Hotter than hot

Anyone who’s anyone knows that where I live it’s been hotter than hot. I believe the saying is “hotter than Hades.” Yes, that’s what it’s been like here. In fact yesterday, the official temperature in Everson, according to weather.com was 107 with a heat index of 118. Yep. So, this week has been all about staying cool.

Monday the girls & I headed to a local lake with some good friends and a bajillion other people.

Little B enjoyed some refreshing watermelon.

No one wanted to look at me to take a picture. M & Sarah have been friends since birth. They’re like cousins or brother & sister. We sure hope it stays that way. L & Becca have also been friends since birth. They have a similar relationship, though L is certainly in the running for Becca’s future beau.

L is so handsome!

These two cuties have also been friends since birth. E & Bethany get along so well. Actually, all the kids do. We never have to worry about that when we get our families together, which of course is not nearly often enough.

B played Hide & Seek with me behind his juice box. The cutest!

And Elise LOVED hanging out with baby B. After an afternoon of swimming, the dads came by and we had KFC for dinner before heading home to our hot houses.

On Tuesday our neighbors invited the girls & I out to a pool at a RV park near the bay. The place was practically deserted because most of the people in the RV park are older. It was such a nice reprieve from the heat!

Becca had on her water wings and said, “Hey Mom! I’m a tulip!” I couldn’t figure it out until she pointed out her shadow. Sure enough. A tulip shadow!

These flowers apparently like heat & humidity. They were tightly closed up a few days before the heat wave. Now – gorgeous!

I should have taken a picture of these in the front of my house when they were at their peak. I kind of forgot, but I do adore these bushes. I like them a little more purple, so I guess I have to give them less fertilizer next year. Last year, these were a bit pinker. But, oh, I love hydrangeas.

On Wednesday morning I went to run some errands in town while Sarah babysat the girls. I was only gone for a little bit and they had a couple chores to do and then they were instructed to play inside together. They came up with a “surprise” for me!

They made a little play to go with “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish” by Dr. Seuss. It was hysterical! They made themselves card labels to show which fish they were. They had props like the ones you see in the picture, and they acted out everything in the book. The funniest part was that Elise was supposed to be the “Red Fish”, but she doesn’t like red, so she insisted that the girls call her “Pink Fish” instead. And of course, the girls gave in to her demands. She pretty much always gets her way. I’m counting on her preschool teacher to fix that next year. :)

Today was hot and we spent most of the day in my parents’ basement. Truly, all homes should have basements. If the house is in the flood plain, they should just build a huge levy around the house so you could still have a basement. So nice.

We spent part of the evening outside and discovered that the bees and wasps are not big fans of the heat either. They are buzzing mad. Literally. I merely leaned past one to turn on the water faucet and got stung on my wrist. Not 5 minutes later I stupidly leaned to turn off the water faucet and one came buzzing at me and stung my shoulder. Apparently Sarah didn’t get the message to stay away from the water faucet, turned it on, and got stung on the knee. She made me take a picture because it’s her first sting.

Thankfully, it appears she is not allergic. That tiny little welt was gone an hour later. Mine too. But now I have a pained toe. Becca was doing an “experiment” with putting a cup of water in the freezer. I know she knows what happens, but she was doing it. Again. I was getting something out of the freezer and that cup of frozen water came flying out of the freezer and landed on my toe. Can I just say, OUCH!!!! Literally. I was lying on the floor, crying, yelling, not saying too many bad words in case my children were in ear shot, and trying not to throw up, the pain was so bad. That was hours ago. It started throbbing a while ago. I think it might be broken. I took ibuprofen a while ago, so it’s a bit better, but really, it’s a good thing that pain didn’t last as long as childbirth. I would have had to go in for an epidural.