What a wonderful weekend!

Saturday Sarah and I met Ken for lunch, then we spent hours at the mall. We also managed to squeeze in a movie while we were there, we saw "Furry Vengeance" with Brendan Frazer.

On Sunday we packed the dogs and our selves into the car. First we stopped at Dunkin Donuts for some coffee (Ken) and unsweetened ice tea (me) and chocolate milk (Sarah). I also got a bagel to eat later.

Then we stopped at Wal-Mart to get a new cooler (our old one is so big and really hard to carry, the new one has a handle and wheels). We filled it with ice and some picnic food before taking off. That is when I realized I left the bagel in the car, and of course, the dogs had eaten it while we were in the store...

After that we drove around and looked at a few houses. Nothing spectacular to talk about. We both have a feeling we will have better luck finding something towards the end of May, especially now when the tax credit for home buyers is over.

Then we took off to Fort Desoto Park, an awesome national park with many things to offer. The first thing on our agenda was a hike on one of the many nature trails, so the dogs would calm down a little. It was a HOT weekend with temperatures in the shade of 35 C. Bob managed to step on a snake, and the snake was NOT happy and tried to attack, but luckily Bob was smart enough to get the heck out of there!

After that very hot walk we went over to the off leash dog park where dog dogs were happy to get a cool drink and run around freely for a while. Then we took them down to the best part: the Dog Beach! Hundreds of dogs running around in the sand, swimming and just having fun!

After that, another round in the dog park and a shower to get most of the sand and saltwater off.

Then we drove over to our secret picnic spot where we had a nice lunch right by the ocean. The dogs and I stayed at the picnic site while Sarah and Ken explored the beach and looked for treasures, they did find an really cool horseshoe crab shell!

Then we explored a little more, but it was so hot we had to carry the dogs for a while, their paws were burning on the hot sand. We also stopped by the beach at the park, which was voted America's Most Beautiful Beach in 2005. Sarah and Ken went swimming while the dogs and I hung out in the shade with something cool to drink, apparently the beach water temperature is now 27 C, not bad at all!!! It was a very hot and tired family that finally drove home...

After everyone got a shower I made some homemade potato salad that was yummy and we did a little BBQ. A great end to a a great weekend!

Today I am feeling like a truck ran over me. When you have lupus you are a bit allergic to the sun, and it can make you feel like you have the flu. Even with layers of sunscreen on. But since I really don't want to skip being outdoors, it is just consequences I have to deal with. It also gives me little itchy hives, but they usually only last for a few days.

My lips are still super dry and cracked, so I don't think the dermatologist was correct, it is just not dry skin. I have been taking extra vitamins and have been using super duper lip moisturizers. I might have to ask my lupus doctor, I know Sjogren's disease can case cracked lips like that (I have secondary Sjogrens from the lupus), and the salivary glands have been acting up lately, being clogged a lot. So who knows? I just really hate having painful lips all the time, sigh.

Hope you are all getting a great start to your week!