We're to *that* point of the year. The point where it's not just summer- it's more summer- or, as we like to call it summerer. It's the point where you have to wear your sandals over to the pool, because even running across the pool deck for a few seconds will burn your feet. Oh? And that pool? It's BATH water. Like, bath water when you have a really good hot water heater. It feels like a hot tub. There's no refreshing cool down. We've taken to not toweling off to ride our bikes home so we're not sweaty by the time we get back. It's that time where you have to encourage the dogs to move fast when you let them out, so the door doesn't stay open too long. And forget doggie walks. It's way too hot and humid. It's that time where you can't leave chapstick in the car, or buy ice cream, because it will all melt in record time. Where if you're going to go out, be prepared to be sweaty, and to barely be able to touch the steering wheel without burning your hands. And yes, air conditioning is a god send. But it's going to take a hot car forever to cool down, and the house just can't keep up, becuase you're lucky if the lows dip into the 70s, even at like 3 am, the 'feels like' is 90.
You get the point. It's like this every July and August (though, in the 15 years we've lived here, I can tell a difference in the heat- from the times of year it heats up/cools down- to the heat in the summer). The bad part is lately we haven't even had afternoon storms to cool us down. Usually, we get out of here for some kind of summer vacation- a step out of the greenhouse, we call it- in July and/or August. But, with Covid, this is year #2 of not stepping out of the greenhouse, and it is getting to me!
Still, I'd take this over winters in Ohio. But man, September (and lets be real, more likely October) cannot come soon enough. Luckily, July is just about over. And, it's Olympics time! (A year late, but at least they're here.) I'm actually trying to speed through the rest of our July so I can start getting up some Olympics posts (we're on day 7 of events here!), so lets rapid fire through this.
First, the news:
So, that Johnson & Johnson news isn't awesome. We're a little nervous about that here.
But hey, remember that time the Bucs won the Super Bowl? They finally got to go to the White House to celebrate, and Tom Brady made fun of Trump. Amazing.
Oh, and remember that time last summer where Florida was a shit-show as far as Covid? Well, buckle up for part two.
Not great. And this has gotten WAY worse since I took these screenshots. We're averaging like 10,000 new cases a day. Of course, we don't report daily numbers anymore. So you get to wait till like Wednesday or Thursday and find out it's just terrible weekly numbers.
Doubled in 7 days. Think we're at quadrupled in four weeks now.
Right. And the heat.
Even this screenshot is outdated. Tampa broke this record yesterday.
We had a lot of rain for a couple weeks, and the ponds were real high (after Elsa and all), but now, we haven't seen rain in awhile again.
Asa and Calib are on to this new thing: when one of them is waiting on the other one to play Madden they lean in a doorway. (Calib started it by leaning with a controller in hand going "oh hey dad"). It has snowballed into them playing their game and then texting each other pictures of them leaning. (Asa started this when Calib was at work, but now Calib does it when we're out and about on his days off).
We did actually go INSIDE down at the lodge for the first time in a long time.
You can't get too close to the ferrets or birds though.
But there's a new reptile you can get close to!
Not much blooming in the butterfly garden either, though.
We also celebrated Ellie's 9th birthday. We don't know exactly when her actual birthday is. But, the shelter always lists their intake day as their birthday and then adds however old they think they are. So, Ellie was taken into on July 6th, and listed as three years old. We got her about six months later (can you imagine Miss Els a Bells getting passed up for six whole months?! We're so lucky we got her!! )
Anyway, Happy Birthday to my Ellie Bellie.
She got cupcakes and a new toy to celebrate.
Oh, and it was the most dreaded day in the Waterstraut household: where Asa and Calib play each other in the Madden Superbowl (it's actually happened a second time since this picture- Asa won once, Calib won once).
Asa and I also snuck in a Disney day to Epcot. They're still doing socially distanced character meet and greets, which I kind of like better. There's no waiting in line, you snap a quick picture with them, and you're out.
We were mostly there for the food though- we got some Fish and Chips in the UK.
And some tapas at the Spice Road Table. I've been meaning to go here for years- and it's perfect for Covid times because it's outdoor dining. And, it is delicious. We got the hummus and a sampler.
And then we hit up France for dessert. We got the ice cream sandwich, even though prices have jumped (like a decent amount), in the France pavilion lately.
It was a bit of a rainy day in Epcot though, and my shoes still have no tread- so I brought water shoes along in case it got rainy and slippery.
At least it was less hot- with the cloudy skies.
Eventually it rained, and the water shoes came in handy.
I could even go through the fountains in them.
All in all, a nice trip around the world. Epcot is my Disney Covid home.
We were there the day before the Food and Wine Festival, but all the decorations were up.
And on the way out, we located Calib and my dad's picture from the year 2000 on the wall. These used to be just outside the ball, but have been moved. This was the first time we found it in it's new home.
Even though it's outside the gates, you can still kind of get a picture of their picture with the ball in the background.
Oh, and you still get Covid notifications when you show up to Epcot.
A couple of days later, Asa and I were out and about to run some errands and we stopped by Portillos for lunch.
And an Asian Market to nose around and try and get some things for the Olympics.
And then we went to The Dessert Spot in Tampa. They have lots of fun desserts,
but we got the toffee cake with ice cream. And it was YUMMY.
A nice little spot if you're in South Tampa (like at Trader Joes, it's less than a mile away!)
We also swung into Kohl's. It was the first time I was in the store since Covid. I've only done curbside pick up. And yes, we've been wearing masks inside again. Between Florida's cases, the delta variant, and the inconsistent studies with the J&J vaccine, we just figure it's smart. And, I've just learned the CDC is going to make a new recommendation today- likely that if you live in a high transmission area, you should be masking indoors again, even if vaccinated. And, Florida is accounting for about 20% to 25% of the countries cases, so I'm not sure how the governor will spin it, but anyway. Here we are.
Our neighborhood has been bringing in food trucks occasionally, so we swung by for some snacks.
They park down by the pool, so you can get some food and take a dip in the (very warm) pool.
Oh, hey. And I;ve gotten to a 300 day streak! I haven't even had to use a streak freeze!
A cute Phenom picture for you.
Oh, we've got a couple limes. The lime tree isn't producing like the lemon tree, but we have some coming! Now, if we could just get some avacados.
Oh great, leaning again.
I tried to beat the heat by doing yardwork early. But, there is no beating the heat in Florida, in July.
But hey, the yard looks nice. I also laid a bunch of mulch, and finally made a new little mulched in area by our bedroom windows.
That same day, Hayden and I headed to Publix on our bikes for a few things for dinner. I got to use my detachable basket! I shopped in it and then attached it to the front of my bike to bring it home.
But man, that was also a hot trip. If I thought morning yardwork was hard, afternoon bike riding was worse.
Also, I took this funny picture of Etta. She was hiding because she doesn't like her picture being taken.
On Wednesday July 21, Asa and I celebrated 17 years of being together! And, 13 years since we got engaged. It was a low key celebration, complete with breakfast delivered.
A trip to the pool.
And cards and snacks in the blanket fort.
We finished up the evening with our Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics, but I'll get to that in the next blog. I can't even believe I got everyone to participate in the Olympics again! But, here we are! Stay Tuned for Olympic Mania!
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