Today is hot. After my brief stint in Portland, I am finding it difficult to adjust to the heat. I landed in Austin at 6:55. The pilot had told us that the temperature was 90 degrees. I thought that I had dressed for the weather, but my beach combers and t-shirt were just too warm for the weather.
The girls were thrilled to see me, but were sensibly dressed in shorts and tanks. Even Tanner was adhereing to minimalist dress. We had a nice drive back to CS, air conditioning blowing full blast. I kept thinking that I could turn it off, but whenever I did the car would quickly heat up again. We made a brief stop at Sonic Burger for dinner and cherry limeaid. Gave the girls their Disney sippy cups and poured their sour apple slushes into them.
The sunsets in Texas are big and wide. As we drove away from Austin, the sun turned into a huge orange ball of fire and sent large radiating spikes of red and purple across the sky. And even then, it was still too hot to turn off the air conditioner. As the sun sank below the horizon and the stars started to twinkle and the moon became smaller and brighter as it rose in the sky, I opened the window to let in a breath of fresh air, and instead, I got socked with a sultry, thick breeze. The window stayed closed for the rest of the trip. The AC stayed on.
We pulled into our driveway and tumbled out of the car at 9:30. This time I was prepared for the heat, and the fact that it would feel like I was stepping into a sauna. We unloaded the car, turned on the AC in the house, and spent the evening unpacking suitcases and discovering treasures and doing the laundry. The AC stayed on all night, and Tanner laughed at me because I was so hot. I guess I adjusted pretty quickly to the Portland cold, and have to be careful for the next few days.
Today, when the mail came, I gave the girls their letters from everyone back in Portland. A couple of the notes had money in them and boy were they thrilled. So, a "shopping" trip with Mommy suddenly became of paramount importance.
I don't think I've ever seen them so excited about shopping. They must have gotten tired of the Daddy style of shopping while I was gone. Walmart was the destination because Kate realized that she could buy a pink, princess, basket for her bike. The basket was easy to find since she has been eyeing it for several months. I was expecting Reagan to take a little more time about her purchase, but she espied a plastic lion right next to the pink basket. I tried to convince her that she might want a Tinkerbell doll or blocks or a whistle, but no, she wanted the plastic lion. I showed her princess dolls, baby dolls, mini-mommy dolls. No, she wanted the plastic lion. I took her down an aisle filled with sparkly dress ups, necklaces and nail polish. No, she wanted the plastic lion. I shrugged and we proceeded to the check out counter. She roared the whole way there and chased imaginary prey. She cried when I handed the lion to the lady at the counter, but quickly smiled again when I handed it back. I am amazed at how such a simple toy can make her so incredibly happy. A few more roars brought us to the car. We climbed in and headed for home.
I am glad to be home even if it is hard to adjust to the heat.
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