Hot Hot Hot

Today is a beautiful breezy, cool day...perfect for playing outside! The last few days have been less desirable. I personally felt bad complaining about the heat since I had been whining for so long about the lack of sunshine and the snowy, wet winter we had. So I took on the phrase "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

The kids were so excited to see the sunshine that they desperately wanted to be outside. That generally lasted about 10 minutes before one of them crumbled into a heap because they were too hot! So I put my best thinkin' sun visor on (seemed a bit hot for a full on thinkin' cap) and I came up with a few things we really enjoyed!

We have a little deck outside our living room, it's rather useless because of the size and my lack of keeping it "nice". But Miss M and JB love to be out there, and bonus of all bonuses, it is shaded! So I filled two buckets with water, gave them each a paint brush and sent them out on the deck to "paint". They loved it!! It really kept them busy for about 45 minutes. Everything was soaking wet and a few things were dirt streaked but it sure beat them being inside screaming at each other! The streaks in the windows they painted were a little unsightly so I made a vinegar/water solution and had Miss M really clean the windows. She loved that too...maybe she'll be a window washer in her next life :)

We made colorful ice cubes, just water with a drop of food coloring. They took them out on the deck with a piece of paper and "painted" with them. If I did it again I might try and rig them up with popsicle sticks so they could hold onto something. Their fingers got a little colored, but it wore off by the next day.

There is a trail in Tyler Park I've been wanting to take the kids on so we tried that one day. It is completely shaded, I mean in the woods! It was nice and cool for most of the walk, despite the temperature. There is also a creek involved so we stopped there to throw rocks and dip toes. We met a friendly frog on that hike which was the highlight for everyone except the frog!

I also discovered that the playground at Tyler Park is shaded until about noon. This is fabulous information to have!! Even if it's hot out, the kids are happy to be out as long as the sun isn't beating down on them. And best of all, no sunscreen :)

We even went to the beach, now this was preplanned, really had nothing to do with the extreme heat. But it worked out beautifully, we didn't go down until late afternoon so the sun was not so bad. The kids played and played and played on the beach, no sunscreen needed again :) I was sure when they felt the temperature of the water they would back away...nope, Miss M was completely submerged for most of the afternoon. It was a perfect family day with some very special friends!!

That's how we beat the heat this time around. Of course there were also popsicles, water ice, air conditioning, tank tops, cool baths, and some sprinkles on anything that would hold them!!