Puddles & Sunshine

It rained in the wee hours of the morning today, and the amazing scent of it still lingered in the air at 8:30 when Miss Ella & I took Daddy to the clinic. That is one of my favorite things to smell in the morning. It always reminds me of summer camp. We often started the day in shorts and big fleece shirts or sweatshirts but had them off by 10am when the sun came out and the day began to get hot. That's exactly what happened today. A perfect camp morning. Too bad we weren't actually at camp.

Ella & I had a few errands to run, beginning at Target. The parking lot was fill of splash-perfect puddles, and Ella just happened to be wearing her rain boots, so we sought out every single one we could see for a good splash. It was hard to get the girlie in the store after that, but we managed.

Good thing we took to the puddles before doing our shopping. They were nearly gone by the time we came out an hour later. The sun was shining!

The first thing we did when we got home was eat Popsicles. I have a nice stash on hand at all times now. It is the one thing I crave multiple times a day. They melted quickly in the sunshine, but we did our best not to drip.

After our Popsicles, Ella ran countless laps up and down the front sidewalk before we pulled out the paints. We sat in the warm sunshine and painted a little gift for Grandma Olsen. After it dried, I wrapped it in tissue paper, and Ella chose the ribbon to complete the package. Then she held it for nearly two hours until Grandma, Grandpa, and Kristin arrived. The three of them have come for two days to spend time with Ella while I work on my research proposal for my grad thesis. Bless them. I don't know what I would have done without their help!

We were so happy to have temps that I think crept up over 70 today. It's not supposed to last, so it's a good thing we were outside for so long. I'm looking forward to more of this summery weather. It just takes a little while for it to settle over Duluth. 

And now I sit on the 4th floor of the UMD library. (This blog post is my study break.) I used to study here a lot as an undergrad. I plan to be here most of the day tomorrow, too. Hopefully I can wrap this thing up before the weekend. Then I'll be free! (well, until September, at least)