Sunburned!

Last Monday, our scout crew took a canoe trip down a portion of the Tallapoosa River in Alabama. It was a great trip that I really enjoyed, but it had an end result that has been with me ever since: a sunburned chest. I was in the water, we stopped several times and I got INTO the water, so I didn't think there was anything wrong with me wearing a modest swimsuit. I did think to take sunscreen, but was distracted while packing the car and forgot to grab it. We had a bottle of sunTAN lotion in the car already, and it had an spf 5, beats nothing right? I slathered it on a couple times,... but spf 5 is not much different than spf-nothing. After the 14 mile canoe trip, my chest was fried.

Then Saturday was Mesa's 18th birthday and she wanted to go to Tanners Beach, a local state park with a lake. So we packed the spf 30 this time and went to the beach for a birthday swim. I REALLY slathered on the sunscreen this time and coated the kids with it too. Anywhere there was sunscreen,...there is burn. That's just wrong!

So my chest, which already peeled last week, is now flaking and still red and raw. My back is peeling now too. My face hasn't peeled yet, but around my forehead I suspect it will. I went from pasty white to quite dark in just hours. I would take pictures to show you,...but nobody REALLY wants to see my chest,...do they? It ain't purty!

Want to find out what I did to care for my sunburn? Click here to read more.