One of my best memories of rain was when we lived in Philly and the kids were really little. Tukey was still in diapers and probably just walking. Mr. Manic was on his way home from work and I had probably spent the whole day dealing with a 5-year-old, a 3-year-old and 1-year-old. It started to rain, the good kind of rain that's not filled with thunder and lightning, the kind of rain where it's warm and safe to play in.
We had an awesome front porch, I had an awesome bottle of wine, and three riled-up kids. "Let's go outside and play in the rain and wait for Daddy to get home," I said.
I let them go play on the driveway in their clothes, with some umbrellas they soon abandoned, along with some clothes they soon abandoned. Daddy got home, joined me on the porch and we watched our little munchkins play on the drive in the rain. I have video of that day, but the memories that play in my head are just as great. I can remember exactly what little dress Diva was wearing, and I know for a fact that I let Tukey run around in just his diaper. What was I thinking? I was thinking they were my little babies and they were having the time of their little lives!
When I woke up this morning to rain, I had this really nostalgic feeling. We never get rain here. But we love when it does rain because it's so unusual for us. A special treat. It's almost like getting a snow day. When it does rain, the kids and I will go stand outside and put our faces up to the sky and feel what it's like to have the water wash down on our faces. It just feels like a different sensation. Like new. Like something we never experienced before. Even though when we lived anywhere else it always rained.
The first year we lived here in Arizona, it rained maybe six times. We craved rain. It's just a nice surprise when it does happen, like snow. And today's rain brought about cold temperatures for us. I think it's colder today here than in Chicago, high 40s. Diva came downstairs in shorts and I said, "You'll need long pants today." She shrugged like maybe I was kidding. I told her to go outside for a second. She did, then came back in and went to put on jeans. The boys, they still have not worn long pants since we've lived here. I think they will never wear long pants again.
I even offered to drive the older kids to school this morning. Ajers laughed at me. He said, "We lived in Chicago where the temperatures were below 30 sometimes and the snowstorms were out of control and you never drove us to school, and because of a little rain you want to drive us?" Heck, though, these people don't know how to drive when it's raining here! Still, they opted to take the bus today!
The best thing about the rain here in Arizona is that when it is warm out, the rain brings about awesome lightning storms that are just beautiful. They light up the sky and I wish then that I was a photographer and I could capture those moments on film. And anytime it does rain it brings back those memories when my kids were little and they'd play outside in rainstorms.
Do you have fun memories of when you were a child playing in the rain or snow even? Do you let your kids play in the rain? Share your stories on Fresh Takes sponsored by Subway and you can win a $50 gift card and be featured on their website.
Seriously, it is storming outside right now like I've never seen it in Scottsdale - I'm thinking about snuggling under the covers and taking a snooze - that's another thing I love to do during rainstorms!
Then later this week--book announcements for winners!!!!!
My blog is a part of an incentivized online influencer network for Fresh Takes on Family Time Powered by Subway.
5 comments:
I don't have any good stories about kids playing in the rain but I remember in college when it was raining it was my favorite time to go out for a run. I know it sounds odd but I tend to get overheated really easily and when it was raining out I stayed cooler and it was just a refreshing feeling. I also cannot imagine not having rain for months. Crazy!
I used to love puddle jumping in the warm rain when I was a little girl. Now, I love curling up under the covers and listening to the thunder and rain while the lightening lights up the bedroom at night. I live in a rural area where to power goes out A LOT so you would think I would hate storms but I just love them. We've had a very wet year so I can't believe I'm saying this, but I wouldn't want to live somewhere it didn't rain much.
I know we don't appreciate the snow here in Chicago until its gone. I remember playing in the snow with my older boys in the middle of the night. It was the kind of snow that when you looked up at the street lights it looked like you were in a snow globe, so cool!
I had a similar experience yesterday. We lived in Michigan for a year (which I absolutely hated) before we moved back to Texas. And, even though, I didn't like living in Michigan, I still made some really great friends there. So whenever the weather gets cold and gloomy here it makes me think about all the great people freezing their asses off in MI right now!! Haha, thanks for the giveaway. It's always fun, even if I don't win. You always have such great recommendations and it allows me to update my TBR list!
Thanks for ebeing able to express/ write what I could never write in my own words, reading them makes me smile and after loosing once again another friend way to early yesterday, it made me smile.. thanks for always making me smile.. :o)
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