So it was a hot day in August and we were wondering what we could do to get outside but not get cooked in the sun. Something different. So we headed out to Fort Hamilton - a real, live castle! It was perfect - loads of places to explore and way more beautiful than I remembered. Definitely, a new destination for us and the gang.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
fort hamilton
So it was a hot day in August and we were wondering what we could do to get outside but not get cooked in the sun. Something different. So we headed out to Fort Hamilton - a real, live castle! It was perfect - loads of places to explore and way more beautiful than I remembered. Definitely, a new destination for us and the gang.
Friday, August 30, 2013
open house/farewell
We stopped briefly at Dad's office so Mama could each breakfast and Papa could finish some work before embarking on a watershed day: Charlie's Somersfield orientation day (where he spent a couple of hours there to sniff around before spending the whole day there) and his last day at Baby Jail.
Charlie's last day at Baby Jail. Wow. When you look at your kids, you pretend to yourself that you were responsible for everything that they are - every word that comes out of their mouth, every action they take, the manners they may or may not have, the spectrum of their entire personality. It is just pretense though. We're a much smaller slice of their lives than we let ourselves believe. In between, there are hundreds of people donating little bits of themselves to the building blocks of these kids' personalities.
A huge part of Charlie's personality comes from one Ms Tina - Charlie's second Mommy. Ms Tina and Charlie developed a bond that seems to have transcended their nominal school rapport. And we couldn't ask for much more. The beginning of Charlie (and probably beyond) will always be shaped by their friendship and the time he spent in her charge.
We will miss Baby Jail for many reasons. Charlie, you were really happy here - take it with you if you can. You had a great, loving bevy of kids and teachers here. As they kept telling us, the place should be renamed "Everybody Loves Charlie". But we'll miss Ms Tina most of all.
A huge part of Charlie's personality comes from one Ms Tina - Charlie's second Mommy. Ms Tina and Charlie developed a bond that seems to have transcended their nominal school rapport. And we couldn't ask for much more. The beginning of Charlie (and probably beyond) will always be shaped by their friendship and the time he spent in her charge.
We will miss Baby Jail for many reasons. Charlie, you were really happy here - take it with you if you can. You had a great, loving bevy of kids and teachers here. As they kept telling us, the place should be renamed "Everybody Loves Charlie". But we'll miss Ms Tina most of all.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
weekday
Schuyler making an impromptu visit to her favourite pediatrician. Asthmatic yet gorgeous.
Charlie not only dresses like a princess at home but brings his royal style to baby jail.
Charlie not only dresses like a princess at home but brings his royal style to baby jail.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Another great Sunday
Charlie is not a light sleeper. We used to think he was because he wakes up at least once a night with some request to fulfill before going back to sleep. But once he's asleep, that boy can sleep through a lightning strike right outside his window. Which is exactly what he did last night. I thought for sure that something in our yard was going to be on fire - it was the loudest boom followed by earthquake-like tremors throughout the house.
Today was also a great day beginning with Lucy taking Schuyler, Charlie, and Trystan to Kidzone to play in the ballpits and on the climbing frames (it's one of the few places for kids to get some exercise when it rains here). Then she took them for lunch and ice cream (Schuyler: "I had valinnna with a CHERRY!"). What a nice godmother!
Then we sat down an all watched "Toy Story" together for "quiet time" as the rain smacked against the windows. It was really nice. We may not have been talking much during it but we all did something together that we enjoyed. That's really what it is all about.
Then, another favourite, the kids made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with Mama! They ate their weight in cookie dough and probably have salmonella but that's just part of being a kid.
Then the rain cleared up and we swam for ages and I tried to teach Schuyler how to do a cannonball. Her version looked more like what we used to call The Nutcracker but it was still a blast.
We all had turkey burgers for dinner and a quarter of a cookie each and then read together and they got another instalment of the Mermaid series (Chapter 4 - Daddy was taken by the Sea King and the kids have to pass 3 tests to get him out - thanks, Wardy jr!) and then they passed out.
