with a new perspective and better attitudes…of course they went back to sleep after we got home .

Remember this post?  I am thinking our new town is the place for swallowtail butterflies as the children discovered this in the garden this morning (it was injured and close to dying):

And then today on the way to the grocery store we see three antelope in a farmer’s front yard…I don’t have a photo, as I was trying to drive safely, but this photo is pretty close to what we saw, minus the male on the left:

It isn’t Yellowstone,  but I am thinking that our summering adventures this year will be something the kids will remember for a long time…