Thirsty

In my last post I failed to mention that our 'exceptional' drought continues as well. Yes, not only is this now the hottest summer on record, we're also experiencing the worst drought since the 1950's. We are so desperate for rain to fall from the heavens that the rare chance for sprinkles made news headlines today. It's pitiful really. I can't even watch the movie Rango because I feel that it hits way too close to home.  Nonetheless, the creatures that dare to come out of hiding during the daytime hours seem to be right at home in these desert-like conditions. Such as this quite hardy Texas Spiny Lizard who was more than happy to have a backyard photo session with me the other morning. 

Maybe he was really asking me for a drink of water?

Cabin Fever

Have I mentioned that it's been ridiculously hot this summer? Yes this is Texas, it always gets hot in the summer, but seeing that yesterday was the 70th day over 100 degrees for the season, (making it the hottest summer on record), conditions are getting pretty oppressive around here. I like to think that we're as acclimated as you can get, but at a certain point it's just not healthy for any living being to be out in the searing heat. Thus we have spent A LOT of time cooped up in the house. We only venture outside in the early morning hours, and after the sun has set in the evenings. The remaining 12 hours are occupied within the walls of our house. Sure we've scheduled coffee dates, play dates, museum dates, baby gym plays, free swims, and have done our fair share of shopping, but most of the time is spent at home. There are only so many creative activities you can come up with for the oh-so-short attention span of an 18 month old. So I'll be honest, we've watched a lot more  Finding Nemo than I ever anticipated allowing. Seriously, we watch it at least once a day. And sometimes we add Jack's Big Music Show and Olivia into the mix. It's not pretty, but I feel that it's been necessary for our sanity. Especially when the power was out and books weren't doing the trick. But fear not, when out attention is pulled from the screen, we're doing a lot of this: 

'Will we ever play outside again?'

Thank goodness pre-school starts soon!

Embrace the Camera

Flipping through books. A favorite past-time of ours.

If the iPad Could Take a Bath...

If August could take the ipad into his bath with him, he would be the happiest boy in the world...and would probably never get out of the tub. This little fish loves bath time as much, if not more than taking a dip in the pool. Recently he's been requesting ('uh-huh' followed by pointing) that we turn the handheld shower head on for him as well. 

So it's fitting that his favorite movie to watch would be centered around water as well. While he will spend hours watching short episodes of Jack's Big Music Show, Finding Nemo is the only long feature that will hold his attention for any length of time. He especially loves watching it on the iPad of course. 

The problem with mixing toddlers with iPad's/iPhone's is that they are infatuated with the home button. Seeing that it's the only button on the contraption, naturally their little thumbs are attracted to it. So instead of getting a brief minute of peace and quiet while he plays some games, our services are continually sought for restarting app's. Enter this fun little problem solver. It's simply a thin piece of adhesive plastic that you stick directly on top of the button. Little fingers aren't strong enough to push the button underneath, but grown ups have no problem. I couldn't help but add a bit of flare to the one we put on the ipad with just some super glue and a piece of scrap paper. Cute and effective...mission accomplished!

A Visit with the Cousins

My sister's family was visiting the 'burbs of Austin this past weekend for a soccer tournament. Though they stayed in a hotel up north, we took as much advantage of them being in the area as possible to fit in some quality cousin time. We met for pizza on Friday night, played and shopped in our area all day Saturday, and enjoyed a nice birthday brunch for my sister on Sunday. It was so fun to spend an agenda-free weekend together and just play.

While my sister and I spent some rare time together on Saturday, Kevin took the munchkins for a hike on the greenbelt and around Barton Springs: 

(iphone pics)

Then they all came back to our place to play and cool off with a serious video game session:

The youngest two decided to make music together, which ultimately became a nose kissing session:

We love getting to spend time with our big cousins, and all wish it could happen more often!

Another Staycation up North

By up North, I mean my parent's house a few hours north of us. We have had a draining few weeks between Kevin's travels, work deadlines, cabin fever due to the intense heat wave, and a summer sickness for me. 

When we finally felt that we had hit our limits, Kevin suggested we 'take a few days' and just go relax at my parent's house. It was exactly what we needed. We primarily just swam,napped,swam, and watched movies. But we did take one day to drive across the metroplex to spend time with some of our dear old friends and their charming kiddos. While I did still have my work to complete each day, it was oh so helpful to have Kevin and my mom around to watch the mischief maker.

As with our last visit, there was quite a swim fest, by both man and canine, in the backyard pool. Each day usually got rolling with a morning swim, complete with poolside coffee, and was capped off with a relaxing chlorine bath evening dip. The whole trip was just a lovely recharge for everyone. 

FEARLESS

lover of all things aquatic

Crazy amounts of swimming:

 Backyard Exploration:

 Morning dip and joe:

 Fun with friends:

And lastly, Augie's first excursion in grand-daddy's golf cart: