Storms

oh dear! I had a look at the BBC Weather page earlier on and it really is a pants summer in the UK this year, isn't it? I suppose it won't bless you all if I mention that E, M and I spent a happy morning at the beach - tho I now have very red shoulders. Am I the only Mum who can never be bothered to put cream on herself because by the time you have plastered it on all the kids and set up all the towels, snacks, drinks, etc in the shade, it's pretty much time to come home anyhow?? Today I was fooled into leaving the shade by the nice breeze and only put cream on myself once I started to feel the burn. Oops! Needless to say I now have terrible strap marks as the aforementioned boob tube languished in the beach bag..... The water in the lake was actually pleasantly warm today - to the extent that I was seriously considering taking a dip myself but then the water was closed and swimming suspended due to 'high surf'!!! This did make me laugh - it was hardly Waikiki -sized waves - but it was actually a relief as I get a bit nervous when my children are in the water. They are far more confident than me and I don't put much faith in my ability to rescue them if they did get into trouble.

Anyway, the high surf is obviously a hangover from the severe storms we had on Monday night. I have witnessed some pretty spectacular storms in Africa but the storms here are something else. I've been woken from a deep sleep several times by enormous claps of thunder that appear to shake the house. On this occasion, the storm was earlier inthe evening and while the children slept, we watched an incredible display of forked lightning out of the window. The wind was relatively calm here but downtown there were high winds, some pretty severe storm damage and the tornado sirens were wailing! Check out the photos here http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/weather/chi-storm-ugcpg,0,3524130.ugcphotogallery

With 2 1/2 weeks to go now, we are starting to think about packing up and winding down though we are all really looking forward to Rachel's visit next week. It will give us a great excuse to revisit some of the tourist attractions before we leave. The male members of the family are gearing up for the release of the new Star Wars cartoon next weekend (indeed, I have been accompanied by a mini Clone Trooper in full gear and helmet most of this week!).

And now I really need to pay some attention to my ironing pile. Boring, but true!