holed up in a basement

when we were in the early phases of contemplating our move back to oregon, one of the things that was high on both of our lists was some clearer distinction between seasons and actually having a true summer in the months of june, july and august. i guess you have to be really careful what you wish for because summer is what we are getting- in a serious way! it is freakin' hot- 106 degrees to be exact! that is a bit more summer than i was banking on. the kids are sweaty, sticky puddles and my brain is mush. last night noni was in town and we made a break with the kids and headed west to the beach. there we found a pleasant 76 whihc allowed us to get a nice little reprieve and the kids loved playing on the beach. we ordered room service and had a nice little night away. we came home today to find our house feeling like a dry sauna so we are holing up in the basement. pilar and i are knitting while watching totoro for the umpteenth time. the kids ate fruit and yogurt for dinner. it is simply too hot to turn on the oven. and we are drinking ice water by the bucket fulls. supposedly it is going to drop to 97 tomorrow but i am not holding my breath!