Honestly, the last few days have been more of survival mode than when Eva was first born. This is literal survival mode... if we don't take care of ourselves we could get really sick or hurt.
The temperature the last 4 days has fluctuated between 35 (feels like 41) and 45 (feels like 50), cooling down to 27 (feels like 31) at night. Our house faces East-West, so we get morning sun and afternoon/evening sun. It honestly gest unbearable in most of the house. We have two portable AC units. One in our room, one in the kids' room. Even with those blasting all day, it only gets down to 30 degrees (at best) in the bedrooms during the day. At night we can get it down to 25-27 or so.
Our poor dog is suffering, but we locked him in the kids' room yesterday most of the day with their AC blasting just to keep him at a reasonable temperature. He hasn't had a walk in days, except one short one at 10pm the other night, but it was still 31 degrees out.
Schools are closed down, some restaurants and other businesses are shut down, and people are just hunkering down trying to cool down (how many times can I say "down" in one sentence?). We have sort of looked into what central air in our place would look like, but apparently with our strata rules, we'd have to get a unit under a certain decibel level which is very costly. If these heat waves become a pattern we may have to look into it because it's unlivable. The up front cost would probably be upwards of $7,000, but Hydro costs we've heard are about $0.15/hour to run the A/C. We'll see... This has only been the first week of summer... It'll be one of those "would future Renee & David spend $xx to be more comfortable and confident each summer?" questions.
Anywho, here's what we've been up to the last week!
Lots of underwear time and water play at home. On Tuesday Ashleigh and Phoebe came by for a visit, and in the afternoon we played outside in the hose/sprinkler for a bit.
Wednesday was set to be the coolest day of the week (still 26-30 degrees), so I took out the carpet cleaner and cleaned our whole couch and all our kitchen chairs. GROSS!!! It was like sludge. I was planning to make pizzas on Friday, but switched it to Wednesday instead as there was no way I was turning on the oven on Friday. Mom & Dad came over, and Mom took the kids for a walk and then they had a cool bath before bed.
On Thursday it was a hot, but reasonable temperature. We survived inside, but I was worried about what to make for dinner. I then got a text from Kirsten and she and Jesse were planning to order pizza and invited us to join. SOLD! We had a pizza picnic outside our places and it was perfect.
After the picnic we got the kids set up for bed, and then I headed off to my first Chickaletta fire this year! It was soooo wonderful to see all these friends again! It's been a long time since we've all been together. By fire, I mean Chickaletta "picnic table with champagne and cake" haha.
Friday was hot hot, like (feels like) 45 degrees or something crazy. we sat in the house and sweat most of the day, and then when Eva was napping in the afternoon we pulled out the pool and sprinkler and cooled off outside for a bit.
At bedtime Ashleigh and I went to the Hawthorne for girls night. We had a bit to eat and lots to drink, and it was such a wonderful evening! When we got home I decided to take Sherlock for a walk from 930-10pm. It was still so hot! Like 31 degrees. Yikes!
Saturday was (feels like) 48 degrees. I don't even know what that's like. It was awful. We were planning to have dinner at Larry & Shelley's, so before hand, we packed the kids up and drove all around for an hour to enjoy the AC and hope that Eva would nap. She did not... but the AC was nice. We sat in their backyard and stuck our feet in the pool, and then had hot dogs for dinner. When we got home we went to the kids' room and it was was like 34+ degrees in there. Sooooo hot. It felt dangerous, and I worried about what would happen the next few days. So we made a plan!
Sunday, Dave was on media at church so he was out of the house before 8am. Mom & Dad asked if they could take Dom and Emilia to Vancouver to visit Adam and Aly. YES! Less bodies in here the better! While they were out, after Eva's first nap Dave and I packed up and went to Scott and Ashleigh's air conditioned basement suite. It was already 30 degrees in our house before 11am, and the outdoor temp still had 10 degrees to go.
Mom and Dad brought the kids there around 1, and we spent the day there playing, watching movies, and had dinner together. We had Sherlock at home in the kids' room, and had to go back twice because the breaker had flipped (We were keeping an eye on him with the baby monitor connected thru wifi). We came home for bedtime, and it was still really hot in our house, but it felt less oppressing since we'd had a break during the day.
Today is the day we were all waiting for... An expected high of (feels like) about 50 degrees. I knew we wouldn't survive at home, but we couldn't go to S&A again because Scott had to work. Ashleigh checked with her mom to see if we would be able to spend some time at their house in the basement, as it is also air conditioned. They graciously offered us their basement for as long as we need today. We came around 11, and Mel had set out lots of toys for the kids so it's just been a hay day of play! Then we watched a movie (the Secret Life of Pets 2) which was hilarious, and then went back to playing. I had packed lunches for the kids in their lunch kits, and Dave picked up paninis from Fresh Street for us. My mom came over later on and brought some food for us to have a "picnic" dinner in the basement. She called it a picnic, but nothing about a picnic mom preps is rustic. It was full on dinner. Boiled potatoes with sour cream and bacon bits, roasted chicken, two kinds of salad, focaccia bread with olive oil and balsamic... salt and pepper grinders, real plates and cutlery. Hilarious, but also delicious and so appreciated!
It's felt a little bit like a weird vacation. I don't like asking for help, but I knew we wouldn't do well staying at home these last few days, so I am soooo appreciative of the help we've been offered/received. It's weird being in someone else's home, while they're there, just hanging out... Just doing our regular life, but intruding in someone else's space. So thankful <3.
Also, as an added bonus, Eva slept like a CHAMPION! She slept in Phoebe's crib at S&A, in a bassinet in a spare basement room at the Yzerman's. Every nap was as good as (or better than) at home. Probably better due to the AC.
Poor Emilia has missed her nap two days in a row. She still normally naps for 2 hours every day and we have to wake her from most naps. She's done great. Dom, too. Considering all the routine shuffling and being in different places, they've both done great.
Now we are home, and it's sweltering, but there is light. Tomorrow is supposed to be 10 degrees cooler than today. Still hot at 34 degrees, but compared to this, it just doesn't sound so bad! Lytton, BC set a record for hottest Canadian temperature ever two days in a row now. The thermostat today read 47.9 degrees. The hottest temperature ever recorded in Vegas is 47.2 for comparison. Add humidex and I don't even want to know what the "feels like" temperature was!
Done with the crazy heat now! Let's get back to our regular Vancouver summer! Don't make me keep thinking about what life will be like for our kids and their kids when we're gone! #GlobalWarming.
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