On Tuesday the weather forecast was all over the news; the first day of Summer was on Wednesday and with it would come a major heatwave. And I do mean major! In anticipation of the high temps I spent much of Tuesday evening transforming our backyard into somewhat of a water park. While everyone else was talking about installing their air conditioners and staying out of the heat I made sure the pool water was balanced and the filter was clean. I set up the baby pool and hunted down all of the pool toys and floats. I made sure the sandbox was full of buckets and shovels. I moved the kids picnic table into a spot in which I knew would be shady. When I was satisfied with the yard I went inside and packed the "pool bag" with plenty of towels, sunscreen, snacks, water bottles etc. I made sure there was plenty of cold water in the fridge.
On Wednesday morning, as expected, the heat wave rolled in with a rush. Before lunch time the temps had sky rocketed to nearly 100 degree's, but in all honesty it didn't feel that hot in our backyard. My friend Kim came over with her 3 girls - Mary, Anna and Lily. Like me, Kim has no want to sit in an air conditioned house with a bunch of kids on a sunny day.
When the kids weren't in the pool we made sure they relaxed/played in the shade:
Much to my surprise (and delight) Bella kept her hat on which provided some extra protection against the sun:
Bella has taken to the pool like a fish takes to water!! She wears a life jacket and spends much of her time just floating around the pool in this Dollar Store float:
Mary (in the green tube) initially didn't want to go in the pool. We knew her feet would touch the bottom but convincing her of that proved to be challenging. Once she realized that what we had been telling her was indeed the truth, she too, took to the pool like a fish in water!
Unlike Mary, Anna did not start out with a fear of the pool. I was standing by the ladder with Savannah in my arms when Anna happily climbed up the ladder and, without any warning at all, DIVED INTO THE POOL HEAD FIRST. I was able to reach her with one arm, although technically she came up on her own, but my god. Talk about an instant heart attack? And now, of course, Anna wants nothing to do with the pool. She will climb up the ladder but she refuses to even dip her toe in for fear that she's going to go under the water. She's content to hang out in the baby pool..
Meanwhile, there's no stopping Mary now!!
Bella can now get herself in and out of the pool, which is awesome:
Kim, Lily and Savannah
Kyle and Lily
Savannah and Lily
Savannah is a full time walker now!
Lovin' the hair, Savannah!
After spending the entire day outside (We were out from 9:15a-4:30p!) we came in, showered & headed to Friendly's for dinner. It was a nice treat for all of us and a perfect ending to a perfect day!
When we arrived home from Friendly's I was absolutely, positively shocked to discover how warm the house was. Since we were outside all day it had never even occurred to me to check the thermostat inside.. The downstairs thermostat read 98 degree's. The upstairs thermostat read 102 degree's. Yikes!! I glanced over at the air conditioners. There they were. Just sitting there. On the floor..waiting for Jim to install them. Only Jim was at work. Until Midnight. UGH!!!
Within 10 minutes flat Savannah's skin had broken out in a heat rash while the rest of us broke out in a sweat. Bella's hair was sticking to her face, Kyle was becoming irritable and my patience were at an all time low. I ran down to the basement and immediately realized I hit the jackpot upon opening the door to "The Man Cave". The temperature was a good 20-30 degree's cooler than the upstairs. It was like walking into a Central Air Conditioned room. Heaven. I decided then & there that it would be in all of our best interest if we had a little "camp out" in the basement. I fed Savannah her bedtime bottle & put her into her room, which was reasonably comfortable due to the fact that I had shut her windows and blinds and turned her ceiling fan on high earlier that day. Then I gave Kyle and Bella the news: We're going to camp down in the basement tonight! To say they were excited is an understatement. They were absolutely THRILLED! They raced up to their "so hot you could fry an egg on the floor" rooms & came running back down (drenched in sweat) with their pillows. I transformed the couch into a bed & then went back upstairs to retrieve the baby. She was already fast asleep, though.. so I decided to just turn an extra fan on & face it towards her room. Then I went back downstairs with the other two and within minutes we were snug as a bug in a rug. It was 8:15p. Both kids were completely overtired (seeing as how they had spent ALL DAY OUTSIDE!) but the excitement of sleeping with me, on the couch bed, in the basement!, proved to be over-stimulating for them. They giggled, talked and squirmed for almost two hours before settling down. Once they were asleep I finally closed my eyes, pleased as punch with my decision to sleep in the very cool, comfortable basement. An hour later Bella woke up "looking" for me. An hour after that Kyle woke up asking for a drink of water. Two hours later Bella woke up because Kyle had kicked her. This Went On All Night Long. *sigh* At 6:00a I gave up & got out of the bed to start a (super strong) pot of coffee. As soon as Jim opened his eyes I pretty much demanded that he get ALL of th A/C's in the window, effective immediately! When the A/C's were installed we headed outside and greeted day #2 of the crazy heat wave with open arms..
Kyle's friend Riley joined in on our outdoor fun today! He brought over some cool water rocket things, which Kyle loved! We also filled up a bunch of water balloons, too!
The boys decided it'd be easier to fill their water rocket thingies with water from the pool
You know it's hot out when Jim hops in the pool!
Riley, Bella and Kyle
Next year we are for sure getting a bigger pool!!
Bella really enjoyed spending some one-on-one time with Jim in the pool. He was supposed to work this morning but the job got cancelled due to the extreme temperatures - it was SO GREAT to have him home with us!!
Hi, Savannah-Banana!
Silly Kyle
Savannah absolutely LOVES the sprinkler!
I really enjoy having Kim and her kids over. Her ways of parenting are similiar to mine and her laid-back personality mirrors that of my own as well. While it's true that the kids don't allow us to sit and chat for more than 2.2 seconds it's nice to have another adult around to talk to and it's a huge bonus that the kids get along so well, too! Bella is forced to share her things with the other girls which can be challenging but hey, it's a life lesson we all gotta learn eventually!
Tomorrow Kyle's buddy Vincent is coming over for the day and you can bet we'll be doing the same thing we've been doing all week thus far - swimming, playing and enjoying this wonderful time of year! Hello, Summer. We're so glad you're finally here!
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