Biker babes

 Checking in with the guy at the farmer's market who gives free bike maintenance and advice.

 Now we're set to roll. 

Lily still needs a little push. 

Amalia's a solo cruiser. 

The "fort" that materialized in my bedroom last night. 

Complete with lighting.

And provisions like clothes and toothbrushes. 

Cirque du Lily

Lots of craftiness going on at summer camp these days. I can't believe there are only two more weeks of camp.

In anticipation of the Olympics, Lily mentioned yesterday, "If sleeping were a sport, I'd be in the Olympics." I think her dad would be her top competition.

And in other news, the theme in Amalia's daycare class this week was forest animals. We were trying to think of which stuffed animals would be appropriate to take to school:

Amalia: Can I take my cheetah? Do they live in the forest?
Me: No, I think they live in the African plains.
Amalia: Mommy! Cheetahs don't live on planes!

Cause and effect

When you have a water balloon this size coming through your roof, bad things are bound to happen. 

The blue thing is a tarp that was supposed to cover our roof, which was getting some pre-solar panel work done. As our contractor said after the freak thunderstorm last Tuesday night, "the tarp failed." I'll say. This picture was looking from Amalia's room toward the back of the house. At this point the tarp was drooping to about shoulder level. It eventually sank down to about a foot off the floor, with rain coming directly into the house, before the contractors were able to come and start siphoning it out and resecuring it. 

This is the same room a few days later (in post-traumatic shock, I was in no frame of mind for picture-taking immediately after what I now like to call "the flood.") Complete with blowers and dehumidifiers to dry out (and heat up) our house. 

The kitchen is directly below that room. 

More machines to create Sahara-like conditions. All surfaces became hot to the touch. Packing the girls' lunches became quite an exercise in speed and reflexes. 

The candy thermometer in our kitchen charted us at about 113 degrees. 

The 99 reading outside our bedroom is misleading since the upstairs thermostat only goes up to double digits. Note that the 95 temp outside was cooler than inside our house.  

Yesterday, with the most blessed addition of a window A/C unit from our contractor, we sought refuge in our basement (after an afternoon at IKEA to take advantage of their A/C--and the free hour of childcare). 

Today I am happy to report that when I got home from work, all the blowers and tarps had departed. I am so happy to be able to walk through my house in barefeet and without breaking an instant sweat. It's the little things. At least we have power. 

Power to the people

Our neighbors celebrated the Fourth of July by finally having the tree removed from the front of their house.

It took these guys all day to remove and grind up the huge tree. I wished I had something stronger than water to offer them in the 100-plus degree heat. 

Meanwhile, we found a shady spot to watch our neighborhood parade.

Which is most notable for its plethora of local politicians and the fact that almost of all of the participants throw candy to the kids. (It's better than Halloween--the candy comes to you!)

We reunited with Sophie and her family in the evening to walk over to Holy Rood Cemetery to watch the national fireworks. We might brave the crowds on the Mall some day. Yesterday was not that day.  

Lily's first sparkler. 

Happy Birthday, America!

Derecho

The massive derecho storm that hit last Friday night left us without power in 95-100 degree heat. The above picture is from across the street. We're feeling very fortunate that the old tree that used to be in front of our house was removed earlier this spring. More than 1.5 million people in our area lost power, with downed trees and limbs just about around every corner. 

Here are a few pictures of how we filled our time the first day of the power outage. Amalia did some "work" on the front porch. 

We pulled out Andy's old Legos. 

Lily's car creation was deemed superior to her father's. 

Cooling off in the backyard micro-pool. 

Then we were fortunate enough to be taken in by friends with electricity. Amalia played balloons with Matthew. 

Lily and Colleen put on some shows. 

Complete with costume changes. 

Matthew and Amalia watched Soul Surfer. 

Andy took a much-needed nap.   

The power stayed out for about 3 more days, during which time I lost the will to keep documenting all the ways we tried to entertain ourselves. Fortunately, our power came back on Tuesday morning. It is so nice to be home.