Things I Love and Don't about Summer

Things I Love

• Longer days
• Heat during the day and cool refreshing breezes at night (not humid here in CO you guys...perfect)
• Thunderstorms
• Fresh air and open windows - the sound of crickets and my wind chimes when I'm falling asleep
• The smells of flowers, plants and barbecues in the air
• Digging in the dirt, planting flowers, and watching them grow
  
• Hanging out with neighbors outside
• Kids outside most of the day and constantly busy playing
  
• Popsicles and ice cream
• Plenty of Vitamin D
• Staying up later, sleeping later
• Not having to worry about the kids' school
• Summer trips
• Birds - like the Tree Swallows nesting in my bird house, the Goldfinches that come and go and the Pinyon Jay I saw this morning
  
• Fun insects - like lady bugs, cool non-threatening spiders, butterflies, dragonflies...

Things I Don't

• Too hot to play outside or to leave the windows open. And - the air conditioner cranking way up in the evening when I don't want to be cooled off anymore. Dumb.
  
• Buying, thinking about and applying sunscreen.
• Bees. Especially the huge swarm that's moved into a crevice in my deck right outside my back door.
• Lack of schedule or structure because there's no school
• Packing for and cleaning up after summer trips
• Not so fun insects - like bees, yucky spiders, earwigs and slugs
• Kids super dirty every single night when it's time for bed
• Going to the pool
• Honey doesn't get a summer break from work
• Doggy allergies - I mean, the allergic reactions my dogs suffer from various unknowns outside - fine one minute, covered in big itchy bumps the next. OR, my poor little dog that's limping right now because her foot got stung by one of those stinkin' bees