Summer Fun

If you live anywhere in the eastern half of the United States, then you know that it has been abominably hot here for what seems like the entire summer.  I'm not writing to complain about the heat given that many in our area have been without power for 5 or 6 days now due to the crazy derecho storm that hit us last Friday night...(but I should mention how grateful I am for air conditioning!)...just sayin' that our outdoor activities have been seriously curtailed due to the intense heat and the presence of a new Strauberry in our lives.

However, we have managed to squeeze in a little outdoor fun...and I have pictures to prove it.  But first a couple of Miss Caroline...

One reason we haven't been outdoors much!

This baby blanket was hand-quilted by our neighbor - her first quilting project!  And she gave it to Caroline. Sweet! 

Eat. Play. Sleep. Repeat.
But she forgot "cry!"

Water fun with friends

 And the final bit of evidence that we've been outside...

Cade got a tick-bite in early June, and we've been watching him for signs of Lyme disease since then.  Earlier this week, this rash appeared around the site of the bite.  So we headed to the doc's, and Cade is on antibiotics now.  I had kept the tick and passed it on to the doctor who is sending it out for testing.  They'll let us know soon if the tick was indeed carrying Lyme (or another disease).  The rash disappeared a day after he began antibiotics, so we're not sure if that's due to the antibiotics working or if it means that it was not a Lyme rash to begin with.  Hoping and praying for the latter!

Ugh - I just hate ticks!  I tend to go crazy with the bug spray anytime the kids play outside.  It makes me sad that I was able to spend thousands of hours running through the fields and woods as a kid while never worrying about ticks, but now my children have to be tick-checked every night after playing outside.  It makes me antsy about spending time outside too, and that's just sad.  Not sure what's happening to the country-girl inside of me, and that's not something I ever thought I'd think, let alone say.  All because of ticks.