Parties and Heat Waves

So, with the advent of summer comes a landslide of baby showers, graduations, and birthday parties. We love getting out, seeing everyone and visiting, eating picnic food and cake, and watching a truckload of kids run around and smack pinatas open. And then we love even more getting to come home and crash on the couch for an afternoon nap. Usually Ricardo has eaten so much at the party that I can forego cooking dinner, which is another plus on a toasty summer evening.

Savannah's little friend turned 3 recently, and so we gathered at a park to celebrate on Saturday. I seriously do not think the day could have been any hotter. And I was sitting in the shade the entire day; Savannah was the one racing back and forth under the blazing sun. But somehow the heat never seems to bother you when you're a little kid, so we slathered her with sunscreen, and she ran around, ate too many chips, jumped herself silly in the big Dora bouncer, and scrambled alongside the bigger kids for her share of pinata candy (which I promptly confiscated to be deposited in the "company-only" candy dish at home).





This bouncer was one of the best I have ever seen. Maybe this is the quality you all are used to, but I have never before seen one that had an inflatable staircase and slide inside. Very cool. I was tempted to get in myself.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

4 hours later, I couldn't take the heat any longer. I carted an over-tired Savannah out of the bouncer, and we headed for home. Upon entering our house, I said, "Thank you JESUS for real air conditioning."

Most houses around here are equipped with swamp coolers. A swamp cooler is a lovely little invention that is used in dry climates; it basically sucks in the outside air, evaporates something in some way, and then expels the slightly cooled air into the house. Probably not exactly like that, but close enough. I do know that it only works when the air outside is bone-dry, so if we get a smidge of humidity, you can forget about being cool that day. And it only cools the house about 15-20 degrees below what the outside air it, so if it is 100 degrees outside, it's still 80 or more inside.

For years Ricardo moaned and groaned every summer as the temperature would climb higher and higher. He finally had enough, and told me that he didn't care what it cost, he was going to get rid of the swamp cooler and put in an actual refrigerated air unit. I fought him on it, knowing it was going to be expensive to install and expensive to run, and really, the heat, it's not all that terrible, is it? Oh, but apparently it was, because he held firm until I caved. The summer that I was pregnant, we had it installed. And, oh glory. He was so right. We basked in our living room that summer while waves of icy air flowed over us. And the timing was perfect, because the bigger I got, the more I sweltered. The more I sweltered, the more the potential for grumpiness rose. And nobody wanted that. So, it was basically a win-win situation for everyone involved to have the option of glacial temperatures available with the flip of a switch.

You can understand my relief upon entering the house after the heat of the party. You can understand why we immediately put Savannah to bed, blasted the air, and then sunk gratefully onto the couch.

I love summer and all that it brings....the garden flowers and vegetables, the sunscreen and flip-flops, the Popsicles and evening walks, the friends and parties.

And even though it is 98 degrees right now as I type this, I can still joyfully proclaim my love for all things summer. Because I am sitting directly under my AC vent. Which makes me one happy camper.