Babysitting stories

Our good friend, "Uncle John" helped out this week, picking the boys up from school, taking them to soccer, and feeding them dinner.  What a star!!  When I came home from my appointments to take over parenting, John said, "everything went fine.  I'm going home now.  Talk to you later."  OK.  The boys were tired and were asleep instantly.

The next day, I receive an email from John relaying a few more of the details from the evening...


John wrote:

I got a wee bit worried for a bit there...the walk home started with a Tobin crash...this is where my caring and nurturing side comes out

"is your nose bleeding?"

"noooooo"

"can you wiggle your face?"

"yaaaa waaaaa"

"you'll be ok...by the time we get home it won't hurt anymore"

..a few more antics on the way home(I seem to remember Nick getting tangled up in a soccer net like a duck in a six-pack holder) then they both bee-line to the back yard for a group pee. I'm worried that things have gone feral too early in the evening.

..turn oven on, herd them inside, Tobin crashes again

"are you bleeding?"

"noooooo"

"Oh good, maybe get ready for dinner then...go wash your hands"

"Nick! where are you...?"

"out here"

"come on in"

"I can't get down"

"down from where?"....I go pluck him off his perch.

"how did you get up there? now put your backpack away and go wash up"

"No!"

"Yes, now." success...the only compromise was shoes outside instead of in...which seemed fine since I was wrong...all the shoes were outside.

serve up some salad...they argue, Tobin wants privacy to poo. Nick runs off.

now they're both gone...Tobin pooing and Nick, I don't know.

Tobin emerges, I serve up the salad..."chicken fingers coming soon...I forgot to turn the other knob on the oven. Chicken don't have fingers."

"I'm done!..."

"I'M DONE!..."

"I'M DONE!..."

"Tobin, what's Nick saying that for?"

"He's done pooing, you need to wipe his bum"

"you're kidding, do I have to wipe is bum for real?"

...laughing..."Ya"

eventually all is well and dinner is served. some experiments are done with the water and salt. some other experiments with ketchup are kyboshed before they start. wine is drunk.

Nick thinks he's Zorro with his fork, Tobin is getting energy back...on the verge of a lord of the flies style revolt.

"guys, stop eating like maniacs" says I, mimicking a maniac...erroneously, as this now becomes the sole topic of dinner as they take turns pretending to be 'maniacs'. More dangerous fork-play has me bargaining / ordering that the fork is to be pointed down...."like a spear fisherman". As I explain to Nick, Tobin stands on the table "like a maniac".

I try and get them to eat like "kings"...dainty-like, and silly. It words for 10 seconds then back to maniacs. Somewhere in the din I hear Tobin say something like "I'll be king of kings.....I'll be GOD!".

All food is eaten, cookies are delivered via a lego truck on the table, more wine and settled in for TinTin and wine.

I did, however, forget to put them in jammies...they were so still and subdued for TinTin I totally forgot!
It's totally fun once in a while...but I have no idea how you guys make it when you're alone for days and days! Wine and TinTin, I guess.

Wasa Lake Triathlon 2013

Tobin, now 6 years old, and Nick, 4 years old, completed their first triathlon at Wasa Lake (30km north of Cranbrook)!  This involved *swimming* 50 meters (in a very shallow lake), biking 1.5km, and running 500meters.
Unfortunately for Nick, and thanks to his unorganized mother, he completed the whole event in his Crocs and still came in 4th place! (despite his shoes coming off multiple times during the running section).  I found his runners in his school bag about 2 hours after the event - ARG!

fishin'

Last week some friends invited us to go fishing on Arrow lake with them.  I didn't tell the boys, but kept them ramped up by saying 'something awesome is going to happen tomorrow...'.  We got about 8 hours of really good behaviour out of them with that one.  They were PSYCHED when Todd came to pick us up with the boat on, and their two boys all camo-d up and vibrating in the back seat.

It wasn't just regular stand-on-the-shore-and-make-some-lame-casts kind of fishing.  It was fancy-20'-boat-with-electric-downriggers-rod-holders-barbeques-and-fish-finders kind of fishing.  Indeed, serious fishing.  Once set up we trolled around the lake, with me trying to keep an eye on the rods, but continuously upended by Todd who would shout "FISH ON!!!!" every now and then and jump up from steering to leap to the back of the boat to grab a rod.  Meanwhile I was left trying to figure out which of the four rods had the fish on.

It paid off though, here's Nick with his fish.  He didn't want to hold it.

Fish #2, very pleased.

I was the only one not dressed in camo.  Who knew camo was important even for fishing?

And one of the hens enjoying spring.

The youngest is not so young anymore...

Hey, you.

  Bling

All he really wanted was:

And a gymnastics party!  I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids or adults!

Bicycle cake

This morning on the way to school they just looked so sharp I had to take a photo.

April Highlights

 Nick helping get forks out for dinner.  Don`t worry the floor`s (sort of) clean.

 Grampa Allan on his new bike!

Coupla snugglers... cute eh!

Easter morning at the campground, guess who visited?

Ready to climb!  He was psyched!

All healed up from the skatepark catastrophe.

More pics, because he's just so cute

Family photo

Simmers turns 40!

Doing some drawing

6!

It really is amazing how time flies.  Can't believe Tobin is six already!  We had a party on his birthday at home, then had a free-for-all at the tube park on the hill.  It was. INSANE!

 Cake #1

 

These guys were lapping me and Nick in the Tube park.  As soon as they had their tubes they disappeared...until the 'call to cake' was announced.  Tobin, Teagan, Fisher and Thomas.

 

Nick just about to disappear on me.  He hit the ground running as soon as we stopped.  I would gather the tubes, look up and think, 'now where the hell is he?', only to spot him halfway up the magic carpet before I even got to the bottom of it.  Keen is an understatement.

Cake #2.  Here's a good idea: sugar up 8 six year olds and then turn them loose in a foam pit.

Yeah, bruises, tears.

Some pre/post cake carbo loading with Justin Bieber.

And you, littlest Gill.

I swear his head swivelled right around on his neck just after this photo was taken.

 Tallest to smallest

With Grampa

a photo essay on remote control cars

 Unbelievably, the remote control cars the boys got for Christmas are still operating.  However, not content with doing sweet burnouts and taking SICK! jumps they started coming up with even greater challenges for these little miracles of chinese mass manufacturing.

Yeah, dropping in off a sick pillow line thanks to King Ottakars Sceptre!

back it up yo!  No problem for Xang Hi Corporation!

Testin' out that plastic shock and ball-point pen spring suspension system!

Where did you go Little Guang Xi Lau?

Oh, hello there, are you stuck on a scarf?