house guests, heat and homes

Our most frequent houseguests arrived early this week. To be more specific, Mom and Elizabeth are here. We went to see Christopher Robin, they babysat while I did thrilling things like going to the doctor alone and Elizabeth weeded my garden. Our home is a dream destination location.

We celebrated Mom's birthday which delighted Annabelle to no end. Any opportunity to use sprinkles, candles and flags makes her so happy. We played a few rounds of rousing party games with plastic cups, straws and jelly beans. I may not have won the jelly bean game but I did beat Christopher in the cup stacking game so I'll be adding that to my non-existant resume. 

The ant infestation is back in my car so Elizabeth offered to vacuum it for me. A few hours later she casually said, "I think I found where the ants were coming from." I assumed it was a stray hashbrown or goldfish. IT WAS A DEAD FROG. IN MY CAR. UNDER MY SEAT. My car used to be my safe spot. If I could get from my cockroach infested home, through the snake-filled yard I could find safety in the sanctuary of my car. No more, no more. Those days are gone. I will be setting the car on fire next week.

Thursday we went to the waterpark with Amy. It was the same waterpark we visited a few months ago where my bathing suit ripped and my butt was on full display. I refused to be put in such a compromising situation again so I brought a backup suit. When I went down the waterslide my bathing suit rode up and once again revealed my backside. I cannot win.

There are several people in my life who routinely know more about whatever town I currently live in than I do. Mom and Elizabeth are two of those people. They're always bringing up local attractions that I never heard of. Earlier in the week I was talking to Amy and said a specific store was one of the top three attractions in the area. She said, "There are three? That many?" That pretty much sums up what I've found around here. Elizabeth arrived with a list of things to see. One was a Habitat for Humanity discovery center. They have a cluster of rundown huts identical to what millions of people worldwide live in. Of course I know live in poverty but it was eye-opening to go from door to door seeing the tiny, dirty huts. I felt bad for being annoyed with my livingroom decor.

The next houses were replicas of Habitat homes built in 16 different countries. It was fascinating to see the styles and decor vary by the needs of the people.

The weather made things a little too accurate. Somewhere between Zimbabwe and Uganda I was sweating so much my sunglasses were sliding off and I had to peel the shirt off my back. Annabelle's face was as red as a lobster. I now understand why women in some countries go topless. Nobody has time for a bra when it's 104*. 

Today we took a day trip to Columbus. Our first stop was a little botanical garden. 

We saw a couple tour the gardens as a possible location for their wedding. I wanted to ask if they'd tell me the wedding date so I could crash it but Christopher didn't want me to. He is such a party pooper. 

The second stop of the day was a space museum. When we visited NASA we played the spaceship landing simulator. I wasn't good then but today I landed it without crashing twice. I'd apply to NASA for a part-time position but I couldn't find the radio button. 

I'll need a little music while soaring through the cosmos. 

Linking up with Cup of Tea