Monday, July 11, 2005
We had a fine trip to the UK to see Paul's mother in Exeter in late June. We were over for ten days, and both boys travelled as well as could be expected. Jamie in particular did well; AJ on the plane was bored and a bit fractious. He wanted to walk, walk, walk...so he ended up nursing for about five straight hours because he'll do that indefinitely and not shriek! While there, we had a couple of good days at the beach (very popular with AJ, but Jamie thought the waves were coming to get him...) and a great bike trip for Jamie and Daddy, hike for Mummy and AJ, to a lockside pub for lunch near a big outdoor playground. We also did a boat tour, but that was less popular with the boys.
Jamie loved his Mamma Jane's garden. It's a wildish, thriving country garden - not manicured in the least, but lush with growing things; it has a pond, bird feeders, butts to collect runoff from the roofs for watering, a bench, a little iron table and chairs...everything a boy of just over 2 1/2 could ask for if a watering can is to be found - and it was. He watered some tomato plants to within an inch of their lives, got scolded for picking purple flowers without asking, fed (overfed) the fish in the pond, figured out how the spigots on the water butts worked and nearly drained them, helped (insistently) to refill the bird feeders, ate supper and breakfast al fresco by choice, and got wet, dirty and happy at least a couple of times a day there. Would that I had such a garden! He could play out ther and be watched from the kitchen window, even, which is a part of my conception of the dream home.
Paul has started his new job with O'Melveny & Myers LLP, and has been very busy since about day 3. He also seems very happy with the way things are going so far, and that's great. Now that we know to which part of town he'll need to commute, we can begin to try to find a slightly (at least slightly!) larger place to live. The problem is that we really like this neighbourhood, and our current apartment is zoned for the best public school in the area. If we only had two more bedrooms, another half bathroom, and a bit of a yard Jamie, and eventually AJ, could play in, I wouldn't think of moving...alas.
Now we're gearing up for Camp Kemptville. On Thursday my mother arrives, and after a couple of days' layover she will be taking Jamie, AJ and me up to Grandma's House on Sunday. We're set to stay four weeks. Jamie will be in heaven because he'll have nearly unlimited outdoor time and, generally, at least two adults on call at any given time. AJ will be in heaven because he'll have lots of space to practise walking in, and, generally, at least four hands to command for walking rehearsals. And I'll have a bit more time for sleeping, and also a weekend off to run up to Toronto to see people. I'm hoping to catch up with some of the friends I haven't spent enough time with since the boys arrived! Still have to figure out which weekend to go; it kind of depends on when people will be around, so I must get in touch with various friends soon.
There's a fair bit to think of in preparing to take two small ones for a month away! I've got my work cut out for me between now and Sunday. Time to start making lists!
