Summer Days

Hi! Hope that this finds you well. I am sorry to hear that there has been so much rain with you this week and I hope that you are all well and dry! We are enjoying some fine, dry weather although we have had the odd sharp shower. They usually reckon that it is predictably fine from the 4th July to the 1st Monday in September, so we'll have to see! It certainly hasn't been as hot this year as it was last, which is a relief.

We have had a good week so far; the girls behaviour has improved and we have had some fun times. I decided that we needed to install our own structure to our days to help us through the summer! My aim is to have some learning time, an activity (like painting, craft, playdough or cooking)  and to go out each day either to the park or somewhere indoors. We won't do this every day but if we can do it most days then that would be helpful.

I had to take Esther to the doctors on Monday morning as she is still coughing and she has been diagnosed with mild asthma unfortunately and so she is now on an inhaler just before bedtime. It is too early to say if it is helping. Her skin has also been very dry but is responding to moisturiser cream. As a result, I am still keeping her off the dairy and the eggs as I don't want to make things worse!

After a shop at QFC we came home and in the afternoon went to visit Lisa and the twins for the afternoon. WE had a lovely time with them, we went to their little neighbourhood park and it was warm and sunny. The girls played well and Naomi was good at shepherding the twins home! We'll see them in a couple of weeks, I am sure.

Yesterday we had the morning at home and I was trying to teach the girls about the days of the week! It is a hard concept and so we'll do it each day. Naomi concentrates so well but Esther has the concentration span of a flea and soon drifts off into dream land. She'll concentrate for ages when playing with the playmobile but getting her to concentrate on something like that or eating is impossible!

In the afternoon we went early to the park and had a long time with Fritzi and some of the children they met at the park which was nice before they came home and watched television before tea.

Today we went to a park that we normally would find impossible to visit. It is a park that looks like a fairy castle and it is quite exciting especially for the girls, less so for Silas as there were no baby swings. The park is in Kirkland and in full sun so we are not able to go very often but today it was a bit cloudy so we were able to go this morning and take a picnic. The girls were helpful at making the sandwiches! We had a good couple of hours there before coming home and the girls enjoyed it. Silas slept through some of it after the picnic so that was good.

As we were pulling into the drive, Naomi said to me "what are we having for tea?" and so I thought ' blow, we were supposed to go to QFC to pick up Esther's prescription and to buy some meat balls!!", so I shut the garage door again and off we went to the shop! When we finally got home I tried to do some work with the girls but they were too tired, so we made some spinning painting pictures instead! They were in bed early!

James McNiven is staying with us until tomorrow morning which has been fun and lovely to see him before he goes to England for good. I now have their breadmaker and made my first loaf of bread in it since I had it 2 summers ago when Vanessa had Alex! It came out alright, which was a bit lucky!!

Silas has now learnt to get onto his tummy without clonking his head on the floor which is a good thing but he has also learnt how to get his legs up underneath him which will mean that he won't be far from crawling!! not that it will make much difference, he gets around everywhere anyway! He has also discovered that he prefers to sleep on his tummy and this morning when he was crying, I put his dummy back in and he just went flop onto his tummy and fell fast asleep! It was so funny! He is a star though!

Well, that is about it for now! keep dry!

Welcome Back!

Hello! Welcome back to all my faithful readers after a break during our trip to the UK. We had a wonderful time and it was lovely to see so many people whilst we were there. We had some fun days out too, the girls enjoyed visiting Windsor Castle ( a real princess castle!) and a Victorian era town whilst with my parents and we had a good day at Wickstseed Park and in Cambridge with Tim's family.

And so we returned on Monday after a superb flight with the children. They were brilliant; they have been pretty grotty the rest of the week, but they were good on Monday on the plane!! We had a smooth drive home from Vancouver and got in around 7:45pm.

We were all so jet lagged  on Tuesday and it wasn't much fun, but I was in bed and asleep by 8pm on Tuesday night and felt much more with it on Wednesday. Sometimes it isn't until you feel better that you realise how awful you felt before if you know what I mean!! We had managed to do  some shopping on Tuesday and get to the park for our playgroup for a short time, which was good.

On Wednesday we did a bit more shopping and then in the afternoon had a great last time seeing Vanessa and the children. We had tea with them and then said good bye which was very sad. So far, Naomi is coping quite well and understands that she isn't going to see Maddie for a while but Esther still thinks that they are only away for a short time I think. It is hard on them having to say Goodbye to so many people in such a short time.

Anyway, on Thursday, I decided that we needed a treat so the girls and I made a picnic lunch on Thursday morning and off we went to the zoo. WE had a great day and it was a good thing to do! We parked at the top end of the zoo and went to see the bears, elk and otters first as these are the animals we rarely see. The girls were very excited to see them and the bears were particularly magnificent!

Silas enjoyed the night and day exhibit mainly because I was carrying him for that bit! Poor Silas, it was hard for him to see the animals; next time we will go with my Mum and then one of us can wear him in the papoose and he will be able to see more.

Esther enjoyed seeing the Komodo Dragons although she was a bit nervous at first. She has a thing about dragons at the minute (way too much Disney if you ask me)  and even when we were at Windsor Castle and we said that the Queen might be there at present her first comment was "I don't want to see the Dragon". AS I said, way too much Disney and I had to explain that the Queen was not the Wicked Queen in Snow White and she wasn't going to turn into the Dragon!

