You Might as Well Be Walkin' on the Sun

Here's how Little J and I feel about summertime in Phoenix:

Notice the slightly frustrated expression and the lack
of physical activity.

It's not just hot; it's a whole different level of hot that I have never experienced before. It sucks the air out of you when you walk outside, and doesn't give it back, even when there's a breeze. It permeates everything from the steering wheel to the 4 inches of air next to the inside of your windows. It's incredible that animals have evolved to survive in this kind of environment, because humans are terrible at it. I am amazed that 4.6 million people live in the Phoenix area. AMAZED. The native people who lived here left during the summer (as they should), but us modern humans are too stubborn to leave, and instead we stay and swelter. Sometimes I think Phoenix is just a giant monument to man's stubbornness.

So, what do a heavily pregnant lady and a toddler who like to be outside do in this kind of environment? We go to the pool. A lot. Sometimes we go twice a day. Little J has quite the swim diaper tan, let me tell you what. We also frequent the park (before 9am), and the zoo, where we see this guy on a regular basis:

Something about a fish the size of a small child terrifies me, but
not so for Little J.

We also visited a place up in Scottsdale called Butterfly Wonderland. Apparently it's North America's largest indoor butterfly atrium and also sports an aquarium and a bee and ant exhibit. We had such a great time! Kids under two are free, so we snuck in two visits before Little J turns two at the end of the month.

Apart from sweating out my body weight inside the atrium, it was totally
wonderful. Little J is looking a little sweaty here too.

Bzzzzzz!

Thankfully these weren't the africanized killer bees. 

Some eyes looking at some eye spots.

A really nice gentleman gave Little J a hat that he adores
now. Every time we go outside he has to wear it.

Little J is still talking about a butterfly that landed on his head. We made some butterfly crafts, and they're his new favorite thing.

We also visited the Children's Museum up in downtown with a friend, and Little J would never have left if I hadn't bribed him with fruit snacks. His favorite thing was the toothpaste car, but the racetrack was a close second.

And you can get to your destination with nice minty
fresh breath.

The best part about the Arizona summer is the monsoon season. It just began, and it has been a whopper of a season so far. Lots of lightning, thunder, torrential downpours, and dust storms, and we still have another month to go. Boo ya! The storms take the temperature down, and we love playing in the puddles in the aftermath. The sunsets are also phenomenal, as you can see:

From this...

...to this just 15 minutes later! It was followed by a massive lightning storm.

As Little J gets older, it's getting to be more and more fun to be his mom. He's a total goof, and we spend a lot of our time giggling and being exceptionally silly. One of his new favorite things is singing songs, and sometimes I hear him singing to himself when he's playing with his cars or riding in the car. His favorites are "Once there was a Snowman", "Popcorn Popping", and "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam". Here are two of his (and his father's) musical performances, for your auditory pleasure:

                                                     

That's all, folks!