Too hot in the house - go to the beach

As the temps stay in the 90's we are looking for ways to cool off. Yesterday we had a resident dinner - Burgers on the Chiefs. Instead of eating at a restaurant this time they provided a BBQ. It was so good. Aaron had the day off, but was busy preparing for his many projects. He got home around 4:15, and we headed out the door around 5:00. The dinner didn't start until 6:30, so we played on the beach until then - well Aaron went to help set up when the Chiefs arrived, and started the charcoal. And manned one of the 3 BBQ pits. I didn't wear my swim suit and didn't put Amy's in hers either. Even though it was a good 10 degrees cooler on the beach, it was still pretty warm. But the water - very cold. So we mostly stayed on the beach

Amy didn't like the heat at all. She's been pretty cranky, and not napping or sleeping well. She did try to eat the sand though.

The boys played in this little stream, which usually has a lot more water

There were tons of sailboats out

They were trying to help the stream make it all the way to the water - it did eventually - when the tide came in.
Amy was really fussy so I gave her to Aaron so I could watch the boys. when I came back she was with Shaquita - one of the chiefs. Amy didn't fuss, she just sat there- forlorn, playing with her pig tails. When Amy finally spotted me she started crying. It was way past her bed time, and she was very tired and hot.

We did get to watch the sun set - very pretty.



When we got home it was 91 in the house. None of us slept well. Today it got up to 94, and and it's still 93. At least Aaron has air conditioning - not that he'll get to sleep tonight.

Multiple projects

I don't know if you, or your spouse, or your friend is like this, but Aaron always has multiple things going on at once. On top of his resident duties he has had 4 extra things he's been working on. Two of them are finally finished, and one more will be done this week. He presented a case at morning report last week - a patient he saw almost 2 years ago. Today he was a guest on a Spanish radio show where he discussed when to take your child to the ER and when to just call the Dr, and other medical topics. This week he has to finish up an extensive application for a catch grant. It would be used for his ongoing Advocacy project - which pertains the very subject he discussed on the radio.

Even with all that he has had a fun filled 4-day weekend, playing with the kids and hanging out at home. He was called in to work today and into tomorrow. Hopefully he won't have to work a ton at the end of the week because his mom and two youngest siblings will be coming to visit. We are excited to see them, and the rest of the family that is here. We hope to be able to do lots of fun things. Aaron may or may not be able to come, so we'll see.

Amy's new things

Amy cut two teeth last week. The first one cut through on Monday. The second came through on Friday. The second tooth got a little bit of help when she bumped her mouth on the glass table on Thursday. It bled a little. She didn't seem any more fussy that normal. But she has been chewing on lots of things, especially people's toes, when they are at the right level e.g. when Timothy sits on the couch and she is cruising around. So now Amy has 4 teeth.

She also took her first steps this week. I was downstairs. Aaron was upstairs with the kids when she first attempted it. That was Wednesday. I tried to get her to do it again, but she wouldn't. On Sunday I finally saw her take a step. I didn't get it on camera. She was trying to get closer to her favorite playing place. Somewhere she isn't allowed to go - the bathroom. I was too quick for her - thank goodness. But she got lots of praise for the steps. Today she took a few more steps. She may be walking before her birthday - we'll see.

Amy is also consistently taking only 2 naps a day. They still are only lasting about 30 to 40 minutes. Although she surprised me with a 90 minute and a 60 minute nap last week. And we finally made it through church without nursing. I'm sure that was just was just a fluke though, the timing just hit right. She nursed just before we left, and she woke up from her nap just before we headed home, so we waited until we got home. I have hope of wearing a dress again - (as opposed to just skirts and tops)

Well, I think that's it for now.

Hot Summer days

Saturday was another hot day. We played outside in the morning while it was still a little cloudy

Timothy looks like he's posing
While David is hiding behind the other post

Aaron and David created a solar hot dog cooker
But then the clouds got in the way.
It was done much later than lunch.

David still ate it

That afternoon we went to the lake
I took a bunch of pictures, but I need to crop them first, and I don't have time right now
But here's Amy in her cute swimsuit.

We all got in the water at some point, and no sunburns - hooray! The boys loved playing in the sand. Timothy loved wading in the water. David found an inner tube no one claimed and had fun bobbing up and down with the wakes created by passing boats.


Nathan and Amy and Evelyn joined us. And we watched Evelyn while Nathan and Amy swam out to the dock to jump off the diving board.

