Playdate @ Mimi's

Summer is almost here!  

How do I know?  

Because we played outside in "Mimi's" yard nearly all - day - long today.  

It was wonderful.

Happiness

Hugo could not wait to get out of bed today, we had a playdate scheduled with his favorite Miss Thing 3. He was not interested in preschool. Did not want to go. Wanted me to drive him straight to Thing 3's house. Like now. Somehow or other, I convinced him to leave the house with Ms Ruth Ann and go to school. The girls and I tidied up the house, packed lunch items, dressed, nursed, got tucked into car seats and out the door we went to retrieve Master Hugo from school. Have I mentioned that I carry the two girls, in their car seats, up the stairs into the church where preschool is held, and then down the stairs to where the classrooms are, to fetch the dear little one? I was the last mom to pick up today so I took advantage of free time with Mrs Newton to ask how Hugo has been doing. She exhaled a deep sigh, then described him as a little ant. Into everything at all the wrong times. Sounded about right. I thanked her for her time and we headed back up the stairs and down the stairs to our awaiting van and playdate rendezvous.

We need a trampoline. That's all I'm saying.

Thing 3 finally convinced Hugo to come indoors and watch a dinosaur movie with her. Hugo loves all things dinosaur, so not much convincing was needed. He would not look at me while the movie played. Fine, I was busy anyway learning how to make caramels. I was also busy juggling girls who were supposed to be sleeping but were not. Shaka helped by holding and bouncing one wiggly girl or the other. We traded off whoever was the crabbiest. Finally they passed out and we were able to eat our lunch and finish up the caramels.

When it was time to leave, meltdown city occurred. Shaka offered to keep Hugo a few hours more. I was temped, but not sure... Then we spied Thing #4 climbing into Hugo's car seat in the back of our van and realized the situation had been decided for us. We swapped kids for the late afternoon/dinner hour and it was fun! It felt like old times when Hugo was small and wanted to never leave the Thing's van. Good times. When Hugo returned home tonight, I was upstairs preparing the girls for bed. Cheyenne opened the door for him and as Hugo crossed the threshold he hollered, "Hey MoOOOooommm! I'm hoooome!" I loved it.

Awesome Day

Life did not roll as planned today.

Last night I had told Cesar that Hugo and I planned on staying home today. A nice quiet day was on the agenda. It is time to spiffy, dust, sort, toss and organize the upstairs. We have two rooms which need to be condensed/organized in hopes of being beautified for welcoming our soon to be arriving girls.

Cesar telephoned at 8:23 am and I was still sleeping, in my bed! Not on the couch, cuddling Hugo with sounds of Imagination Movers or Agent Oso running through my dreams. Then I realized that if I was in bed, Hugo must also be sleeping! Awesome! Once off the phone, my thoughts drifted towards those oh so yummy swedish hotcakes. I quickly dialed up Jin to join us with her girls for a breakfast party. It was de-lish!

Then Jan called. "Want to meet up at the park to play with Kenney?"

Snacks of apple slices, fat pretzels, almonds and water bottles were quickly tossed into a cooler. Bodies were clothed, bikes loaded into the back of the van, a movie was turned on. The weather was playdate perfect.

There were some grumpy moments.
Mostly from my child
but I couldn't resist Miss Amy
and her beautiful sourpuss face.

We avoided the yellow jackets, smashed a few.

Enjoyed the view from the river's edge.

Met new play friends.

The afternoon was fading and groceries needed purchasing. We caravaned to Jolly Cow for chocolate cones all around, Jan was a trooper and stayed behind with the kids. Jin and I slipped away in our van to Adam's for quick dinner items. I want to try out her husband's meatball recipe. I've been dreaming of them... The Doc says that I'm anemic at the moment so, bring on the meat I say!

