Summer has arrived to Shanghai with a vengeance. Today the thermostat is reading 106F/41C, with a “real feel” of 119F/48C. And twice this morning the power in my office has shut down due to overheating. The heat is real. Growing up in Seattle, we experienced heat in the summer and cold in the winter, but not to extremes. We’d get a f few scorching afternoons and a few snowy days. But all in all I delighted in the change of the seasons and looked forward to each one. But when the heat index rises well above 100 and the humidity surpasses 50%, sometimes the only thing you can do is stay inside. While I can’t wait for the temperatures to drop back down out of the triple digits, we have found a couple of ways to pass the long hot afternoons.
For the past two summers we have made the short trek on the metro from our apartment to the Jing An Kerry Center where there is a small splash pad for kids (and parents) to cool off. It turns on for several hour-long intervals throughout the day, and there is always a crowd of children waiting for it to begin. As you might expect, Erin is happy to jump in and play with Evie – these two always have a blast!
Note that Erin appears to be wearing the same polo and shorts, despite the passage of time. Ha! I guess something about a splash pad inspires the urge to wear a purple polo!
September 2016
July 2017
We’ve made it a bit of a weekend family tradition to get breakfast and then head out to splash around. As Evie is a very early riser – 6am is sleeping in – we decided to head to the splash pad right early on Sunday at about 7:30.
Sunday brunch with my favorites!
Although the sun had barely come up, it was already over 100 degrees and sticky with humidity and pollution. As we rounded the corner we found, to my dripping, sweaty horror, that the Shanghai Craft Beer Festival had taken over the splash pad area with tents and kegs. While in my previous life I would have been filled with joy at the idea of an afternoon trying different beers at an outdoor festival – sweaty miserable mommy me was not. While I had a toddler style meltdown, Evie just went with the flow. After a brief stop for fresh juice at Element Fresh, we headed home. We improvised and set Evie up with a balcony “pool” and she played happily for well over an hour before we finally had to pry her out.
Evie’s new obsession: everything is a hat!
Cooling off on her balcony “beach”!
We decided that we must escape to somewhere cooler, so next weekend we are headed to a nearby mountain resort called Moganshan. It will be a a quick trip, but we are looking forward to a little change of scenery, as well as (hopefully) a little reprieve form the heat.
