I’m Gonna Soak Up The Sun
Date: Thursday July 2, 2009Posted in: Emily, Family, Graham, Nathan, summer
As I mentioned in my last post, I spent Tuesday afternoon at the beach with the kids. What I did not mention is that while they frolicked in the surf and sun I sat in a beach chair reading a book. Before leaving for the beach I had gone onto our library’s website and started to search for the book suggestions given by you guys. We are part of a regional library system; this means that if our local library doesn’t have it in stock, they will ship it here for you. The week before I had logged onto the library site to search for books by Jen Lancaster. “Bitter Is The New Black” was immediately available (I have the others on request), and that is what I brought t0 the beach with me.
After nearly seven years of having babies on varying stages, usually in diapers, often eating sand, and possibly thinking they could run out to sea with nary a consequence, Tuesday showed me that we truly are in a new era.
The kids played (safely) in the water and dug craters in the sand. I helped out occasionally (and took photos, occasionally) but apart from that they were on their own. I sat in my chair, within a few feet of my kids, and actually read. MORE THAN A SENTENCE. I read chapters. CHAPTERS, PEOPLE.
(Note to self: Chill out with the CAPS LOCK.)
But enough about me. Here’s what the kids were doing whilst I was being selfish reading.
Emily played with her watering can.
Nathan was, well, Nathan.
I took a shot of Okanagan Lake.
I can’t believe that we live here either.
I asked the kids for a “nice” photo.
That was the best of the bunch.
Proof that my kids are funny.
Exhibit #1:
Exhibit # 2:
Proof that Nathan + beach + B&W = awesome
Dude is going to break so many hearts. SO MANY HEARTS.
So, yeah. The kids braved the water (Mommy was a pansy).
They then participated in the requisite Snack Time.
(Mommy ate carrots. BOO.)
My Step Mom (aka HERO OF MOMMY AND DADDY (Due to her taking them back to her house this next week)) and my two youngest siblings have arrived. They will be joining us in our usual routine for the long weekend:
Breakfast, morning at the beach, home for lunch, nap for those who need it (*waves*), afternoon at the beach, dinner at home/at the beach, probably ice cream for dessert. Possibly at the beach.
(Don’t hate me because I am ten minutes from the beach. I try not to gloat, but after our horrendous winters I soak up as much beach time as I can.)
How about you? Any plans for the long weekend?
*Sheryl Crow. This is one song that seems to encapsulate summer for me.
So that work stress I mentioned? It is slowly winding down this week. So much so, that come lunch time yesterday I was all caught up (Thanks to Matthew taking the kids to Wal-Mart all by himself)(And buying me feminine hygiene products while there)(There is a rare man who would do either of those two things)(Also, sorry for the TMI). This freedom from work would only be the case for a few hours so I jumped at the opportunity to fire the kids into the van and head to the beach. I would love to tell you all about that excursion (and probably will) but the hours that I would have spent last night editing photos and getting them ready for a post about basking in the sun were blown away by a random act of STUPID.
You all know that we got a puppy. Said puppy was not my idea, but I tolerate him because it is good for the kids to have a dog. APPARENTLY.
The problem is, kids are excitable. Puppies are also excitable. Throw all of that energy into an enclosed (or even outdoor) space and SOMETHING BAD WILL HAPPEN.
Nathan is the worst offender. He does this shrieking roaring thing in the dog’s face and then WONDERS WHY THE DOG IS NIPPING AT HIM. I have honestly lost track of how many times in the day I tell him to KNOCK IT OFF ALREADY. We keep telling him that one day the dog will get so offended by ALL OF THAT INVASION OF HIS PERSONAL SPACE (YO!) that he will do more than nip at him. For the love of Pete, kid. STOP IT.
Last night, while Matthew and I were cleaning up dinner he let Diesel outside and gave him a bone to chew on. The kids all flocked to the dog and started to get in his face. We both went out onto the deck and told them to STOP IT. Getting between a dog and his bone is NOT A GOOD IDEA. We told them to find something else to do. Within a minute or so, Graham came running to us while holding his finger. There was blood running down his arm.
What happened?
He had stuck his hand in the dog’s face.