That night we finally got some much needed rain. It wasn't much, but it was refreshing.

We still have more hot days ahead of us, so we may be back at the beach, or at least a wading pool!

The only green in our yard...

...is our garden

Some blackberries

These flowers appeared last month

And now they are doing this

What's that all about?

The blackberries and ivy are taking over

The only green grass is right next to our garden that we water just about everyday

Blueberries, water guns, and Pioneer Picnic

Aaron is now on Jeopardy call. This means that he doesn't have to work unless another resident is sick or has some other emergency. He could be called in at any time, so he can't be more than 20 minutes away from the hospital. The first day was Friday and we made the most of it. We picked blueberries. It's about 20 minutes away, just perfect.




After a while Amy got tired of being in the backpack (which Aaron found at Goodwill for $7!!!)

After a diaper change I carried her in the backpack and she fell asleep.

You can't tell from this picture, but we picked almost 7 lbs of blueberries.

The kids were hot and tired, and bored. So we headed home for lunch.

The kis were excited to see this cement truck arrive as we piled into the van. So they watched out the windshield as we backed out of our parking spot.

After lunch we sorted the blueberries and froze about 5 lbs. Then washed the rest of them.

It's been pretty warm here. So I told the kids to get into their swimsuits and squirt each other with super soakers. Then Aaron filled up some water balloons. Lots of fun.

That evening we headed out to our ward's Pioneer Day Picnic.

Timothy found a little doll stroller and went off-roading

David and Amelia pretty much hung out the whole time. They even had a water fight. They threw cups of water at each other. David filled his cup with soda and was done with the water fight when Amelia dumped another cup of water on him. He was pretty mad, but I couldn't help but laugh. After her parents talked to her and she came and apologized, things were back to normal. She made a silly face, he laughed, then he tipped his cup upside down, over her head - it was empty ;)


Amy played with the cups and the forks, and ate everything she could get her hands on.

Aaron took pictures without me knowing it.

We sang "Come, Come Ye Saints"
(It looks like Amy's singing too)
Aaron found the B&W setting on the camera

There was a water balloon toss

And Timothy found some more chips (they are in the cup holder).

I was glad it was shady, and not too hot. Today will be the last day of our reprieve. Tomorrow starts the hot temps again, reaching into the 90's - yuck. Remember - no A/C. At least we have a basement. So much for all the blueberry treats I was going to bake. I don't want to have to use the oven for a while. Guess we'll just have to eat them. Or put them in smoothies.

while I was blogging...

This is what happens when I blog and don't realize that I dropped a mini oreo on the floor, and Amy is crawling around, picks it up and eats it. (Was that a run on sentence or what?!!) What a mess, but a cute mess. Don't worry, she didn't get anything else messy, just herself.

Entrapreneurship

On Monday David decided he didn't have enough money. He has spent every last penny on a book. He quickly regretted that decision when he couldn't buy on our next shopping trip. So he decided he was going to have a book sale. I didn't really want him to sell his books. I gave him a few pointers, but he didn't really want my advice. I thought his prices were a little high, so I figured his books would be safe. I suggested selling Kool-aid or Otter pops. He also didn't have any change, and when I mentioned that problem he said, that he would throw in a free book. Um... OK.

He selected the books, he got the table and chairs ready, he made the sign, and even had a place for the money to go.

Amy sat on her little stool for quite a while, watching

Timothy helped too
(See our poor grass - very few people here have sprinklers - we usually don't need them)

He's almost ready

Now, for the customers...

He waited and waited. He got bored, and wanted to know why people weren't buying his books. A few people walked past. One of them owned a bookstore- she didn't buy any. Then David got another idea. He brought out a plate of chocolate rice Krispy treats that we had made for FHE on Sunday. At first he wanted to give them away with the books. But then a lady asked if she could just buy the treats. He sold her 4 for $1. He was very pleased. But that's all he made that day. When he would complain I would ask him if he wanted to close up shop and come inside, but he didn't. I finally had to give him a time limit, because I had things I needed to do, and couldn't sit on the front porch all day. He was sad to come in after 2 hours. He was hard on himself. We discussed what we could do differently next time. Perhaps we'll do a garage sale at some point. I really didn't expect him to sell books for more than we paid for them in some cases. I thought it was great that he had some ambition. Hopefully he'll try again someday.