Ok so back to hunting rentals means Ken needs quiet and time to do that AND work… so I came up with an idea – cardstock, white paper and a stapler and BINGO nature books. Trinity’s had to be pink of course. With a lovely sunny day in the making, Echo down for naps and Ken with a plan of attack the remaining 4 little Reinsch-Johnsons, a bag of apples, nature books and crayons, my novel and the camera, and of course a blanket to sit on and we were off.
Noms
There is a lovely patch of green not far from the duplex that is lined with fences and trees so of course it was the perfect place to sit down and work on our books. Of course I had to re-explain the concept after one boy drew a fence and a house and considered that nature but we did rather well. There was a particularily inspired picture by Gavin of a spider web that was a single long strand blowing in the wind. He even included Trinity and Emanuel in the picture and had them stand still so he could look at what they were wearing to make it more true to the reality of the event.
Artist at work
After munching our apples and drawing the pictures we headed further up the hill and on to the park. The main attraction of the day of course. Sadly, there was a neighbour in the close that was burning wood and after a little while it was blowing into the park. This coincided with a couple splinters (Gavin and Trinity) and ended our park date.
Burning off energy
Little monkeys
Our timing was rather good as that got us home for lunch, then Daddy having his shower and making a few calls before we packed up the van and went to Walmart. It was a special trip… I wanted an itty bitty bikini (purple, purchased, pics??? MAYBE) and the kids had finally earned their Lego purchases.
Don’t forget the all important stop by at the bakery counter for the free cookie for the kids. Chocolate chip so we had to take Echo down to her diaper and headband. (she was wearing the new dress I picked up when out with Karyn and Victoria) Ken said he felt very “ghetto”…
So we managed to get back in one piece with our loot and of course it was instant chaos at the table. Everyone needed stuff built, there were instructions to read and lots to see. I think everyone was well pleased and plans are in the works already for the next big save up of allowance!
Post cookie, cleaned up and in new dress
There was enough time to check the packing job I had done, finish up the laundry and build some Lego before Karyn showed up to take the female members of the Reinsch-Johnson family to her house for a girly sleepover. She was providing a quiet environment and munchies in exchange for my cleaning assistance. DEAL!
First stop Sobeys and ANOTHER free cookie to get food for us over the next day or so… then to Dollarama for TREATS. AND random Hutterite woman homemade apple pie! Seriously, she was outside of Dollarama and was selling her last two. Apparently we are both a sucker for a mild German accent. Anyway, in Dollarama we got wipes (2.00 for 72 Sesame Street themed), bobby pins (gotta keep creating) and of course snacks… oh and something for Trinity – she was overjoyed with her Princess themed bubbles.
This got us home STARVING so it was time to set up the playpen and start dinner… and for me to start cleaning (well enough dishes to make supper easier)… We put away the groceries and found that the bag individual had put an extra bag of groceries in our cart! A container of panini buns AND two jars of olives (YUM). So we had some bonus snacks. Was a bit of a surprise as there your groceries are bagged for you and placed in the cart.
We ran out of time for pie and instead had to settle for chicken fingers, potatoes and cookies. No one complained and a relaxing evening was had. Of course we had to do SOME girly stuff… like blow bubbles on the balcony in the dark…
Night time balcony bubbles
And brush each other’s hair!
Hair time!
Then it was off to bed. We were all up in time to see Karyn off to work at 8 am and then it was Fruit Loops for breakfast and cleaning for me. Dishes, floors, counter tops… it was all simple and quick really. Though we had to use Karyn’s “special” vacuum and Echo really did NOT approve (in fact she vindictively dumped over 90 crayons out TWICE in protest of its use)… it was a shop vac and as far as Echo was concerned proof of the end of the world being near! I don’t think the resident cat much approved either!
A glimpse
And then some
Then we had time to craft (mommy), colour (Trinity) and just sort of explore around (Echo) the apartment until Karyn came home from work. I would have taken the girls out myself but they decided to take turns napping. So instead we hung out upstairs the whole day. With the balcony to bop out on and blow the odd bubble or two and the sun coming in to make what Trinity called a “sunny spot” we were pretty content.
Sunny spot
Sisterly iPad time
You should have heard Trinity’s conversation about Karyn’s cat who of course was a NICE kitty so it really SHOULD want her to pet it! As it has to like Trinity and Echo as they are NICE girls and it (though I think Trinity thought he was a she) was a NICE cat. So of course, all of that made sense. In fact, before we left Karyn’s Trinity actually almost successfully attempted a pet! I think Dare was just too darn surprised to react!
By the time Karyn got home from work Ken had suggested we take a SECOND night away (he was getting tons done and there were viewings to line up for the next day in the city anyway) so we figured out the logistics (need to do laundry – diapers) and then it was time to take the girls out for some fresh air.
There is a park right behind Karyn’s building but it had half logs to walk on which were hard for Trinity with her smaller feet so we decided to make a trek and go the 1.2 km down the path across the street to the next park. Even Echo did a bunch of walking! We saw dogs, benches, and interesting people.
Baby on her feet
The park at the end of the path was deemed acceptable by Trinity and she had a blast running in the sand and sliding down the slide. Definitely leading to a necessary bath that night! But it was well earned.
Run!
After our lengthy walk and play it was time to have supper (left overs for the girls) which meant soybeans and PIE! Mmm it actually was rather good, once we added some cinnamon to it…
Pie
Add in a bath for Trinity and then it was time to sit around and relax once again. With all the bow making I had done that day I was free to pay on the iPad at night!
The fruits of my labour
Of course we had to do two loads of laundry… it has been FOREVER since I have done that with pay laundry. Karyn has a card they use and it is a little more expensive than I remember but it felt very dorm-y… from when I visited friends there… and very much like the apartment we were in when the twins were little and after Emanuel was born.
Echo self occupied
Wednesday morning we were up by 7:30 thanks to Echo being an early bird. So we had half an hour to hang out with Karyn while she got ready for work. And then it was time for girly quiet time in the form of a MY LITTLE PONY MARATHON! (the new version). YouTube and Karyn’s Macbook for the win!
Of course there was some back and forth on the balcony for bubble time. We found out the best mixture is this green apple no name brand dishsoap with water. It was the Superstore brand (aromatherapy).
Taking a My Little Pony break by playing on a generic pony app!
I tried for a nap while Echo had her first nap but only got in 15 min… so instead I worked on some felt critters (Hello Kitty and penguin may just make it to the sale!) and took in the My Little Pony phenomena first hand.
Ready to go with Daddy
The boys had to double check the usefulness of the backyard park
Ken and the boys picked us up Wednesday night and then after saying good bye to Karyn, packing up the van and buckling in it was time for supper… special supper. We went to the bigger of the malls and let the kids walk the foodcourt and each pick their own meal. What a variety! Though we really missed TacoBell, TacoTime is much more expensive! Yours truly opted for Edo.
Noms
And more noms
With a stop off at Walmart for some needed groceries we got back to Chris and Chris’ in time for baths and bed. A full and wonderful beginning to my week and Ken managed to see 4 places (one would work and has our references)… so a great start bouncing back! OH and on top of that, Wednesday night Gavin lost that pesky second front top tooth, WITHOUT fuss! So only that first top was with an odd root! What a relief!
Cutie pie
Took pictures of some Charlie Brown themed statues.
After dropping her off safely and on time (her flight here was delayed… of course) it was time to run to a couple stores to get some groceries and then return home to some rather droopy and sad kids… ok Mommy was right there with them!
OH and a sighting of the neighbourhood WHITE squirrel… not the black one lately…
