A Much Needed Expedition

It feels like we have been indoors all year long.

That is no exaggeration--this summer was one of the driest and hottest Texas has ever experienced, and I was heavily pregnant during that time. We could scarcely walk outside without my head swimming and I started to feel faint, so we had to pack up and come back in. Not to mention that Emerald was struggling with the potty training outside which meant that we were out just long enough for her to relax and realize she needed to poo, so I would be forced to grab everyone and rush us in as quickly as possible so she could sit on the potty and do nothing. Then of course we had Benjamin and he was too young to brave the elements for very long at all.

Once I was not pregnant and Emerald was potty trained and Benjamin was old enough to go outside, it got too cold! We hated being trapped inside the house all day long, and we were all getting cabin fever pretty severely.

This week, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous outside which means that we can start spending time out back again!

Of course, I realize that it is weird that it is halfway through January and we are having such lovely days. It makes me worry about how hot the summer is going to be, but I try not to dwell on that too much and we try and take advantage of being outside as much as possible.

Yesterday, we were able to go out for about an hour to swing and play on the slide; I walked Benjamin around in his stroller, until Gabe started getting a bit chilled and needed to come inside.

It was such a big hit and everyone had such a good time that I decided to do a repeat today; we just skipped nap all together and headed outside after lunch.

This time I set Ben up on a towel so that he could enjoy the fresh air and sunshine and roll around a bit. I took lots of pictures but they depressed me because my grass is so dead so they are rather drear. His baby cheeks started turning pink, so I took off his sweatpants; he was still too hot, so I stripped him down to his diaper. That's when he really started enjoying the gentle and cool breeze and the unseasonably warm sunshine.

Gabriel made a beeline for the swing, as usual, but now he will sign "Go" when he wants me to push him. This is very exciting, and I am pleased that he is working so hard at communicating. Playing outside is a good motivator for him.

Emerald swung and played on the slide and rode on her scooter and pretended to be a pirate, but the second I brought out the water hose to water my drab dirt backyard, she was completely uninterested in anything else. I didn't want her making a big mess of herself, but when I saw Gabe eyeing the hose hopefully too, I decided to let them go ahead and get soaked--after all, we had plenty of time to clean up before occupational therapy later that afternoon, and it was a lovely day for it.

The water was obviously pretty chilled still, but after running around in the hot sun, they were both ready for some refreshing cool water. Emerald continued to water my glass as Gabriel ran through it and giggled. Occasionally they would stop and steal a drink from the hose, which made me glad that we sprung for the water hose that makes the water drinkable. Something about filtering out the worst of the lead or something, I don't remember.

After a while, I let Gabe hold the hose for Emerald to run through. Gabe really liked that a lot--he is not used to being in control of these kinds of things.

Unfortunately about that time is when I noticed Gabe was shivering from head to foot, even though he was having the time of his life. Feeling quite guilty, I made them come inside, but gave them a hot shower and a special treat--together, we made Valentine's Day Mickey Mouse cookies and had that and flavored water for snack.

I cannot tel you how excited I am that we are able to spend time outside again. There is only so much you can do in the house, and having somewhere else to go really breaks up the tedium. I am thinking if maybe the weather holds, we will attempt walking down to the park soon; Gabe has his puppy lead and Benjamin can ride in the stroller. I will probably have someone come with us the first time so that I have an extra pair of hands for wrangling. The park is not far away at all and I can trust the kids to behave if they are getting a special treat like that. I just have to keep it simple :)

So yay for outdoor play!!