We started Ara's special day asking her what she wanted to do. When our kids have a birthday, we make sure they are treated like royalty. They get to sit in the prime seat in the car, they get to choose the activities for the day, and they get to do everything first. When you have a large family, it is difficult to make sure that everyone gets noticed and appreciated, so it is guaranteed that they do on their birthday.
Ara's activity of choice this fine 24th of June, was to go swimming. Where we live, everything is closed on Sunday, so it is difficult to find a quality place to swim on a Sunday. After searching the internet and deciding that Sandy is the place to be, we packed everyone up and headed to an indoor swimming pool. I put "indoor" because we didn't put any sunscreen on the kids for this very reason. We thought we would be indoors.
Apparently, in our area, places like to close early on Sunday too. When we got there it was still open, but we would only get to swim for a short amount of time. Out of desperation, we asked the desk clerk if they knew of another place that we could swim. HOORAY!!!!! They knew of a place that was just now opening and we could swim for the rest of the day. Sadly, when we got there we discovered it was an outdoor pool.
Tim and I looked around...it was overcast, the sun looked like it wanted to hide all day, so we took a risk and let the kids swim. Oh, it was so much fun!!!! The lessons the girls had were obviously showing and they were swimming around the pool like fish. Daddy was picking kids up and chucking them in the water and we were enjoying ourselves ever so much!!! Even Vega started to get in on the water play (she has an extreme fear of being in the deeper water and usually won't go much further than 2 feet in)! It was one of the best days ever!
Then we went home. That is when the burns started to appear. Shoulders, backs, chests and faces all red and swollen, as if we were lobsters just emerging from our boiling pot status and getting prepared to be eaten! It is so sad to witness the damage that could have easily been avoided if we only thought ahead just that one little bit further. My poor babies!! They were crying and moaning with every move they made. I felt so bad, at the same time I was suffering from burns of my own. Children wanted sympathy, but mama wanted space.
Luckily, this mama has a miracle cure for the sunburn blues! First I break out the after-sun gel. A soothing mixture of aloe and lidocaine that works miracles on a child's hot sunburn. Then, a delicious banana split! Not only does it take your mind off the pain, but it cools you down and puts you in a good mood, no matter who you are!!! Ara had an amazing birthday and the kids all ended up with some beautiful tans instead of burns. Thank you, my sunburn cure all, if it wasn't for you my kids would have woken up crying in pain, but instead...they woke up with smiles and anticipation for the next adventure we will be going on!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment