what's better on a hot day?

it's been hot this week ... where was this heat when i needed it last week during maya's swim lessons?!

i hate that our house traps heat and i can't open the windows very much because of two huge construction sites nearby (the dust has been horrible lately). i was in a foul mood today because i don't deal well with the mugginess. all i wanted to do was lie around naked under the ceiling fan and pretend i didn't have any kids. thankfully, maya and ian took turns taking naps this afternoon so i didn't have both of them around at the same time.

it hadn't cooled down very much after dinner so i pulled out trusty ol' kyoro-chan, our shaved ice machine (actually, it's my parents'). we've had this thing since i was a little girl and it never ceases to delight me. when you turn the handle on top of the hat, kyoro-chan's eyes move back and forth. it also shaves the ice pretty finely, so the ice is almost fluffy unlike sno-cone ice, which is almost gritty in comparison. i prefer the clear mizore syrup; it's just sugar water, basically.

ian had a huge bowlful before bed. i would've too, except that our ice tastes kinda funky ... spoiled the fun for me.

it did, however, remind me of the ice shop in my grandparents' neighborhood in japan. every time i walked by it during the summer i felt the cold seeping through the clear rubber curtains. when you peeked in you saw huge blocks of clear, clear ice, and you could hear the distinct sound of an old fashioned ice shaver making kakigori.

p.s. that little watermelon in the background was grown in the planter on our front porch.