Today was live-in-a-volcano hot. I know that lately I've been commenting on how hot it is, but seriously...we broke some records today with the heat. Don't get me wrong; I love a hot day. But when you have Little People you have to be very careful with the heat. This generally means hiding indoors and thinking up ways to have fun without breaking a sweat.
Welcome to the volcano...at 3:30 pm it was nearly 40 degrees Celsius but with the awful Southern Ontario humidity, apparently it was actually closer to 49 degrees. Don't ask me how that works. I didn't go to school for meteorology.
We were uncertain about what, exactly, to do today. We wanted to limit any outdoor time, so even splashing in the kiddie pool was out. We didn't really feel like packing everyone up to go somewhere. Today was another day where we just let the day take us where it may. Daddy broke a guitar string so he took LP1 with him to the music store to buy replacement strings. Letting Daddy loose in a music store falls into the DANGER! DANGER! category, so I coached LP1 on some things to say to him while they were out...these phrases might have included things like, "Daddy! Focus! Only buy strings!" and running through a list of things Daddy was NOT allowed to buy. The coaching was successful because they only came home with a new packet of strings and stories about the fun they had playing in the music store together. Unsurprisingly, LP1 wanted to take the drums for a spin. Good thing they don't mind when you do that there.
While Daddy and LP1 were making music and buying strings, LP2 and I chilled together. We played with some of the animals from his farm set and read a few books. I spent most of the time doing silly things to make him laugh because there is nothing better than hearing him giggle. I think both LP liked the one-on-one time together.
I kept hearing how hot it was outside today and frankly, it was getting irritating. Surely there was something else happening in the world today that was more worth of reporting. There are only so many stupid weather-related metaphors you can hear before you crack. Daddy and I decided to test just how hot it was outside and this is how the New Thing for today was hatched...we decided that today we would crack an egg on the sidewalk to see if it would actually cook.
We gave the LP a liberal dousing of sunscreen and headed outside. After determining that the driveway felt hotter than the sidewalk, we decided to crack the egg on the driveway. I had explained that we were being scientists today and LP1 thought that being a scientist sounded cool. We went over what we were trying to do. I don't know how much of it she understood but I do know that both kids thought cracking an egg on the driveway was definitely one of the more interesting things we've done lately.
The rigorously scientific experiment begins!
We cracked the egg (note to self: on a downward-sloping driveway, an egg tends to slide. Have a lifter handy. Call this "Runaway Egg Syndrome" to sound more science-like) and watched with interest. Nothing happened. We waited for a few more minutes. The egg...looked like an egg. LP1 really wanted to poke the yolk but we restrained her. As the four of us stood there, looking at an egg on our driveway, we realized we were melting. It was time to retreat to the air conditioning before anyone got too hot. We abandoned science in favour of watermelon and cold drinks.
I do go check on the egg at around the twenty minute mark. It was definitely getting sticky but it certainly didn't look fried.
Add some hashbrowns and toast and dinner is served!
I took LP2 out with me about an hour later to check on the egg again. It was definitely looking more cooked but I don't know if that was because it was incredibly hot and the sun was just drying it out or if it was actually starting to cook. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not REALLY a scientist. I just pretend to be one to do fun things with our kids.
As today is Thursday, we had swimming lessons. And unfortunately, in the rush to get there on time, we had a bit of a tragedy. Our experiment was flattened. We may never definitively know if it was, in fact, hot enough to fry an egg on the driveway. What we do know is that we tried something very new and different with the LP. Were they too young to really grasp what was going on? Likely. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try these things every now and then. Children are little sponges...you never know what they will absorb and take in. Spending 10 minutes outside together, watching an egg on the driveway may seem silly. It IS silly. But maybe it will spawn a new curiosity and desire to learn. We read to them every day, even though I'm pretty sure that at this age, most of it sails over LP2's head. I wasn't sure how much LP1 was even taking in until one day, when she was about 20 months old, I realized she knew all the letters of the alphabet because there was this one alphabet book she insisted we read together every night for about 2 months. Our philosophy with them is to try. If something works, hurray. If it fails? Well, at least we had fun.
Well...it was hot enough & the car was heavy enough for scrambled eggs!
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