Those Poor Sheep

Mid-August. Just wanted to put up a quick post about how important it is to protect your eyes in the sun. Important too in the winter with the glare off the snow. Funny thing - my husband read some sort of article about mountain sheep going blind in Chili due to the thinning of the ozone layer and sun exposure. Wow. I Googled the story and it turns out that the sheep had eye infections that caused blindness - totally unrelated to sun exposure, but somehow the story got linked with that - and well, that is how these urban legends come about anyway, right? But still, it is a good reminder to stop and think and put on your sunglasses!

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As adults, many of us have transition lenses that get darker outside. Not so for kids. I have always purchased my son very good quality UV blocking sun glasses. At the age of 6 - he has now outgrown most child size glasses and is too small for other glasses. I found the perfect solution at a sporting goods store. He now has runners sunglasses - the non-slip type. They really stay on his face and he likes wearing them. No, he isn't wearing them to look cool - he is wearing them to protect his eyes from the sun. How many of you slathered on the baby oil and laid out in the sun for hours? We know better now! Let us all not regret not buying our kids sunglasses down the road. A $20-30 investment is well worth healthy eyes! The other thing my son always wears is a sun shirt outside. You can buy matching swimsuit/shirt sets, but the shirts are also available separately. What a great idea! They are nice and cool, quick drying, and protect the neck, back and tummy from sunburns.

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One night I dreamed about those sheep of the urban legend - all wearing sunglasses up on the mountain top. I think they were knitting, but I can't exactly remember. Funny dream!

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A little bit about my crazy August so far:

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I am beyond busy right now and at night when I fall into bed I actually have to stop and think and wonder - was the morning really only just "this" morning or was it further away than that.

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Thankfully, my son is enjoying day camp (for the most part) so has happy summer days filled with trips to the pool, beach, library, crafts, etc. Last week they even had a big camp-out sleep-over at the local campground. He has never slept away from home and really wanted me to be there (plus he has had an awful chest cold which usually needs a middle of the night cough syrup dose) so this is what we did... I picked him up from camp a bit early and we went to the campground and set up our little tent on the group site with the other big tents. At 8pm I dropped him off for the planned activities with his camp, raced home and worked some more and then went back at 10 pm to be with him. While I was gone, they roasted hotdogs over the campfire and played tag, etc. Just as I got there they were lining ALL (many, many kids and mostly without parents) the kids up and handing out glowsticks. Then we all walked to the beach (easy to keep track of our group with those glowsticks) and we were treated to the most amazing fire works display! How fun. Then we walked back to the site and had s'mores. My son made me the most yummiest one ever! Bed time was late and I was one happy camper to crawl into the sleeping bag! For very EARLY breakfast the kids had grilled cheese and fried eggs over the campfire. After breaking down the tents the kids went back to camp and had a pizza party since they obviously didn't bring lunch from home that day. The entire thing was really well organized! Except my camera battery was dead, dead, dead. So, sorry - no photos.

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No photos of the great Rotary festival we had either. We watched the parade, went to the magic show, watched the fireworks and went to the chicken bar-b-que. There were also several other events, including concerts that we didn't get to, but we did what we could and enjoyed that much anyway.

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And somewhere along the way my son and I also went to a very yummy Strawberry tea (next tea is a Blueberry tea). Plus I attended a very nice Christian (non-denominational) women's gala luncheon. The meal was wonderful - chicken/cheese/bacon wraps, potato/egg salad and overnight vegetable salad and dessert. Plus some inspirational entertainment and nice visiting. I was driving the car to drop some other people off at the door and I had given someone else my money for my ticket and when that person went to pay for me, someone else paid my ticket! She said she wanted to bless me with a ticket. How special is that? It was all very beautiful and I really liked it. All squeezed in between a very crazy and busy work schedule.

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July was so cold and rainy that I never did get any annuals in, but here are some shots of some perennials - all planted by my son over the past few years - I think boys/dirt/gardening is a perfect mix!