Round and round she goes

 With these scorching hot days, Charlotte and I have become a little restless. Here's some of the outings we've been on to fill our days...

*Swimming pool.  It sounds great, doesn't it?  (It can be, at least).  But before we can go to the pool, I have to change into my swimsuit, get Charlotte into her swimsuit and swim diaper (and hope she doesn't poop in it before we get to the pool!  So far we are doing great in this department), lather us both up with sunblock, load our pool bag with water bottles, towels and toys, and get to the pool in the small window of time we have between Charlotte's lunch and nap time.  
    Once there, Charlotte is immediately enthused by the vast array of children.  She babbles and waves her arms, kicks her legs, smiles and yells at anyone and everyone.  Sometimes we make friends and I end up with a random little girl or two trying to take Charlotte out of my arms (I always say NO!).  But usually it ends up with me holding Charlotte's hands and walking her back and forth, back and forth in the shallow end.  Not so fun for Mommy in this heat when Charlotte only allows Mommy to get her ankles wet.
    But one thing can be said of the pool's ability to keep us on our toes.  Last week they found poop in the big pool.  So we had to get out.  Then they found poop in the baby pool.  So we left.

*Walks- Charlotte and I normally love walks.  And usually I can take the heat.  However, Charlotte may have broken out in a heat rash after the 4th of July (we can't figure out what caused the rash...and that seems most likely)....so we no longer go for walks on these scorcher days.

*Target.  We visit Target far too often.  Fortunately I'm pretty good about not buying stuff we don't need.  And these trips give Charlotte some good social time.

*Hy-Vee.  I honestly think we go to Hy-Vee far too often.  We have plenty of food.  But for some reason, I can almost always find a reason to go back to Hy-Vee.  More produce usually...and, as Target provides, Charlotte gets some good social time.

And...that's about it.  But we did try something new last week...

I usually steer clear of the mall...because it is too much of a temptation for me.  But last week I had a good reason to go...an anniversary card and gift for my hubster (FIVE YEARS NEXT THURSDAY!!!).  So...Charlotte and I went to the mall.  As we were walking around, Charlotte basking in the attention from everyone, I noticed the carousel.  It's been a long time since I've ridden a carousel.  They usually make me want to toss my cookies (I literally did quite often on "dizzy" rides as a child).  But...I thought...it might be fun for Charlotte.  So I forked over the $4 for two tokens.  (Turns out we only needed one $2 token, so we get to go again!).

Charlotte was beside herself with glee as I set her on top of a horse and strapped her securely to her mount.  She waved her arms, shouted at onlookers and smiled to beat the band.  I hardly noticed the roundabout motion as I watched the excitement on my daughter's face.  Yeah, I'm one lucky mama.

And as we were leaving I noticed they have zebras on that carousel!  Next time we go?  Charlotte's riding a zebra!