Candy apple red

Yesterday started off quite chilly and I had little hope that it would get warm...Negative Nelly was wrong. The day turned out to be just like Baby Bear's porridge, not too hot and not too cold, just right. My parents and nephew are here so instead of a normal summer day where it is possible that I would not even step out of the door until 3pm, we packed a picnic and walked a mile to our beach (which is actually a large lake).

Here is where the red tulips come in to play, my daughter ran ahead with her friends, "put sun screen on" and went into the water before I could intervene. Everyone was having a ball, we stayed for almost 3 hours, the kids swam, played Frisbee, played on the play ground and then more of the same. I did reapply sunscreen several times, but I do believe that the damage was done on the first 'application'. My daughter starts her summer with a really nice crispy burn on her back and shoulders. The kind that gets redder and redder as the day progresses (see red tulips as a visual). Luckily (and this is only by chance, not because I'm a prepared mom), I had some lidocaine burn gel to lather on last night. Anyway, I suspect some peeling will ensue in a few days...She'll probably enjoy that part of summer too...isn't it (in a sick way) rewarding to be able to peel off a huge layer of skin in one go...come on, you know that secretly you enjoyed that too when you were younger (or even last summer).

I want to send out a message to my brother in A-ghan (and his wife). I DID NOT burn your very sun sensitive son. He looks as perfect as he always does AND he is having a great time AND he is 'representing' as the good son that you've raised...thanks for sharing him with us. Another message goes out to all my siblings and other family and friends...MY MOTHER WALKED THE WHOLE WAY TO THE BEACH AND PLAYED FRISBEE...Rock On Mom (raise your hand with the "I love you" symbol please).