We kicked off the weekend with a trip to the beach--Sadie's first of the year. (Ella went earlier in the week with her little boyfriend and his mom.) We all had a pretty perfect time, and the frigid waters of Lake Michigan didn't seem to deter Ella one bit. Sadie was a little more cautious though.
Later that afternoon, I noticed that Sadie had a weird rash in patches but figured it was prickly heat (even though it wasn't that hot out). As I've mentioned before, I'm pretty likely to dismiss most things as "not serious" pretty quickly and forget all about them. Later on, though, Dean noticed the rash for the first time (I had forgotten all about it and hadn't even mentioned it to him). By this point, it had spread. It didn't seem to be bothering Sadie at all, but there is something pretty alarming about seeing your child absolutely covered in welts. When she woke up the next day, Sadie looked even worse. I made a call to the pediatrician's office, and they said it was either hives or a virus and just to watch it and wait.
I'll spare you the long story, but it's gone this morning, and I'm pretty darn sure that Sadie is allergic to sunscreen. I'm not sure why it would come on so suddenly. She did have an episode a few weeks ago where she got a tiny bit of sunscreen in her eyes and ended up with a really bad reaction. However, I switched brands, and we've since applied sunscreen to Sadie daily with no ill results. Unfortunately, whether it was the sunscreen or not, I'm now really hesitant to put it on her again. I know she didn't have a reaction to food because she didn't eat anything unusual. The only other "new" thing is this lipgloss my mom gave the girls. But my money is really on the sunscreen.
Getting back to the events of the weekend, though, on Saturday afternoon, we held the pool party Ella has been planning since April. She even made a really cute invitiation but then gave it to her friends and A and C before I could scan a copy.
The weather was less than spectacular, but as it turns out, a group of kids ranging from 2 to 4.5 really don't care whether it's hot and sunny. They splashed in our two pools (one of which had our Little Tykes slide in it) and also played on the Little Mermaid Slip and Slide. I think it's fair to say that everyone had a blast. Eventually, the kids abandoned the swimming to play upstairs at our new neighbors' house. They didn't seem to mind (the neighbors, that is). Later, as we were cleaning up the yard, Nathan from upstairs said that all of the kids we had over are so nice. "Not one of them is a jerk," he marveled. Well, they may have behaved very well at the party, but I can tell you for certain that my kids can be jerks on occassion....
We ate a variety of grilled meats, and then the kids, along with Nathan, enjoyed popsicles outside. Eventually, all the kids stripped naked and went for another swim in what was easily the high point of the party. Our yard was so muddy by this time that the kids looked like they had been mud wrestling. I got a number of awesome photos and a video of this. If your kids were actually in attendance, I will be sending you a link to an unlisted photo album of the naked mayhem. The rest of you are out of luck. Sorry! But you *can* view the party photos where the kids are actually clothed, as well as other photos from our spectacular weekend, here.
Anyhow, the party pretty much rocked (I think). I am now the Martha Stewart of kids' parties, as appointed by our friend C. Only I don't think all the kids would end up naked and muddy at one of Martha's parties. Just a hunch.
Dean later told me that Ella and her friend M spent most of the party trying to hide alone in closets or trying to share a private moment snuggled up in one of the beds. Which is also how they spent his birthday party. I have to say, I find it a tiny bit alarming that Ella is so into boys at age four. This can't bode well.
Sunday included another trip to the beach and then a trip to a local carnival. We rode the Tilt-A-Whirl with the girls as our first ride, and I can tell you that is the absolute LAST time I do that. I have always loved the Tilt-A-Whirl, but something about aging has suddenly made my stomach too weak for such amusements. The ride lasted FOREVER too. It was probably TEN minutes long. I'm not exxagerating. The operator just kept letting the ride run, which explains the super long line we had to wait in to get on the thing in the first place. When we got off, I came SO close to throwing up. I felt sick for hours afterward. However, the girls suffered no such fate and proceeded to enjoy two rides on motorcycles and a spin on the Ferris wheel. It may seem lax that I allowed Sadie to go on both of these rides. I certainly wouldn't have let Ella at age two. But when you have an older sibling.... Luckily, Sadie didn't jump off or fall out of either rides, so all's well that ends well. They had one of those scary, death-trap loop-the-loop roller coasters there, which Sadie desperately wanted to ride. Luckily, of course, she was way too little for it. But even if she weren't, I simply don't trust two-bit carnival rides that go upside down.
We got a few rather spectacular photos at the carnival. We finished it all up with cotton candy and a trip to the park.
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