Hydrate, hyrdate, hydrate!

Following the title of an email I just received from my 'boss' entitled "hydrate today," I thought it would be a good idea to encourage hydration! That may sound like a very strange email to receive from a coworker, but there is a definite purpose for it. For those that don't know, I don't have a standard 9-5 day job. My hours are sporatic and random, often working evenings and weekends. And tonight, we happen to have a job outside at 6pm. Standing. And for those of you not in the DC area, the high for today is expected to be in the upper 90's with high humidity. At 10:30 am, it's already around 90 degrees and uncomfortably humid. Now, maybe that email doesn't sound so strange. Add that to reading the previous post by Mellie, I decided I should blog about my favorite drink- water!

If you're silly enough to take a Florida vacation in the summer, get ready to spend a lot of $$ on water. Every day, we started our WDW days with a bottle of water for each of us and a sippy cup full for Noah. Many days, we would finish at least one bottle before even entering the parks. $2.50 may seem extreme for a 16oz bottle of water, but not only is it refreshing, it's a NEED in the parks. Thanks to my odd job, I know what heat exhaustion feels like. I've seen many people pass out or get sick due to the heat. The heat is much more extreme than people can really imagine. If you're sweating and losing salt and liquid, sports drinks are also a good idea.

Just yesterday, I heard about a young child getting sick watching our morning mission (9 am outside). I'm sure his mother didn't think that being outside for a short period of time that early would cause any problems, but with the hot sun and no shade cover, it didn't take a long time to ruin their day of tourism. Then, later in the afternoon, another coworker said he started seeing black due to the extreme heat conditions. He had never in his life felt the way he did - even though I have experienced this more than once.

If you want to keep going on your vacation, make sure to drink your water! Avoid soda and caffeinated beverages - they simply dehydrate you even more. Hopefully this will help more families out in the future.

Stay inside and enjoy the AC for me because I'm going to be spending the afternoon outside in this crazy heat!

~Jenn