Tim was in San Francisco on Thursday and in the Friday night as his plane was cancelled and so we didn't see him until yesterday morning. On Friday the children and I had a lovely time with Ulrike and her children at the park. It rained for a very short sharp shower which was great because it cleared the park for us!! We sheltered under the climbing frame for a few minutes and it soon cleared. It was good to see them as it had been ages. They had gone on holiday at the beginning of May and so it was probably 6 weeks since we were last together!

Yesterday we didn't do too much; Tim came home at 10:30 and then we went to Target. In the afternoon we went to the Library and then to see if the new park was finished, but that isn't until next week. Today we have had a busy day; we went to church this morning and then stayed in Seattle having some lunch and going to the park until late afternoon when we went to Jedi's party. We had a good time there and it was good to catch up with friends there.

This week, I am going to install some structure to our day as I think it will help! We are going to try and do some learning activity, some sort of craft / cooking / playdough activity as well as going out to the park every day. Obviously there will be days when we have shopping to do or there is something going on but that is my plan! I will let you know how it works out!

To end, I need to share with you a funny story (sorry Ken!!). Last Saturday it was Ken's 60th birthday and we were all there watching him open his presents and cards. At the end, Pam brought in his wonderful birthday cake, which Ken then held. Esther wanted to see the cake and so tugged on his trousers and somehow managed to pull both his trousers and his underpants down so that they were both around his ankles. Ken was then in no position to quickly pull up his trousers and his underpants because firstly Pam had to rescue the cake!!! It was very funny and made us all laugh until we cried, although we all saw rather more of Ken on his birthday then we had envisioned!! Later that afternoon, Esther and I went shopping and bought Granddad a new belt, which he then proudly wore and showed off when he later told this story to his friends at his birthday party!!

I will leave you on that note and will write again on Wednesday!

Welcome Back!

Hello! Welcome back to all my faithful readers after a break during our trip to the UK. We had a wonderful time and it was lovely to see so many people whilst we were there. We had some fun days out too, the girls enjoyed visiting Windsor Castle ( a real princess castle!) and a Victorian era town whilst with my parents and we had a good day at Wickstseed Park and in Cambridge with Tim's family.

And so we returned on Monday after a superb flight with the children. They were brilliant; they have been pretty grotty the rest of the week, but they were good on Monday on the plane!! We had a smooth drive home from Vancouver and got in around 7:45pm.

We were all so jet lagged on Tuesday and it wasn't much fun, but I was in bed and asleep by 8pm on Tuesday night and felt much more with it on Wednesday. Sometimes it isn't until you feel better that you realise how awful you felt before if you know what I mean!! We had managed to do some shopping on Tuesday and get to the park for our playgroup for a short time, which was good.

On Wednesday we did a bit more shopping and then in the afternoon had a great last time seeing Vanessa and the children. We had tea with them and then said good bye which was very sad. So far, Naomi is coping quite well and understands that she isn't going to see Maddie for a while but Esther still thinks that they are only away for a short time I think. It is hard on them having to say Goodbye to so many people in such a short time.

Anyway, on Thursday, I decided that we needed a treat so the girls and I made a picnic lunch on Thursday morning and off we went to the zoo. WE had a great day and it was a good thing to do! We parked at the top end of the zoo and went to see the bears, elk and otters first as these are the animals we rarely see. The girls were very excited to see them and the bears were particularly magnificent!

Silas enjoyed the night and day exhibit mainly because I was carrying him for that bit! Poor Silas, it was hard for him to see the animals; next time we will go with my Mum and then one of us can wear him in the papoose and he will be able to see more.

Esther enjoyed seeing the Komodo Dragons although she was a bit nervous at first. She has a thing about dragons at the minute (way too much Disney if you ask me) and even when we were at Windsor Castle and we said that the Queen might be there at present her first comment was "I don't want to see the Dragon". AS I said, way too much Disney and I had to explain that the Queen was not the Wicked Queen in Snow White and she wasn't going to turn into the Dragon!

Tim was in San Francisco on Thursday and in the Friday night as his plane was cancelled and so we didn't see him until yesterday morning. On Friday the children and I had a lovely time with Ulrike and her children at the park. It rained for a very short sharp shower which was great because it cleared the park for us!! We sheltered under the climbing frame for a few minutes and it soon cleared. It was good to see them as it had been ages. They had gone on holiday at the beginning of May and so it was probably 6 weeks since we were last together!

Yesterday we didn't do too much; Tim came home at 10:30 and then we went to Target. In the afternoon we went to the Library and then to see if the new park was finished, but that isn't until next week. Today we have had a busy day; we went to church this morning and then stayed in Seattle having some lunch and going to the park until late afternoon when we went to Jedi's party. We had a good time there and it was good to catch up with friends there.

This week, I am going to install some structure to our day as I think it will help! We are going to try and do some learning activity, some sort of craft / cooking / playdough activity as well as going out to the park every day. Obviously there will be days when we have shopping to do or there is something going on but that is my plan! I will let you know how it works out!

To end, I need to share with you a funny story (sorry Ken!!). Last Saturday it was Ken's 60th birthday and we were all there watching him open his presents and cards. At the end, Pam brought in his wonderful birthday cake, which Ken then held. Esther wanted to see the cake and so tugged on his trousers and somehow managed to pull both his trousers and his underpants down so that they were both around his ankles. Ken was then in no position to quickly pull up his trousers and his underpants because firstly Pam had to rescue the cake!!! It was very funny and made us all laugh until we cried, although we all saw rather more of Ken on his birthday then we had envisioned!! Later that afternoon, Esther and I went shopping and bought Granddad a new belt, which he then proudly wore and showed off when he later told this story to his friends at his birthday party!!

I will leave you on that note and will write again on Wednesday!