Summer has arrived here where we live and the temperatures have been hovering around the 100 degree mark the past few days. We are going to get a small reprieve and just low 90s for a few days - yippie.

Days like these I'm especially grateful to have a neighborhood pool just a few minutes away. These days we pretty much are daily visitors. My daughter is on the swim team there - they compete against all the other neighborhoods in a summer season swim league. Plus it is the center of the social universe here so you'll find most families with kids regularly there.

Most of her practices and meets are in the evening so we avoid most of the worst sun but some are Saturday meets during the day. With a swim meet, the kids are in and out - all over the place - which is about the same as your average trip to the pool. Sunblock ends up having to be applied a bunch of times and good luck getting them to sit still while it dries.

I fry easily, my husband too. Our daughter fares a bit better and will get a nice tan after sun, while I pretty much remain par-boiled or cream color. I won't even go into what happens when I get too much sun on my face - it's awful and I'm not smooching anyone for about two weeks.

I found a trick that I've been trying with great success to block sunburn. I did it on Saturday for an extended run - 8am to 11:30am out in direct sun, no umbrella or shade. Normally I'd turn into a human torch but I came home with nary a burn spot!

We still used sunscreen during the day so don't abandon that but when we woke up that morning and I took my shower, I covered myself in a facial moisturizer I got from CVS that had SPF 15. Since it was a facial moisturizer, it was thinner and sunk in quicker. I let my skin get really dry (but oh so smooth!) before getting dressed. I did the same to my daughter who was at a higher risk being in a bathing suit and in the water.

It wasn't super expensive stuff but it was so worth it! Layering appears to be the trick. Sunscreen may wash off but facial moisturizer sunk into your skin before you even get outside can be a big help.