Baby, It's HOT Outside...

Each day the thermometer reads somewhere above 90 degrees...typically closer to 97 degrees by early afternoon. For that reason, Kate and I are spending a lot of time in the water this summer. During the month of June, Kate and I took swimming lessons with some of our pals. I learned some great tools to teach Kate water basics. This was not a survival class (such as Infant Swim Resource, known as ISR), but it was very helpful for me to begin teaching Kate the basics of swimming. I'm sure we'll continue with these types of lessons in the future. We are trying to find some time and an ISR instructor so Kate will learn how to survive in water, as well this summer.

Kate and I also are spending a lot of time playing with our friends we met last summer during our nursing luncheons at Florida Hospital. This year, our little ones are all running around various splash pads in central Florida as we try to keep them cool in the hot, hot weather! I'm also proud to say that Kate has not yet experienced a sunburn, despite two trips to the beach, a trip to Disney World and numerous outdoor excursions. Kate wears her sun hat proudly and loves to help mommy put on sunscreen. It helps that we bought her the Sun Smarties bathing suit that pretty much covers her entire body!

We traveled a bit in June. First we trekked over to St. Pete Beach to stay for our annual Father's Day beach weekend celebration. The Trade Winds was a bit crowded for our liking, but the beach was superb as was our view. Then, we flew to Michigan the following weekend for my mother's funeral. I can't believe it was just over a year ago that she was here for Kate's baptism and feeling weak, but optimistic. Kate did well with the traveling and even throughout the funeral. In such a difficult and sad time, it was wonderful to have her smile light up a room and to watch her play with her cousins: Belle, Joey, Bryan and Sam.

After traveling, Keith and I decided to take it easy over the 4th of July holiday. Kate was in bed by the time fireworks started lighting up the sky... she barely noticed! We did have a swell time with our playgroup buddies at the Lake Mary celebration on July 3. At Disney yesterday, she freaked out a bit when she saw fireworks during the castle show, so she probably wouldn't have like them, anyway! This week we went to the Central Florida Zoo--Kate loved it, especially the monkeys and the splash pad--and to Magic Kingdom at Disney. We had lunch at the castle...Kate was far more interested in her food than in the princesses (though she did warm up to Princess Aurora who took a liking to Kate)! She LOVED Minnie and Mickey, but started crying whenever they tried to touch her. Unfortunately, we had a bum photographer who didn't try very hard to get good pics. It was VERY hot and VERY crowded. I definitely recommend Disney in the fall... it's a bit hot right now!!

Be sure to check out our June Web Album and the visit to Magic Kingdom album to check out all of the pics!