DUDE. We just told you not to do that. Sometimes, I swear that my voice is like that of Charlie Brown’s teacher.
Mwah, mwah…mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah
We admonished him, yes, and then hugged him and told him we loved him. Upon looking at his finger we could tell that it might need a stitch or two. Matthew had a meeting, so I packed all three kids into the van and headed to the clinic. After a good forty-minute wait, we were ushered into an exam room. To wait some more.
We finally saw the doctor on shift. She assessed that it would need more than one or two stitches. First thing up was to numb the finger. She suggested that Nathan and Emily did not need to witness any of this, and I agreed. I set up the Bubble Wrap App on my iPhone and they were duly entertained.
Graham was a trouper. He cried when getting the needle, yes, but didn’t flinch or pull away. I had him squeeze my hand (ala giving birth. It all came back to me) and the doctor and I distracted him with questions about our summer activities. Watching my baby cry like that slayed me, but I was somehow able to hold my crap together.
Then it was time for stitches. FOUR OF THEM. None of my kids have had stitches (shockingly) and I have only had them from surgeries. Matthew is a whole ‘nother story. This was a new adventure for the little Dykstras. Not quite Disneyland-caliber, but hey. A new ride nonetheless.
All three kids handled the whole evening so well that I honestly stopped and gave thanks for them. It could have been so much worse, both injury-wise and attitude wise.
I took them all to 7/11 and told them they could have any treat they wanted. They had earned it.
Then I came home, put them to bed, and poured myself a glass of wine. Because I’m pretty sure that I had earned it.
I am in the last week of a work contract. Come Saturday, my contract will be done and I will have the entire month of July off. This will be cause for celebration, assuming that I make it to Saturday intact.
Without making any incriminating comments that could cost me my paycheque (Paycheck, for my American friends), I am feeling a little pressured. In the next few days I am required to cram triple the work into a third of the time (or something like that). All of this while trying to run a household and KEEP MY KIDS ALIVE (And also, not killing each other)(They generally get along famously, but THERE ARE MOMENTS).
I had sent Matthew off to golf on Sunday afternoon (since I always seem to be the one who gets kid-free time) and that chunk of time seems to have put me further behind the eight-ball. On Monday afternoon after getting basically NOTHING done all day, I called my husband in tears. Within thirty minutes, he had left work and carted the kids down to the beach so that I could get caught up on work. Have I mentioned that he rocks?
While the “I WON’T EVER GET CAUGHT UP AND I MIGHT DIE” feeling has been abated, I am still in the, “HOLY CRAP I HAVE A LOT OF STUFF TO DO AND AM MISSING OUT ON THE SUNSHINE, WAAAAH” mode. Saturday cannot come fast enough. And yet, we all know it will be here before I know it. Maybe I should just stop whining already.
Speaking of this weekend…
A few weeks ago my StepMom (Lance’s Mom) called and said that she wanted to have the kids come to her house for a visit. I told her that we had full intentions of doing a trip to the Coast and visiting all of the grandparents (Don’t ask me to describe my family tree. It might be my own family, but even I get confused as to who is who sometimes).
She clarified her request. She wanted the kids to come to “Grandma’s house” all by themselves. WITHOUT US.
This may seem like a normal thing for some of you out there, but this something that I never experienced as a child. My grandparents were in Ontario (across the country), so any trips to see them included my parents. My kids get to go to Grandma’s house without Mommy and Daddy there to PUT A DAMPER ON THE FUN. Oh, you should hear the kids.
If I thought that the countdown to the Car Show was annoying exuberant, the trip to Grandma Shona’s house is full of EXCITEMENT OF EPIC PROPORTIONS. Not only have they been counting down how many “sleeps” until they leave, the have been creating crafts (and crafts, AND CRAFTS) for Grandma Shona. They have also been telling us that THEY AREN’T GOING TO MISS US AT ALL. Nope. And that they are GOING TO HAVE SO MUCH FUN, punctuated with a “NANA NANA POO POO.” (Yes, really.)
Thank goodness she gets here tomorrow to stay for a few days before whisking them away. I don’t know how much longer we can all endure all of the build-up.
Matthew is running a basketball camp next week while they are gone, but it’s only for the mornings. Apart from that we are responsibility-free for five days. FIVE DAYS. No work, no kids, NOTHING.
