Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it. ~Russel Baker

It was 550 103 degrees today. We should have been miserable. But we weren't. The kids are attending a VBS this week and are loving it. While they have been there and Clay has been taking his morning nap, I have been doing things that need to be done, surrounded by blissful quietness and solitude. It has been wonderful. Our routine has been to leave VBS and head straight to the pool, where we've had a nice little picnic lunch and then laughed in the face of the rule that says you have to wait two hours after eating before swimming. There has been much splashing, frolicking, laughing, diving, dunking, and playing. I do believe our kids would never, ever leave that pool if we didn't force them to. Even with sunburned cheeks and wrinkly hands and feet, they moan when I tell them it's time to get out and act like all the injustice in the world has fallen upon them, because 5 hours in the pool just isn't enough for one day. And then they are starving, even though they have been eating snacks all afternoon. But, summer suppers insist on being easy and low-maintenance, so the kids don't have to wait long to fill their bellies. And during dinner, or after, we turn on Planet Earth. And, we have dessert. And, the kids go to bed early and without much of a fight, because they are completely and delightedly exhausted by this summertime routine. And, then Jeff and I can enjoy each other's company in the resounding absolute quiet. Ah, summer! Though you endeavor to make us miserable with your ridiculous temperatures, you do not succeed! For there is so much more to a summer day than the triple-digit number glaring at me from my dashboard.