beatin' the heat

Feels like 40? Ugh... We are staying in-side. With the AC on. This morning Hendrik and I had grand plans of hitting a playground before running errands, but as soon as we stepped outside phase one of my plan got the axe - too too hot-hot. People are asking me how I'm feeling - as a pregnant woman - with this weather, and honestly it's not so bad BUT .... that's only because I never ever exert myself outside (or inside really, uh-woops) when it's hot and muggy and humid. It's a bit of a shame to be inside, but the alternative is uncomfortable (understatement), so picking and choosing when to pursue outdoor activities is key. On Sunday morning (low 30s) we met friends at the newly completed Brewer Park + Splash pad and it was amazing... amazing! I meant to take pictures, but didn't; there are at least five different play structures/areas, and a multi-tiered, connected-by-ramp (and waterslide) water park complete with in-ground sprinklers and sprayers, dumper bucket things and rotating water sprayers and fountains. It's the thing to do to beat the heat, for kids and parents and pregnant women. I got a full bucket of water dumped all over my back after Steve assured me that I was in the clear to duck under there and scoot after Hendrik ... yeah, talk about gullible. He swears that he couldn't have timed it better if he'd meant to pull the old sneaky sneaky on me and that it was an honest mistake - and I suppose I believe him. Intentional or un-, it was refreshing, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have subjected myself to a full water dumping if I hadn't been tricked into it. Beside, my clothes were practically dry by the time we left 45 minutes later anyways... hot hot hot.

(As an aside, isn't it crazy that a place can be so ridiculously cold in the winter, and so too-hot in the summer? Apparently Ottawa isn't Canada's number one city of weather extremes - Winnipeg is. Hard to believe on a day like today...)

Hendrik's eye appt yesterday went well; we were in for 9:00, and he lasted mmmm about 30 minutes on his very best behaviour with Mallory (the opthalmic assistant), as she did her tests and had him look here and there covering this eye and that. And then... then it was time to leave the room (crying). There's been some improvement in how his vision is synching but he still has a ways to go, so the patching will continue; we'll get another update in six weeks or so at the next appointment. Who knows, we might just be there having a baby! Someone can pop down with him for his appointment. He's on the wait-list for the surgery - so if we go ahead with it (I think we still need to fully wrap our heads around things), he'll be in in the spring when we're back from China. Have I even mentioned that that's a go? It is. Steve and Freddy start October 1st... so we have some time before then to you know, have a baby, get some of our questions (about living in Beijing) answered and more.

One of my favourite things that is one of Hendrik's favourite things at the moment is his enthusiasm for "cheers!" We do cheers at the dinner table - food, forks, drink (it's a pretty effective coercion method: "cheers broccoli? cheers carrots!") - and this afternoon on our way out to the pool he came up with "cheers flip-flops", so after he made it to the bottom of the stairs the three of us tapped our flip-flops together and that was that. So so cute... Thankfully he was less crazy-man at the pool and he wore a life-jacket with zero fuss - which meant less stress for mom and dad, phew. Another favourite thing of mine (of his) is his loon call and his seagull noise - see vid. That's all for now!