Hot Times In The Summertime

School's out for the summer for my Lil' Bitty Gritizens! As promised in my previous post, the kiddos and I celebrated Grit City style with a kid-requested trip to downtown Tacoma. We lunched at the Harmon Brewery and Restaurant. Stuffed with pizza (my girl), chicken strips 'n' tater tots (my boy), and a veggie burger and signature fries (me), we shimmied down Pacific Avenue to Hello, Cupcake for dessert (I got a perfect dozen of a mish mash of vanilla and chocolate combinations and a couple of red velvet cake variations for good measure). We slowly plodded up the hill to the car, full and warm in the refreshing sunshine.

I love going to downtown Tacoma. My daughter in her crazy Hawaiian dress, my son in his mismatched shorts and tee, pretend-flying his Star Wars toy X-wing fighter down Pacific Avenue, and me, giggling in my head at all the varieties of fashion on the street. Some folks were BUNDLED up in coats, rain gear, long pants, and sensible shoes (poor things haven't recovered from Junuary). And then there were the sun-folk wearing skimpy tank tops, multi-hues of flip-flops, and barely there mini-skirts. I even saw a young guy wearing the tightest pair of jeans I've ever seen on a human being. EVER.

And all the while, traveling home,the kids snoozing in the back seat, I listened to the smooth tunes of the lively, local, eclectic KUPS 90.1 FM. I didn't recognize any of the music, but I love the intro to one dreamy song: "When you've burned everything down, it's time to set yourself on fire." Then the wispy voiced singers started singing about lost love.

Only in Grit City.

Happy first day of summer, y'all.