I will miss those little rugrats, yes, but FIVE DAYS, PEOPLE. Five days as just Matthew and I. Weird. And a little bit awesome.
I plan on doing some organizing…and then a bunch of nothing. I am hoping to spend a lot of time basking in the summer sun and reading some good books. This will continue into the rest of July as once the kids are back we will be in the summer routine of days spent down at the lake, soaking up the sunshine.
This is where I need some help with my bookshelf. I was lent Eat, Pray Love and…was bored. Not to knock those who loved it but I cut my losses after Chapter Three. I was also lent The Poisonwood Bible and…not bored, but OVERWHELMED. I haven’t given up…yet. It’s just been put on hold.
The only book I have completed front to back (twice) lately is Rage (You’ve pre-ordered it, yes?)
We have a wicked local library system where I can request books online and they will be shipped within days from one of the other libraries. If a book is not available? There’s always Amazon.
I need some good summer reading. Suggestions?
On Saturday morning we thought that we’d take a break from our usual “You watch the kids while I get some work done/I’ll watch the kids while you get some work done” routine. There was a “Show & Shine” happening and we thought it would be a neat thing to take the kids to as a family. There seems to be one of these events around here almost every week in the summer, but this is the Big One.
We made a fatal error in planning our day, however: we told the kids about it in advance. From Friday afternoon until we walked out the door on Saturday morning, we heard the following approximately every five minutes or so:
“We’re going to the car show! We’re going to the CAR SHOW. WE’RE GOING TO THE CAAAAAAAR SHOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!!!”
As annoying as that was, it was also nice to have the upper hand. “You don’t want to eat your dinner/clean up your toys/go to bed? NO CAR SHOW FOR YOU.” Not that we use that tactic very often. Ahem.
FINALLY, it was time to leave. We were meeting Matthew’s brother and his family and planned to meet them at the S.S. Sicamous.
They got sidetracked by Starbucks (happens to the best of us) and so we wandered along the beach for a bit.
Before we knew it, they had arrived. The City of Penticton shuts down one side of the road that runs along the lake and it is jam packed with the coolest array of vintage cars that you e’er did see. Right at the start of our walk we saw Matthew’s dream car and he asked me to take a photo:
I should know what it is, but I don’t. It sure is pretty though.
Graham, lover of the color red, was in his glory. A good chunk of the cars were red, and upon seeing each one he would exclaim, “It’s a red car! I love red! RED IS MY FAVORITE COLOR!!!”
Dude. You’ve said that fifty times already. WE KNOW.
He found his “favorite” car and wanted his photo taken with it.
It was red. Obviously.
Emily was hoping to see some pink cars. There probably were some pink cars somewhere, but all we ran across was a purple truck.
Good enough for her.
Nathan’s favorite color is green. He loves all things green (except vegetables) and was duly impressed with the few green vehicles that we saw.
Imagine my surprise when he decided that his favorite car was not a green one, but a red one.
He is our Sporto, though, so I guess I’m not that surprised.
I thought I’d take a self-portrait, what with all of the SHINY REFLECTIVENESS going on everywhere.
I didn’t intend for this next one to be a self-portrait, but look! There I am!
Super Deluxe. That’s me. Ha!
Here is the point in the post where I thought I’d spare everyone scrolling through the rest of the photos I took. I’d use the “gallery function” in WordPress and make a pretty mosaic! And people would have the option to view the larger photos only if they wanted to! But the stupid gallery function posts ALL of the photos you had uploaded (including the above). There’s not option to pick a selection of what you uploaded.
So then I had a brainwave. There must be a plug-in. I did a Google search and lo! Photo gallery plug-ins galore! About FIVE HUNDRED OF THEM. I don’t have time for this. (Also, I need Matthew to become a web designer. Considering the dude avoids all things Internet-relayed, it’s not likely to happen.
OK. Enough griping. Here are the other shots I took. While the cars themselves are amazing, I was intrigued by the little details.
