Splashy Splashy

In case you've been living under a rock somewhere and haven't been paying attention to the weather, it has been HOT here in Seattle. Now by Chicago summer standards, this kind of heat isn't that big of a deal. But when you factor in whole house a/c being virtually non-existent in about 95% of homes here, window mounted a/c units being disallowed in our community, companies like M$FT having to redirect cooling power away from offices and into server rooms, restaurants and grocery stores barely able to keep their stores cool (tends to feel more like 75/80 degrees in those places), then you might start to understand that this kind of heat wave is a pretty big deal. And when the heat wave lasts several days? Even more so. I've been dreading this week for days. This morning it was 87 degrees INSIDE my house by 10am. Monday kicked off with a high in the low 90s. Tuesday hit 97. Today is forecast to hit triple digits. Thursday will be a few degrees cooler and back to the mid 90s. We don't really catch a break until NEXT WEEK. Sometime around next Wednesday, we should be back to more normal temps in the low 80s.

Needless to say, this weather has made me down right grouchy. I hate sweating and the fact that there are few opportunities to escape the heat makes me all the more crabby. Fortunately, we did plan ahead and plunked down the cash to purchase a portable a/c unit for Caiden's room. (These types of units are allowed here, but of course they cost twice as much as a normal window unit and aren't as effective in cooling. Grr.) Lucky we did that early as by yesterday they were completely sold out. If we hadn't gotten one, his room would simply be unlivable. With 90+ degree temps outside and the sun beating on his window starting at about 3pm, his room would easily be over 100 degrees. I would totally hang out in there all day if I could, but entertaining a 15 month old in his bedroom all day just isn't feasible.

Soooo....a quick trip to Target gave us the ideal solution! And I am telling you, this is probably the 2nd best purchase ever (after the a/c unit of course)!!!! We spent a good couple of hours yesterday hanging out in Caiden's brand new kiddie pool. I love that it has a sun shade too so that helps keep him cool, and I don't have to worry about constantly slathering him with sunscreen.

He was a little hesitant at first (plus the water was pretty chilly), but once I showed him how he could splash around he got right down to business! With this ridiculous weather, this has been an ideal solution to get him out of the house, keep cool and have some fun! It was so cool watching him splash around and figure out how to play with the measuring cups I threw in there. And it was pretty funny hearing him gasp whenever he accidentally splashed himself with the cold water!

Splish Splash *Gasp*