Mini Heat Wave

Last weekend and the early part of this week we saw a mini heat wave. (100+) Josh and I become creative in staying cool in our poorly insulated place. It comes down to us sucking on icecubes by the end of the day. Claire LOVES this pastime and soaks herself thoroughly in the process. I highly recommend those little pacifier looking this with the mesh bag on it. I can give one of those filled with ice to Claire and she is happy for minutes on end.

On Monday, before the temperature climbed too high, we ventured to the park. I took Lola too, I hate leaving her at home and she LOVES the park. I just have to brag for a moment. Lola is a wonderful dog. Stubborn at times but more than anything loving and obedient and good. Knock on wood, she differentiates between her toys and Claires (even if they are all in a pile on the floor together). She is patient with Claire while we teach Claire dog manners (don't pull ears, use Lola to help stand up, pull her collar/tail/fur). Anyway, once again Lola proved to be a great dog. She is very excitable and enjoys the company of other dogs so I was curious how the park would go and how much wrangling I would have to do. Lola was content to be anchored at a park bench and sniff around on the grass while Claire played in the swing a few feet away. When Claire was bored of the swing we relaxed on a blanket in the shade of a big tree that Josh probably knows the name of but I don't. Lola's leash hung on the stroller, not even really anchored but she was content to sniff and lounge in the grass even as other dogs passed by.

For her part, Claire was transfixed by the grass. Now, I had a number of allergies as a child, some of which have carried into my adult life. I am hesistant to let Claire dive into things that I knew were allergies of mine as a kid, grass being one of them but this child would not let up. She kept scooting to the edge of the blanket and attempting to dig up handfuls of grass, leaves and dirt. We finally had to head home because I grew weary of pull dirt clods and grass out of her hands to prevent her from sampling them.