I could have shot photos all day, but we had those three little people along with us. Considering that it was blazing hot, the streets were crammed with people (who generally don’t notice those under four feet) and that this wasn’t a kid-themed event, they did great. After about an hour they were DONE. The cries of I’m hungry/tired/hot were listened to and we left before making it all the way down the strip. I told Honey to head back with his guy friends but it was shutting down late afternoon; it wasn’t going to happen.
On the drive home we decided for certain that trips to places like Disneyland are still a few years off. We have always said that we would wait until Emily was at least five, but a bunch of Graham’s friend have gone lately. He’s been telling us this past week that he wants to “move to the United States” when he grows up and is married so that he can “go to Disneyland.” We had started to wonder if we should possibly take the kids this winter.
While the boys fared pretty well on Saturday, it was a little too much for Miss Emily. She wanted to be carried, she was bored long before the others were, her Whine Factor was at ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. While Disneyland is kid-themed, there really is only so much a not-quite-three-year-old can endure. No need to make us all miserable.
In the meantime, we are looking foward to taking in more local events as a family. There is a lot to partake in around here. We can head out for a few hours, do something different, then when the meltdows occur (AND YOU KNOW THEY WILL) we can head home. Extended vacations can wait for a few (or ten) years.
So. I have a daughter. (I’m good at stating the obvious.)
A little over a year ago I had a dream. A dream of a Big Girl Room for this only girl of mine. Before I could decorate this ROOM OF WONDER I needed to have a starting point. Being the stellar interior designer that I am (Ha!) I thought that I needed to start with the bedding. It seemed silly to me to start decorating a room if I did not have bedding on which to base my color palette. Those who have been around for awhile might remember the post about my dreams for Emily’s room. I chose some Pottery Barn bedding and went to town on customizing her room. The only thing that needed to be updated was to remove her crib and bring in her Big Girl Bed.
(And also, install a ceiling light. To this day, it is a light bulb hanging from the ceiling. I want to buy a chandelier, but Matthew already bought a dome (aka BOOB) light. WHICH IS STILL NOT INSTALLED OVER A YEAR LATER. I might just have to “surprise” him and get someone to install a chandelier for me. AHEM.)
When I went to Vancouver for the BlogHer meetup two weekends ago, part of my pitch for leaving Honey with the kids for the weekend included me going to IKEA to buy the Big Girl Bed.
I had originally wanted to buy this Hemnes bed (to match her Hemnes dresser and side table):
Isn’t it ADORABLE? It is also $499. Matthew thought it was a little bit much to pay for a bed but told me, “You do what you think is right.” Sigh. It really was hard to justify spending that much on a bed when there was another perfectly adorable white Hemnes bed for less than half of the price.
I was a good girl responsible grown-up and brought home the lower priced bed.
Last Sunday (Father’s Day!) I had Matthew disassemble the crib (because I don’t know how) and take it out to the shop attic (His Dad made it, so we won’t be giving it away). Honey hauled all of the boxes for the new bed up to Emily’s room for me. I told him to leave me with the power drill and go watch some golf or something. I had everything under control. Except I didn’t. I dropped one of the side slats on my foot. And possibly said a very, very bad word. At least I was alone. He helped me get the basic frame together and then I completed the task (Allan keys and brackets and wooden slats, oh my!)
Here is how it all turned out:
The photo frames look all crooked and warped, but I can assure you that they are lined up and straight. I even used a measuring tape and everything. GO ME.
I asked Emily if she wanted to pose on her bed for me.
I’m loving the hands placed ever-so-nicely on her lap. This NEVER happens.
She might be a LITTLE EXCITED ABOUT HER BED. She has told me that it’s her “Happy Place,” that it’s a “Princess bed,” that she’s “A BIG GIRL NOW!” She uses that last line all of the time, whether she is on the toilet or wearing new clothes I had to buy her because she keeps growing. “I’m a big girl now!” She has also been known to throw out the, “Because I’m the baby” statement about the same amount of times. She knows how to work whatever angle works best in a situation. Have I mentioned that she is my girl?
I told her to go ahead and do what she loves to do best on her bed (besides sleeping):
My baby is no longer in diapers and now sleeps in a bed. She’s growing up at warp speed. This is both wickedly awesome and horribly frightening, all at the same time.
I’ve said it before and I will say it again: I want to freeze time. Right here, right now.
