Thank you, Southern California

My parents invited us to a lovely RV camping trip at the Silver Strand State Beach in Coronado. That's them walking with the gaggle of kids.

Thank you, Southern California, for a perfect weekend.  Sunny and warm weather at the beach in early February is pretty special.  Sometimes I bemoan the cost of living here, but this weekend, Southern California, you really proved yourself to me.  I think I heard someone on Facebook call it a "sunshine tax."  Because of this tax, we cram three kids into one bedroom and live in a plain duplex with thin walls and a grumpy neighbor.  But this weekend, at least, I was okay with that.

When I was younger, I thought people who let the weather affect their moods were kind of losers.  I hardly paid attention to the weather because I was planning on having a great day regardless.  I went to college in the "snow belt" of upstate New York and could never understand what people were complaining about with regards to grey skies and snow.  When Tori and I lived in San Francisco, I used to get really frustrated about the fact that we basically spent our weekends chasing the sun in that most sun-deprived of all cities.  She would call people in different neighborhoods and ask if the sun was shining or not and, if it was, we had to hop on a bus to try and soak it up before the fog rolled in.

I know people say parenting changes you, but I didn't think it would impact my feelings about the weather.  Now I'm one of those people who actually reads the weather forecast in the paper.  I enjoy my kids about 100 times more when they're outside and so I now really appreciate warm days when the kids can play outside or, ideally, when we can take them to the beach.  I've gained a much greater appreciation for parents who live in cold areas because that is a whole other challenge that I'm unprepared to face.  Major respect to parents in those cold climates!