HOT Fun in the Summertime

Last Friday I had a doctor's appointment and then a meeting for the new house so we decided it would be best to just take the kids to school first thing in the morning.  However, I did promise Phoebe I would come pick them up early.  When I arrived, Maverick's class had just woken up and had started their snack so I ran upstairs to grab Phoebe.  She'd also just woken from a nap and we decided to run across the street to Starbucks for a little date.  This wee one had a mini chocolate donut and a tall white chocolate mocha frappucino (with half the coffee and half the syrup, no whip, please!) - and she finished it off all by herself (luckily, we were dropping her off and YiaYia and Papou's for a sleepover later that evening...)

And...since the museum didn't close till 5:00 and we had yet to see the new Hot Wheels exhibit, we headed over to the Children's Museum.

Phoebe is quickly learning that she can't be as "free" as she'd like when there's only one parent around.  But she managed to find plenty to do within my radar!  She got the "If you can't see me then I probably can't see you" talk only once.  The threat of leaving early was fairly effective.  They both played at the water table but there was too much else to do to stay in any one place for very long.

And it seemed whatever Big Sister did...

Little brother wanted to try, too...

I kid you not, this. kid. is. everywhere.

Phoebe also had an obsession with this lawnmower when she was his age.  How is it, you buy one for home and it's not nearly as fun as the one at the museum!?

With Phoebe away for the night, we were excited about getting some extra sleep.  Go figure that Maverick decided to get up at 1:00 and not return to his bed till almost 3:00.  His molars are coming in and he seems to be hungry all the time so between growing and teething, it's hard to get a good night's sleep!  When he woke before 6:00, I took him out so that at least one of us could catch a few extra zzzzz's.  I think we definitely have a climber on our hands.

And while we still had only one kiddo, we ran an errand or two.  We've been doing some preliminary appliance shopping - Maverick thinks a side-by-side fridge will work just fine but I think we may opt for the freezer drawer at the bottom to avoid moments like these in our future!

Once we collected Phoebe while Maverick napped, we planned out the rest of our day.  Phoebe didn't go to sleep till about 11:00 and was up before 8:00 so we had a whiner on our hands and needed to do activities that would keep her distracted AND tucker her out.  So we decided to brave the heat and headed to the Fishers Freedom Festival.  We hadn't been for years and were hoping it was as fun as we remembered. 

Between the snow cone and the playground, the kids had a good time.  However, Ryan's affection for cooler temperatures has officially rubbed off on me.  It was so hot, I think I was ready to go ten minutes after we arrived. 

We left the festival and decided to do a little ceiling fan shopping at a nearby air-conditioned hardware store.  In order to keep the kids occupied (Maverick has an aversion to riding in shopping carts) we let them wheel their own baskets around.  Who would have guessed they (the baskets, not our kids!) could cause that much grief but they did!  If Phoebe had one basket, Maverick wanted it - and vice versa.  And Phoebe ALWAYS had to be in front.  At least we were, er, entertaining for surrounding shoppers...note the look of pure distress on Phoebe's face as she outruns her little brother.  She wanted his cart - it didn't matter that they were exactly the same!

Trying out a pedestal sink basin.

Before we headed to bed that night, Ryan discovered that Phoebe had thrown up and then rolled over (in the opposite direction, praise the Lord!) and gone right back to sleep.  Maverick also proceeded to wake up before 6:00 that morning and this is what our living room looks like when things get rough and Mommy and Daddy are tired.  Don't judge.

We took it easy on Sunday morning as we weren't quite sure if Phoebe's stomach was back to normal or if it was some fluke thing (she didn't even believe us when we told her she'd gotten sick).  We had a birthday party on the schedule that afternoon and since she seemed perfectly normal, we headed to Stinna's 4th birthday party late afternoon.  Here they are with their gorgeous iced princess cookies.

It's impossible for you NOT to know what Phoebe's been eating simply by looking at her mouth.  We'd happened to break our pretty headband on the drive over, thus the blue frosting in the hair...

Maria, Phoebe and Stinna were inseparable in the pool!

And then they discovered the slip 'n slide.  Stinna's dad definitely got his exercise for the day!

Then it was time for Barbie cake.  Stinna got a camera for her birthday and the girls were enamored by it.

Say "cheese!"

It was a fun day and we were pretty tired by the time 8:00 rolled around.  Ryan walked into our bedroom around 10:30  and said Phoebe had thrown up again.  I honestly didn't believe him but sure enough, same scenario as the night before, just a little less.  After calling the 24/7 Anthem Nurse Line I was able to sleep easier.  I swear as a parent, you worry so much more.  Phoebe had come home on Saturday with three mosquito bites so I was even asking about West Nile.  After a conversation with the nurse at our pediatrician's office this morning, she said it sounded more like our poor girl was just overtired and probably suffered a little heat exhaustion.  Here's hoping for no more surprises this week - I'm done with laundry till at least Thursday!  Oh, and please pray - there was a letter with Maverick's things when I picked him up this afternoon - his class had a case of pink eye today so we gave him some preventative drops tonight before bed just for good measure.  We've had our fair share of the stink eye around here and aren't quite ready for another round just yet!