This morning the kids were all a bit grumpy. I was quite pooped from Janna being up a
couple times in the night, and then Robyn deciding 5 am was a good time to
start her day. The mixture of grouchy
kids, some housework desperate to be done, and a tired mama is never the best
combo. So, while I felt like just
flopping on the couch and pretending I was asleep for the morning, I decided to
plow through just the most essential housework, and then get my little
ducklings them out of the house to see if it would change their spirits. So, we packed up a picnic lunch and off to
the park we went to put in the morning.
It was a good choice, and the kids were very calm and
content at the park. We were the only
souls there, until a group of 5 teenage boys burst into the scene running
wildly onto all the play equipment and very quickly began a strange sort of
game of tag? They looked like grade 11
or 12 boys from a nearby school on their lunch break. Jesse, sitting in the sand with his shovels
and pail, with a new superhero cape excitedly
got up and hopped onto the structure with them.
I was pushing the girls in the swings and trying to figure out the game
these guys were playing. Jesse, was,
also mesmerized, as these 2 nimble asian boys were like RUNNING across the tops
of the monkey bars and very quietly perching on the very tops and sides of
different things at odd angels. Jesse
played for a while, but after getting bumped into a few times, went back to
playing in the sand and watching.
It was very odd because they would all be so still and slow
moving, and then it would be frantic and chaotic and everyone would be running
and diving and tagging, and then it would be still again. Finally, I had to go over and ask what this
game was. I was given all the rules by this one guy,
who said it was called grounders. And
the key thing I had missed was that the person who was IT- had their eyes closed
the whole time! So...the other guys
would basically hide in odd places while the poor blind-it-boy tried to find
one to tag. But then there was some
strange rule about when people got in the sand and on the ground. Anyways- it was entertaining, even if they
did dominate the ENTIRE play structure from being used.
I got the kids home and down for an early nap, and am just
making up my daily TO DO’s for the week.
There is so much to look forward to in June! I know that, for Dave, it’s crazy time with
all the marking and end of the year commitments. And so we tend to sort of miss him. But, we have preschool graduation coming up,
my parents visiting this weekend for fathers day, and Jesse’s birthday!
We actually had Jesse’s birthday party with his friends
yesterday afternoon. We invited some of
his little buds and their siblings to a nearby park to play. We brought along a piñata and some cupcakes
and just had a real easy going afternoon.
The kids and I started making the piñata middle of the week, and I
thought they would love doing the paper mache, and it would be a good craft
activity. Well, they did NOT like
getting so sticky, and so I ended up doing most of it while they watched! I
think I did one coatting too, many, because the piñata was unbreakable by the
kids! Although, one little guy, did a mean job smashing it repeatedly while
screaming, “THIS IS JUST WHAT I NEEDED!!!!” Too funny. We had to have an adult crack into it (after
it was too heavy and broke off it’s string).
I have learned a lesson for next year.
Smaller piñata...less coats...string reinforcement... aluminum bat.
It felt strange to watch the kids playing on the structure
(with all their younger siblings) and realize that 4 years back they were all
just babies at our house celebrating Jesse’s big day without ANY siblings in
tow. Here is Jesse, Ewan and Naomi at his party 4 years ago.
And here they were yesterday tackling the pinata and cheering each other on
Anyways, it was a good day, the weather was perfect, and
Jesse had such a wonderful time with all his friends. Here are a few pictures.
We have a busy week with lots of friends to see! We ended up being hermits last week with the
girls eye goo issues. I felt a bit cabin feverish at the end of the week, and
so I am happy this week is looking decent for weather. I LOVE JUNE!
Thanks for reading. I’m out.
Sounds like the party was a success even if the pinata was tougher to crack open than you would've liked. So many cuties!
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