Heat Wave

Hello! We've had temps ranging in the 30's (which for those of you who think in Imperial is the mid eighties to high nineties) and high humidity so it has been HOT! Keep in mind too that in this part of Canada, we don't do A/C as a matter of course....it's available but not many have an A/C unit in their homes. (we don't).

I've had to get creative with our meals and just in general as we've all been limp rags with little interest in doing anything (except Fiona who has been on and off grumpy and crying). Here are a few tips to get you through a heat wave courtesy of the Wellburns!

1) Sleep downstairs (if you have one).

We are thankful to have a bedroom (C's) and a futon downstairs so we've been camping out there and it has been *far* better sleeping for everyone. We have friends who don't have the luxury of bedrooms down so they've been camping out in their living room on air mattresses.

2) Eat "ovenless" and "rangeless" meals

I haven't been able to completely follow this plan but I did keep the amount of oven turning on to a minimum (grilled kebabs one night, pasta salad another night, a farmhouse salad a third... and lots and lots of salads in general)

3) Forget about bedtime

We don't bother trying to get the boys to bed at their usual bedtime when it is this hot....two nights this week, we've gone out for ice cream to somewhere Air Conditioned. The boys have been sleeping around 10:30 and getting up late. It isn't ideal but it is working and really, there's no point fighting about bedtime in the heat!

4) Go shopping

well at least window shopping! to the mall, the grocery store....anywhere you know will have A/C. take a snack (or buy a snack) and just hang out for as long as the grumpy baby will let you. Fiona has had two of her best sleeps this week in the mall. I don't rush the boys~ we just hang out and browse (this was especially popular at Toys R Us and the book store)

5) Eat freezies and hang out in the bath tub

We've been eating lots of frozen goodies...freezies, popsicles, ice cream and

This Yummy stuff! a lot. (thanks Dreena!) Everyone has a bath or a shower in the afternoon....no excuses! The little ones have a long cool bath and Crispin and I shower and it helps so much.

We've changed up our outside time to after 5 to minimize time in the hot sun and the blinds are pemanently closed until cooler weather comes again. It is working OK and thankfully we are in the midst of a cooling trend so we'll see more seasonal temps in the next few days. (which I'm sure will mean all of us suddenly put on sweatshirts and long pants for a while!)

We were away on holiday at the cabin for a week....it was lovely weather but included two of us suffering from a gastro bug. Crispin was almost over his by the time we went but I spent almost two whole days in bed. Thankfully, we were on holiday so Steve just had to take the kids and bring Fiona to me when she needed to nurse. It wasn't ideal (who wants to be sick at the seaside??) but it was nice to not have the scramble for Steve of trying to stay home.

I'll include pics next time.....my computer time in grinding to a complete halt!! (grumpy and stuffed up baby)