Once home, I didn't make the meatballs. Possibly tomorrow or maybe Friday. I want to make extra to start putting aside dinners, or at least parts thereof, for when the girls arrive and I have less time. Millie told me she has a great chicken casserole recipe which freezes well, I'm waiting for her email. Any more great freezing ideas out there?

Hugo and I ate ham sandwiches with horseradish cheddar cheese spread, cheddar and herbs flavored chips, grapes and a biscotti with milk for dessert.
Hit the spot.

All and all, it was a very tasty food day.

Now, what to make tomorrow?

Pool Time

Last night during our walk with Ms Sheri we discovered that the kiddie pool had water in it finally. What a fantastic discovery! Kenny's mom wanted to come over for a day of potty training today but, I had other ideas. . . "Leave the potty training till our next rainy, dismal day." I said. "Let's phone up Jin and the girls and have us some pool fun!" The coolers were packed and sunscreen, swim diapers (no swim diapers for us this year!!) beach towels and pool toys dug out from the back recesses of the linen closet.






Within the fence surrounding the kiddie pool I spotted Hugo's favorite pool toy from last summer - the blue bucket, uh-oh. Remember how he spent a good half of each day underneath or inside the blue bucket? A woman who runs a small daycare brings the bucket which is loaded with all sorts of floating toys each day. She got my attention mid afternoon and wanted to chat about how tall Hugo had grown over the winter and how he hadn't climbed into or under the blue bucket once so far! I think he forgot all about his turtle days, but I haven't.



We had sunshine for most of the day with spots of giant passing clouds. When the clouds covered the sun it was a comfortable temp but, cool if you were in the water. Skinny boy Hugo had blue lips and shivered and shivered. He would jump into the water and play and splash and then climb out and want me to wrap him tightly in his towel for warmth. The cycle of jumping in and climbing out for warmth and food was repeated over and over. I was glad I had brought extra towels.

Playdate Thursday

Our monsoon season held its breath long enough for us to enjoy a beautiful day at the park. Woo hoo! I am a person who likes rain but, boy oh boy, have we ever been experiencing rainy weather. Thoughts have been wandering through my mind of the possibility that we would never see the sun this summer, or experience any heat. Since I'm pregnant, the cool temps have been nice. On the other hand, I want to wear my cute maternity bathing suits! I've been all prepared for another summer at our kiddie pool but, I'm not sure if they are even opening this year. This morning calls were made and a trip to the park was planned while the sun shone.

We have missed this darling face! Amy and Hannah beat us to the park. Hugo could-not-wait for me to unbuckle him from his car seat so he could greet the girls! They ran up to us and hugged and helloed, it was very sweet.


Jan and Kenny soon arrived. We learned that their plans of traveling home to Korea have fallen through due to the swine flu scare. Sad for them, more friends for us!


The kids spied a Sheriff's speed boat pulling up to the dock. We all held hands and walked over to the cliff edge for a closer look. We waved and gawked and then ran back to the slides. Without our realizing it, the man who had been driving the boat followed close behind us. He produced a small bag from his pocket and began handing out Junior Deputy Sheriff's badges to the kids. Their grins stretched from ear to ear as one by one the mom's pinned on their new police badge.

Miss Amy and Hugo posed so sweetly together.

Who knew a sewer grate would offer up so much fun and occupy so very much of their attention? Tales were overheard of man eating crocodiles and sharks down in the hole. Have I mentioned the loveliness of my son's blossoming imagination? I love to listen in on his new make believe games and feed them with tales of bear hunts and other fun things while preparing for bedtime. Bear hunts before bedtime?? You might be thinking me mad but... My little boy believes we must be very, very quiet you see, so that the bear cannot hear us. We tip toe up the creaky stairs and talk only in hushed whispers with one another. We must change out of our stinky clothes and scrub our stinky teeth and empty our stinky bladders so that the bear cannot smell us. Last but not least, we must say our prayer and turn out the lights so that the bear cannot see us. It is a true simple pleasure and it works for my little boy.

The End