Relief from the Heat

It's been H-H-H-O-T this last week. Not just hot, but humid which makes the hot seem even more hot! The kids haven't played outside much, except after dinner when it's much cooler (but the humidity still makes you sweat like a beast). But today, we woke up bright and early to join our playgroup at the park and waterplay area. We were supposed to meet at 9, but the kids and I headed over to the park after we dropped Andy off at 8:30. So, for about 30 minutes the kiddos had the ENTIRE park to themselves. But after those 30 minutes, they were more than ready for some friends to arrive. When they eventually began trickling in, the kids stripped off their clothes, revealing their bathing suits and headed over to splash around in the "geysers" (as Ava calls them).

Since school is out, there were more kids than just those in our church playgroup at the water area. As a matter of fact, there were ALOT more. Jax was not at all overwhelmed by the amount or size of the other kids, and simply joined them all for a splashing good time. Ava, on the other hand, was frustrated by all the "unnecessary splashing" (her words, not mine) going on... much of it landing in her face. When I finally convinced her that no one was splashing her on purpose and to just go have fun, she was back at my side within a couple of minutes, hands on her hips, scowl on her face. Turns out, a little boy told her to "shut up!" He wasn't with our group (thank goodness). When I asked what prompted this meanness Ava said she was just walking around singing when the boy said the bad word (at least it is in our house). My first instinct, of course, was to go and shove the kid's face in one of the "geysers" but recognizing that course of action a) would not set a good example to my kids and b) could land me in jail, I opted for a gentler approach. I had to explain to my sweet little four-year-old that sometimes kids say mean things, and that Ava could just ignore him and go play with her nice friends, or she could tell him she doesn't appreciate him talking like that. She opted to play with her friends... and had fun!

We've been to this water area before but never noticed just a little ways down is a little "boat" for the kids, complete with steering wheel (what is the nautical term for that?) and bell.

From here, we went back to the park, then back to the water area to rinse off before heading to McDonalds for lunch. All the kids played in the play area while the moms sat and chatted. We finally made it home at 2. A long day, but a fun one! The kids ran around, played with friends and I made some new ones. And best of all, not one single Kleinman complained about that heat or humidity. That's right, three-and-a-half hours outside and not a single complaint. We just may like Mississippi afterall.