Well, I've been meaning to write for a couple of weeks now. I feel a bit like a naughty student who has been avoiding her homework. In my defence, Ottawa and the people who live here do seem to arrange an endless merry-go-round of social events. There have even been lots of events in our neighbourhood that we didn't go to, such as the Lumiere Lanterns and the fireworks festival. I think that everyone is making the most of summer before the long winter that we'll face.
One of the first thing we did with free time on a weekend was visit the Governor General's to see the changing of the guard. (Yes - full red uniforms, bagpipes and all.) His residence, Rideau Hall is....hmm... let's see, at least a 5 minute walk from our house :) (We can hear the bagpipes from our backyard.) There is also a great kids playground, so Miss 3 was well entertained and the twins happily sat on a picnic rug and watched the world go by.
The following week, hubby had to go away for work, but I easily kept myself entertained. Visitors for coffee, playgroup and summer camp meant that the week flew by. I also arranged a teenage babysittter for one afternoon; I took myself out for a coffee and read a book in peace and quiet - bliss! We tried out another babysitter (because we can!) on Saturday night and went out for dinner. I had the Kitchen's Choice - I had no idea what I'd be eating until it turned up at the table! It was fish and it was delicious. I was also impressed with the price of cocktails :) It was a busy weekend - we also managed to get a last minute babysitter on Sunday so we could go out for drinks for one of hubby's work friend's birthday. I was stuffed on Monday!
More of the same followed the next week. Miss 3 is still loving summer school (lots of play and art from what she tells me) and we had visitors for morning tea and went to playgroup. On the weekend, I went to a Van Gogh exhibition at the National Gallery with a group of other Aussie women here for postings. The exhibition was nice, but I think I enjoyed the coffe and chat beforehand and the lunch afterwards more! My uncle and his wife (Canadian relatives yes - but a long story) came to stay with us on the Saturday night - so more wine and food. Although the drinking done on the next weekend took me back to my youth! An English couple had a drinks party. Yes - that's right, just come over and drink, the sort of thing you'd do BC (before children). The delicious strawberry gin cocktail I was handed at the start signalled a great night, and only the fact that we had a 15 year old babysitter dragged us home.
The next week was quieter during the day (just playgroup and summer camp) but there were other interesting events. The first was that I joined a gym. I actually had no intention of joining, but it was cheaper to do that, then to go to one casual class during the week. Odd? I think so! I was also invited to a book club, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It's such a refreshing change as a stay at home mum to actually get out and talk about something other then kids. The week was followe by the biggest weekend I've had in a while. On Friday evening we had our neighbours over for a drink. They have daughters similar ages to ours, like a drink at the end of the week and live across the street - perfect! Saturday night we had hubby's work friends over for dinner. I knew it was a good night when we ran out of red wine. One of those nights when everyone is chatting about anything and everything and the time flies. It was hard to pull up for Sunday - we had an Aussie couple and their daughter over for lunch. Next time I think I need to stretch out our social engagements!
Thankfully the next week was much quieter although with summer camp finishing and no playgroup on, it was looking a bit dull. I did arrange visitors though (Miss 3 loves an audience) and I thought a trip to Ikea would make for a fun morning. The plan was to drop Miss 3 off at the playground, meander around and pick up a couple of things I needed, then have meatballs for lunch. Well, at least the meatballs worked out. The playground was closed, and Miss 3 did not react well. I was extremely close to leaving, but couldn't face the thought of getting her back into the car! Apparantly, someone had an accident in the ball pit the prevous day and it takes 6 hours to clean and sanitise. Whie I find it reassuring that they do take care with the cleaning, I was not happy about dealing with the resulting tantrum! Thankfully, she decided that she did want meatballs for lunch and I managed to get her around the shop to get what I needed. I think next time I'll call first!
This has ended up being a quiet weekend which is kind of nice. It gives us the time to just play with the kids. The twins are on the move since my last entry - what started as rolling and dragging themselves around the floor has become proper crawling for T1 and a fast commando style for T2. It's cute to watch and they are happy to be able to get to things. Unfortunately, I now need eyes in the back of my head! Luckily, Miss 3 is a good big sister and will let me know what they're up to.
Well, it's getting late here (well, late for someone who'll be up to kids in the morning) so I think it's time to sign off. I'll try not to be so tardy with my next entry!
