The Great Outdoors

Like I said before I ever went on vacation, I have got to remember to take Justin outside. It wasn't easy to do that for the first few days, since Daniel was fresh out of the hospital so we had to take it easy. But today we spent the entire morning outside - bicycling to the grocery store and back, walking through the forest, picnic at the playground, then hiking up the mesa. And it was lovely - cold and windy, but lovely. The boys both interested and having fun, fresh air and sunshine and exercise... I have got to do this more often. We've had no blow-ups or meltdowns, not counting Justin's many yowls of frustration with biking.

Although re the biking... you know how "determined" and "stubborn" are supposedly the same thing, just different ways of putting it? Justin is both determined and stubborn. I wanted to club him over the head quite a few times this morning as he got more and more frustrated with biking. He's still not totally adept at keeping his feet going forward, and his two-wheeler has foot brakes, so he kept stopping himself without meaning to and then having a hell of a time trying to get himself going. Then he'd scream and cry and hit his bike, and I would tell him to take a little break and don't worry, I'd walk the bike... and my little mule of a son would absolutely not go for that. At all. Refused to give up, refused any help, and drove me nuts with a mix of annoyance and admiration.

And he's like this with so many things. It's quite a sight to see such a little person so damned determined to do things All By Himself.
( daily checklist )

winding down

Pretty good day overall. Staying outside between 9am-1pm was a really, really good idea. Nothing gives me a greater sense of accomplishment than totally wearing out two hyperactive little boys :)

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I think I've done a Bad Thing. I picked up a bunch of these "illustrated classic edition" books - Moby Dick, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield for kids - and decided to start reading them to Daniel. But he really got into Moby Dick and wanted me to read it while Justin was awake, and they do have simple pictures on every page, so I figured what the hell, and started to read to them both.

Well, they've both been pestering me with questions about whaling all day. And pretending to be Captain Ahab. And chattering about white whales. And on and on. And Justin said he liked the book, but wished the pictures had colour - so there I was during nap time, colouring in every page. Yes, I love colouring and was just itching for an excuse to do it - your point?

Anyway. There is such a thing as a fine idea whose success gets out of hand, and I think this is it.

Geeky thrill moment: I read the passage "I'll chase him round the Cape of Good Hope and round Cape Horn and round the flames of Hell before I give him up!" - which I only know from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. ::frisson of Trekkie delight - although I think the original is 'Perdition's flames'::

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And in other news, both boys worked on a Medieval diorama called The Four Alls. We're almost finished the peasants' part (Those Who Work For All). It's looking good so far. We have a couple of misshapen sheep and a hovel made out of an egg carton. Next is the knights (Those Who Fight For All), the priests (Those Who Pray For All), and finally the lords (Who Rule All).

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Going to a bridal shower tomorrow. What the hell do people do at these things? I don't think I've ever been to one.

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Wow, are thursday100 and thursday100plus ever jumping. The Kink Challenge has produced 4 fics so far, and the AU Challenge has 10.

::boggles::

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Just finished watching Ice Age with the kids. Good flick. I almost died at the "museum of frozen evolution" part. I love a kids' movie that takes into account the fact that parents are bound to have to sit through some hundred or so viewings of the thing. The only problem is it's sometimes hard to get kids to stop asking you why you're laughing so hard at parts that are way, waay over the kids' heads.

Incidentally, one of the things that most endeared me to Veggietales (Christian) children's videos was their adult sense of humour. There's one video where at one point a male character is going to take a female role and one of the others shakes his head and says, "We're gonna get some letters about this..." Hee...

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My mom's sister Mary is here for a visit. Went to say hi, and found myself in one of my family's polyglot events. Mary speaks Spanish and German but no English. My mother and I speak Spanish, English and French. Guy's English-French bilingual, most comfortable in French, and understands Spanish if it's slow. Chris speaks English and understands and speaks quite a bit of French and Spanish. Justin is purely anglophone, Daniel speaks fairly good French from French Immersion, and both know Spanish from Dora the Explorer and Jumpstart Spanish. Makes me dizzy just trying to decide who to speak to in what. And there's often simulaneous translations for just about everything that's said. It's like the bloody UN.

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Busy weekend ahead, what with ballet and gift shopping and gardening and shower and dinner party. Phew.