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pure JOY.

Yesterday.  The little one was restless all night, probably trying to walk and talk in her sleep.  I awoke still feeling exhausted and knew we would face another scorching 107 degree day with no end in sight.  You know how some people hibernate in the winter?  Here, sadly, we hibernate in the summer.  It's too hot to take our beloved daily walks, and even car rides are risky when the car thermometer reads 111 degrees and you have a baby facing away from the air flow in her car seat.  Nonetheless, we were desperate to get out of the house, so I loaded up the stroller, gave my daughter an ice cube to suck on and strapped her in her seat and headed for Northpark Mall.  At least the mall contains lots of visual stimulation, is free, and has endless amounts of air conditioning.  I ate a chicken salad wrap at the food court while Luci Belle threw all her food on the ground, and then I pushed the stroller around the mall circuit a few times zombie-like.

After an-hour-and-a-half, we returned home, and it was still early afternoon.  What on earth were we going to do for the rest of the day?  Watch Ratatouille again?  Or perhaps we should read Olivia for the hundredth time?

That's when my genius husband asked if I would like him to bring the sprinkler to the back yard so we could play in it?


Minutes later in the brown, crisp back yard, I had on a swim suit and put Luci Belle in a swim diaper and tank top.  She cried a little at the first sting of the water and then laughed.  And laughed and laughed and laughed...

I held her as we ran through it horizontally.  We pointed together up in the sky at the water's peak.  We stood in front of it and let it spray the backs of our heads down to our ankles.  We watched little beads of water form on our thirsty plants and trees.

10 minutes later, we were thoroughly cooled and soaking wet, and...energized!  We returned inside, hair matted, dripping water on the kitchen floor, my feet squeaking and sloshing in the puddles that had accumulated inside my red Mary Jane Crocs.  And we were both absolutely beaming. Ahh, a fresh start to the day, and all it took was a little water.  God knows it doesn't take much to turn a sour day into a beautiful one.

