Saturday in the park...

It was originally supposed to be rainy today, but it held off until the late afternoon. I'm not sure what the weather people are doing these days, but the forecast seems to change hourly. One minute the whole week is rainy, the next it's sunny. I give up.

We wanted to get some more flowers put it today, so I took the girls to the park for a bit this morning so Julie could have some uninterrupted gardening time. CeCe had her first swing ride and enjoyed herself. Ginny had her first go on a big swing and had fun. Jorja fell off a swing at preschool once this year, so she is a little spooked. Last summer she loved it, now as soon as she gets a little bit high, she gets scared. It will just take some time I guess - that and the fact that Ginny is doing it now.

After lunch, CeCe was having a nap, and the rest of us were all outside. Ginny is such a handful - she is into everything the minute you turn your back. Julie was planting stuff and I was trying to get the patio cleaned up (washed, hockey net put away) and set the gazebo up. Ginny had a new one today - when she would get yelled at to keep out of something, she would stomp off and say, "I'm gwumpy! Hmmph!" If a person wasn't so irritated with her at the time, it would have been kind of cute.

This evening Jorja was fawning over CeCe and decided that her middle name should have been 'Sweetie Pie.' Then she decided that her middle name should be 'Pretty.' I asked what mine should be, and she replied that it could be whatever I wanted. So I suggested 'The Best Dad Ever.' She said, "No, how about rockstar." Yeah, I guess that will do.

Later.

Preschool graduation

Today was Jorja's preschool graduation/year end party. The day was spent on a field trip to Market Mall. What better place to have a preschool trip than to a mall filled with old people. It was a great time though.

Jorja woke this morning almost beside herself with excitement. Julie did her hair all fancy, and she was thrilled. So she and I set off for the school this morning (the day started at 9:00). We all boarded two school buses (I forgot how much I dislike school buses) and headed for the mall. First on the agenda was mini-golf. I was a bit worried about this - I didn't know if she would enjoy it. But she had a blast. She has never held a golf club before, so it was interesting. I helped her with her first shot to show her how, and then she did most of it herself. Mind you, most of the holes she played resembled more of a poor example of stick handling than golf. As far as mini-golf courses go, this one was fairly tough, complete with sand traps and water hazards. A few holes had downhill slopes with water at the end, so I told her to just lightly tap it, and it would be all right. After that, she kept asking me on her first shot if she should shoot it light or hard. Like it made a difference. If she thought the ball was heading for trouble, she ran after it and stopped it. It was pretty cute. At one point, she told me I could call her Miss Shooter.

After the golf, we killed some time in the mall, and then Julie, Ginny and CeCe met us for lunch. There was enough fundraising that every preschooler, one sibling, and two parents got a free meal. The meal consisted of 2 chicken fingers and fries for adults, and 1 chicken finger and fries for kids.

After lunch, it was off to the children's' museum for the program and some craft/play time. Jorja sang her heart out during the program, and was thrilled to get her 'diploma'. After that, there was a craft, some structured play time, and lots of free time. They had a whole outdoor scene with a canoe, tent, logs and red ribbon for a fire. The girls enjoyed the canoe, and managed not to hit anyone with the oars. It looked scary at first. There was also a stage with a bunch of dress up clothes and musical instruments, so we got treated to quite a few rock stars.

When it was all over, Julie rode the bus back and I drove the other two girls home. I though for sure Ginny would fall asleep, but she stayed awake.


I'm not sure what it was about the day, but both Julie and I felt exhausted when we got home. The girls were well behaved, they played well, CeCe was good. It was a pretty easy day for us, but it welt draining.

Anyway, time for bed. Later.

Preschool

Today was Jorja's 'special day' at preschool, which means she gets to bring a special item for share time as well as a parent helper. She gets quite excited about these days (they happen once a month), but I am really not that crazy about them. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind helping out, and I gladly do it for her, but they leave me drained. Today was worse than usual.

First of all, there are the bathroom breaks. I dread them. You have to take whatever kids have to go to the same bathroom, and just supervise. So I have to take them all to the 'boys'. Well, these kids never lock the doors, so I end up standing there holding one door with my hand, reaching the other with my foot and trying to keep an eye on the ones that still have to go or have already gone. It's very stressful. And yes, when one has to go, usually a whole herd has to go. I had three bathroom breaks today.

Then there's the snack time. It's the parent's job to get set up (clean table after craft time and set out place mats) and clean up when it's over. There was a term that was used at work on days when nothing was going right, and it was a general disaster. That term was s**t storm. And it applied to snack time today. One boy's iced tea had leaked all over the inside of his backpack. One girl's spoon had punctured the top of her pudding, so there was pudding all over the inside of her lunch kit. One girl had a yogurt tube, and it exploded all over her face and shirt while she was attempting to open it. One girl spilled a glass of water. One boy had no straw for his juice box, but insisted on drinking it anyway. Ahh, good times.

Craft time itself today was pretty benign, just some glue sticks, scissors and markers. No paint at least.

Then there's the clean up after - sweep, mop vacuum. All in all, a fun filled 2 hrs 20 mins.

This morning the girls all wanted to get into Jorja's bed together (well, I'm not too sure about CeCe).

This evening Ginny was a rock star. I don't know why, but she always puts sunglasses on upside down.

That was about it for today. Time for bed.