The last weeks of school

May 31st, Oma Pake arrived. Such an excitement for the kids. Miss N went with P to pick them up from the airport. As usual, she was napping in the car when they arrived. According to P, she woke up, saw her grand parents, stared without any expression for a while and then the little lips started trembling, followed by a big cry. Now, she's a fan of Oma Pake.

The girls had their little piano recital. Both did very well. Miss A practiced the last weeks pretty often and her songs improved tremendously. I don't have to say anything about Miss F's piano, she's always practicing.

The school play, "the Gloaming" was last Friday. It was, again, so beautiful and amazing. Chapeau for all the hard work. Miss F was an element, one of the 'Sun's'. She did two cartwheels and a hand stand on the stage. she knows most of the songs by heart and I catch myself singing them with or without her.

We now officially have summer school. The last big event is Miss A's ballet recital next weekend. It's going to be busy.

Yesterday, we biked to school. We ran into Sara, Hetty and Fleury. Hetty and Miss F took off, followed by Sara. It took Miss A a long time to bike. She has her little four wheeler and the bike is just way too small for her. She made it though! On the way back, it was sticky hot and the road seemed more uphill. Poor little girl wanted to give up a million times but she went on, her cheeks red, her hair sticking to her wet with sweat forehead. Miss F got off her bike and pushed her many times, just so that she could climb yet another hill. She was so nice to her little sis. Love, love love these kids! We're now looking for a new bike for Miss A. I hope she'll get on two wheels soon.

We went to the open house at Ragdale. It was the same day as the piano recital. I had no idea how beautiful the Ragdale property is. Behind the house is a whole nature area, with studios scattered around. The kids did some art activities and we visited the renovated house. So gorgeous! Oma pake were very impressed as well. I ran into Hester Hershenhorn there. I didn't know she was teaching creative writing there before she moved to the city. I felt like 12 talking to her, meeting one of my teachers that I admire so much. She still remembered my 'Hawk' story and gave me some advise in two seconds. Since I talked to her, I've been more proactive about finding a critique group. Since my writing is not going so well and I'm still waiting to hear from this one critique group, I just started a new tennis drill. I'm supposed to be game ready in six lessons. We do it with Katy. It's a lot of fun. Every now and then I take some kind of lessons, but I still didn't get to playing regularly. I see it as an investment for the future!? Or am I just keeping myself busy so that I don't have to worry too much about my writing!

Last Sunday was Pastor Debby's last day at P's church. He was pretty emotional. I joined him at the church and said goodbye to the Pastor and her husband. I'm glad I got to know them.

We stopped with Miss F's swimming for the moment - it's enough, she's already so much better than me! Of course the real reason was schedule problems. Now Miss A's taking lessons. She's doing very well. I wish I could start Miss N with swimming lessons, too.

Now, after all the 'did this did that', let's see what Miss N is doing. She comes down often enough with a cute hairdo and a nice dress, all Miss F's creations. She's OK about it, keeps all the stuff in her hair. She loves shoes, like Miss F loved when she was little - oh well, she still loves them! She'll wear a pair from someone and walk around the house. It's hilarious. Last week, she decided she will climb to the top of the big slide in our backyard. The steps are thin round stocks and the distance between them is about 40cm. The climb is already life threatening, but on top of the landing, two sides are open. She runs from one side to another and escapes a big fall just by luck. She gave me an almost heart attack the other day. I couldn't reach her, she went running away from me, from one side to another, thinking it was a game. Pake had the same with her. She's still a water baby. She walks into the water whenever she can, another cause for heart attack. The only thing that stops her is cold, she won't swim in cold water. I cannot leave the shower door open, she'll just walk in - she's still taking standing showers - and she discovered -yuck!- the toilet pot. She's still calling everything Momma or Mommy, but sometimes some word comes out of her little mouth and we all think it sounded like something. It's unbelievable though how much she understands. I tell her to get a cookie, and she walks to the pantry. I ask her to bring me something and she does it. The amazing part is how she seems to understand all three languages, even English. What's going on in that little head? Wouldn't it be nice to know?
  

Miss N's first bike ride

Yesterday was a first for Miss N. the weather was very nice, around 20C with a cool wind. we were pretty slow in the morning, still tired from Saturday. In the afternoon, we all needed an activity so we decided to bike to Elewa farm. I first had to install the baby seat on the bike and we went to buy a baby helmet - which still is pretty large! We all got on our bikes and got on the path. Miss N seemed very happy. It took us a while to get to Elewa, Miss A is biking with her side wheels still. On the way to Elewa, we saw Richard walking the path. I was very happy to see him. I was lately a little worried that I didn't hear anything from him, and with his cancer and everything... You never know. so we chat a short while. Then we ran into Shweta and family. Then we ran into - wow, come on!! - Kimberly from Miss A's ballet at the rec center. So no wonder why it took us so long.

The kids played nicely at the playground. Miss N loves the swings. However, the wind got stronger and cooler, so after looking at the animals by the farm, we left for home. Miss A, on her little bike got so tired, I got worried that she will not bike until home. Miss F fell once. Miss N got tired, too, she fell asleep on the bike. Hey, we saw that before, Miss F! Finally when we got home, Miss A was sweating and red on her face. I was happy that we all made it home! It's great that he weather is getting nice and we can bike again!

Maple sugaring and Naper Settlement

I can't believe it's already March and this is my first post of the year. Little Miss N. takes all my time and whatever minutes I have left are used by the other two. Miss F goes to swimming club 3 evenings. Miss A still has her ballet and she'll do an art class. They take together ice skating.

I keep myself busy, too. I do a barre class every Tuesday and I swim once or twice at LifeTime. Miss N is doing well at the childcare.

Last weekend, we were with Carmina and her two girls to Naperville. I heard from Shweta over Maple sugaring fest. Naper Settlement is some sort of open air museum. There are old log houses and there are old shops. They show the way of like at the time of the old settlements. We saw a demonstration of the blacksmith and the printer shop. They were very interesting both for us and the girls. Then we saw the Maple sugaring, when they collect the sap of the maple tree. All four girls played tag in the fields. They play nice and then they have a fight then they play nice again. Little Miss N wants the follow the big girls but it's too hard yet!

It was already 2.30 when we finally left the Naper Settlement and found a restaurant for lunch/dinner. Naperville downtown is very cute, pretty European. People actually walk on the streets. I can't remember the name of the restaurant, but it was good food and they were very friendly, especially if you think that we sat there for 2,5 hours!

When we brought Carmina and daughters home, I realized we were close to Half Priced Books. I went there with my girls and gosh, we couldn't get out. When we left with 13 books and came home, it was 7pm. Exhausted, that's what we were. Miss N had a little fewer, probably from tiredness. Luckily, everybody was full from the late lunch and we went to bed early.