Officially Summer!

It is SO hot here. How is it only June and 100 degrees every SINGLE day?? Let me tell you, it is super hard to figure out what to do with an active toddler in that kind of weather. I don't want to just hang out outside in a park, because one, I hate to sweat and two, the metal on that park equipment heats up to about the temperature of a well cured cast iron skillet. Sometimes, an unsuspecting foreign child from, well, lets say, California or somewhere, sits down expecting a fun trip down the slide and instead is surprised by getting third degree burns on the back of his thighs. Having grown up here, I realize that Texas summers are much like Wyoming winters. You don't leave the house. Oliver is quickly learning this too, because as hard as he might try, everytime he tries to play outside, he motions to me that everything he plays with is "hot" and goes inside again.

The one exception to the strict "No Going Outside After Noon" rule is the pool. Ah yes, pools ARE grand. If there is no pool in your neighborhood, make friends with people who DO have pools. If you are particularly unfriendly, hook up a sprinkler. I know you are wasting money, but the joy on your child's face is totally worth it! Oliver and I visit a pool or water park two to three times a week lately. Luckily we have a neighborhood pool with a really nice kiddie pool. It may take just as much time to get him ready for the pool as we spend there when we are alone, but get him together with a few cups and a few friends and he is set for the day!!

Every single summer, I threaten to move. I was not made for the heat, as you can tell from my lily white skin, and neither is my Arian son. However, this summer I have a nice tan (so does Ollie), look great in my super-sucker-inner swimsuit from Victoria's Secret, and have a fantastic mom's group who all love to go to the pool with us and know of all the great shady parks! Below are pictures of Oliver and friends at a great park near us, playing their hearts out...before noon of course!