The Parkinson Pencil: Summer Storms

Last night around midnight there was a giant thunderstorm RIGHT OVER our house. I could've sworn lightening struck us, or somewhere very close by. The rain was so hard, the window in our bathroom started leaking! The most amazing thing was that somehow McKindrey slept through the teeth rattling clashes of thunder. I was so worried about her waking up terrified, but she slept peacefully through the whole thing. Huh.

I love evening thunder storms in New Mexico. The smell in the air and the refreshment of the breeze, clouds, and rain are the perfect combination. We have had some really hot days lately, and with no A/C, there's nothing like a rain storm to cool everything off. David and I enjoy watching the lightening together, too. Today David and I are going for a bike ride! Earlier in the summer I got a new (used) road bike, and David recently got new tires for his. We want to take them for a whirl! We are also hoping to go swimming with McKindrey this afternoon.

We have finally finished all our travels for the summer. We went on a grand total of four vacations, including three family reunions and one wedding: Cancun, Las Cruces, Zion National Park, and Silver City. For the fourth of July, McKindrey got to be in the community children's parade put on by our church. We also enjoyed relaxing and barbecuing at the Parkinson's house. Then we watched the fireworks from our roof! It was GREAT.

Now that we are home for the rest of the summer, we are doing yard work like crazy. We finished removing some giant junipers from the front of our house, and now David and Scott are working on extending the back porch roof. We have many more projects planned, we will have to see if we finish our goal of fixing up the front yard (we decided tha back yard will have to wait until next year).

One thing in our backyard we have really been enjoying is David's hammock from Brazil. We found the perfect place to hang it under some great tree shade. McKindrey loves to swing in it, too.

Two interesting facts about us: David is secretly (or not too secretly) a total nerd. He is currently watching a documentary on Denali National Park in Alaska, and I keep hearing remarks like "Whoa, cool!" and "No way!" Ice worms and moose are crazy interesting. I am also secretly a total nerd. I decided that for a whole month, I am only going to listen to classical music (within reason-- I can't control what they play over the loud speaker at Smith's). It's kind of an experiment to see if I come to like classical better, and to see if I feel better in general, and to see if McKindrey likes it :)

Enjoy some pictures!