Outside! Outside!

We have a low patch of ground in our backyard that is permanently wet and it is a serious mosquito breeding ground right now. Isaac was eaten alive in the sandbox the other night. Apparently his blood is like mosquito ambrosia. No bites for Jacob or myself, but tons for Isaac, all over his arms, legs, even behind his ear, poor guy.


We picked up some 1% hydrocortisone the other day for his poison ivy (!), and that seems to be working for him quite nicely. I must say this "summer" business out here really sucks compared to Seattle. Did you know there is no poison anything that grows there? Or that there are NO bugs? Oh, the life. Well, they do have a bit of a hippie problem, but you gotta take the good with the bad.

For a little bit this morning it was not sweltering, and Dada suggested we take advantage of the weather to reprise our sandbox adventures. Our backyard is nice and shady in the mornings, which the bugs didn't seem to like as much. I think we all survived an hour outside without a single new bite. Score! And I borrowed Dada's digital SLR when he wasn't looking to take some droolingly awesome pictures.







The many jowls faces of Jacob:









We had a pretty fun day today. Dada took it easy on the home-improvement trip, so we got to spend a bunch of time together. After we made pancakes for lunch, we all went for a stroll on Main St. to grab some Starbucks and check out this toy store disguised as a homeschooler's supply depot. Back at home, Isaac easily fell asleep and Jacob and I eventually joined him for a long, tasty nap. Then Dada insisted on Applebee's for dinner, and we braved our very first experience dining out since we moved on from Jacob's infant carrier/car seat. It was a bit of eating with a bit of wrasslin' thrown in, you know, in case anyone got bored. Then I took the boys to the park and we met another family with a boy 6 days younger than Isaac (but a little bigger, so there was no pushing!) and they shared their toys like pros and chased each other all over the park until they were both exhausted and sweaty.

I know some people may disagree, but to me, when you're able to truly say that you spent the majority of the day outside ... now THAT is a good day.