There are moments I'm not proud of as a parent. Moments when I lose my patience over nothing. Moments when I don't listen as much even though I can see they really want me to. Moments where I just want a break. But then there are days like today. We don't get to choose our memories. We don't get to decide which ones stick in our grey matter throughout our lives. But my hope is that days like today are the ones that stick with these kids. I hope the revisions of the mind leave nothing but days like today in their brains when they play the mental movies of their childhood. I love you guys more than you could possibly understand.
Saturday, August 24, 2013
digging for treasure
One of the reasons we went for a second child is so that Schuyler would have someone more her size to play with growing up. And it's largely worked. These two have become quite the team playing almost everything together from hide-and-seek (listening to Charlie try and count to ten is just part of the fun - Schuyler has about ten minutes to hide), to Lego buildings (which Charlie wrecks to the chagrin of his sister), to chasing each other around the dining room table, to simply digging in the sand. Auntie Kerry and the Davis Crew had invited us to Baby Beach on the spur of the moment and it was just what we needed to get outside and breathe some fresh air. The kids played in the sand for probably an hour. This is likely an activity that would make me a better person if I did it for an hour a week just to remind myself of the simple meditative pleasure of just "being" at the beach. Also, the scenery ain't so bad either - reminds you we live in a spectacular little island.
pirate party
Eli's birthday was pirate themed. So Schuyler found a way to be perhaps the most elegant pirate she could conjure. With all the wonderful pirate themed items and activities at BUEI, the thing that captured their attention most was the unlimited use of the tiny carousel that is normally restricted due to Papa's limited pocket change. But looking at the joy on these faces - who cares!
Friday, August 23, 2013
shoes & hats
The kids aren't allowed to play in our room. They know this. But like all kids they completely ignore it or find ways around it like this foray into Mama's closet to try on her hats and shoes. Charlie looks especially fetching in a sun hat and heels!
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
sleepover
We've been trying something different. At the instigation of our oldest kid, we tried having sleepovers in Charlie's room with mixed results. The first effect is to make reading a heck of a lot more challenging for the parent in charge. The first books read really just serve as background noise while Charlie repeatedly face plants on the blow up mattress inflated for Schuyler. But they clearly have a blast! And after a couple of false start nights, they seem to be getting into the swing of it i.e. Charlie has stopped keeping Schuyler up until 9pm talking and jumping on her and now they pretty much go to sleep. There are few things more delicately beautiful than seeing your two kids sound asleep side by side... it's kind of like when someone stops mowing the lawn next door and you're left with a silence you didn't know you were missing.
It was also the beginning of Chapters. This is kind of an homage to my brother, Ward, who used to tell Will and I stories he invented with us as the protagonists. They were simply amazing stories - funny, intricate, and stuck with me as one of the best parts of my childhood. So I'm trying to do the same. The current one is told in Chapter instalments and centres around Charlie and Schuyler jumping in a puddle in the front yard and sinking down into an underwater world where they are mermaids and befriend an octopus named (what else?) Otto and then there's the antagonist, the Sea King, who keeps capturing Magic. Charlie can talk to any animal and Schuyler can turn invisible and it's all pretty exciting and magical and completely creatively exhausting to generate night after night. I don't know how Ward did it but I'm very grateful he did.
It was also the beginning of Chapters. This is kind of an homage to my brother, Ward, who used to tell Will and I stories he invented with us as the protagonists. They were simply amazing stories - funny, intricate, and stuck with me as one of the best parts of my childhood. So I'm trying to do the same. The current one is told in Chapter instalments and centres around Charlie and Schuyler jumping in a puddle in the front yard and sinking down into an underwater world where they are mermaids and befriend an octopus named (what else?) Otto and then there's the antagonist, the Sea King, who keeps capturing Magic. Charlie can talk to any animal and Schuyler can turn invisible and it's all pretty exciting and magical and completely creatively exhausting to generate night after night. I don't know how Ward did it but I'm very grateful he did.
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