Well, it turns out I was wrong. There I was, thinking that things would settle down and be less busy once we were back in the school routine, but with school every morning, as well as playdates, playgroup and dancing recommencing, we've been busier then ever! A lot has actually revolved around Miss 4's social life...
So, 2 weeks into school and we had a weekend of birthday parties. On the Saturday afternoon was a princess-themed celebration for twins from Miss 4's class - and the parents had invited the whole class to their party at home. Brave! They did request that a parent stayed with each child, and thoughtfully provided beer, wine and plenty of snacks for everyone. Miss 4 was very excited to actually wear her princess dress-up out of the house. It was actually quite a lovely afternoon; the sun was shining and the parents stood around and chatted watching the kids play. They also had cupcakes which the kids got to decorate themselves which was a great idea with a crowd and the kids loved it. (Quite amazing how many smarties/sprinkles some kids managed to squeeze on!) We waved goodbye to all with a "See you tomorrow"; on Sunday we took a 50 minute drive to a horse ranch for a pony ride birthday party. Again, the whole class was invited and it was lots of fun for the kids. There were actually a whole bunch of friendly animals running around: dogs, hairy piglets and kittens that were quite happy to be passed around groups of 4 year old girls. The kids all got pony rides, a wagon ride, a tour of the barn and a hot dog lunch and had a fantastic day out.
The next weekend and.... Miss 4 had another birthday party! This one was a friend from outside school, so was smaller and quieter; in fact no parent was needed to stay which was even better. It was fairy-themed so I think the 6 little fairies loved running around with their wands, jumping on the bouncy castle and making fairy crafts. We'd also had a few playdates in between all these parties - both the usual friends as well as new friends from her class. Because lots of her friends stay at school all day and she only does mornings, I find it easier to get her home if she has something to look forward to in the afternoon.
Another big day out for Miss 4 was the day I took her to the Wiggles concert. She still loves watching them on TV here (and I am happy to let her watch it - it is about the only Aussie kids content we get!) and I thought I'd take her to the show. We were sitting in the theatre, waiting for it to start and she keeps asking me "Is it going to be the real Wiggles from TV?" I don't think she quite believed it would be, so when they walked out onto the stage, her face just lit up with excitement and she jumped to her feet and danced away. Our seats were 2 in from the aisle, but as the aisle seat holders didn't turn up, we shuffled over and had a great view. Even more exciting, was that she got to say hello to Simon (the new red Wiggle) and tell him we were from Australia, as well as high 5 Captain Feathersword and say hi to Lachie (the new purple Wiggle). And of course we left with a souvenir - a giant yellow and black bow on a headband, just like the one Emma (the new yellow Wiggle) wears. Miss 4 did run out of steam a bit at the end, but I have to say I quite enjoyed it too - they really do put on a great show, with a few jokes thrown in for the grown ups.
But the excitement didn't end there. No, no, Miss 4 also had her first field trip this week! She was super excited to get to ride on a school bus and head off with her little friends to the Agriculture Museum. I went along as well, and it was nice to be a fly on the wall and see what she is like in a classroom. (Very enthused and ready to volunteer!) It was a great trip for 4 year olds; they were taught about harvest season, and how the native North Americans grew corn, beans and pumpkin together (the 3 Sisters). They got to act out the story of the 3 Sisters, heard about how Halloween traditions evolved and best of all, got to pick a pumpkin from a pumpkin patch and decorate it.
I suppose I should mention how the twins are going. Apart from being hard work to get anywhere (what these shoes? how about these ones? No, I want to sit here, wait no there, or hang on while I run away.....you get the picture!) they are good. T1 is still a little apprehensive getting dropped off at school, but generally they are having lots of fun and I'm really struggling to get them to leave and come home at lunchtime. They are getting better at climbing, swinging and running so we're making sure that they get the most out of the lovely fall sunshine we're getting at the moment. We did have an incident this week - T2 thought it would be a great idea to take the little ride on toy down the split level of 2 stairs, she tipped forward and crashed her head into the leg of the dining table. Thankfully it didn't open up and bleed, but it wasn't far off, so we're very thankful that she avoided stitches. It was of course in pretty much the exact same spot where her big sister needed stitches at the same age.... these kids need to be more careful!
It hasn't all been about the kids this last month. We've managed to do some grown up social activities as well. I snuck out for a girls drinks and dinner, we had an Aussie couple over for a meal, dinner out in Byward Market for a visiting friend's birthday and we hosted a BBQ for the AFL grand final. Of course, we had to avoid all social media for a day (as we watched it about 12 hours after it started) and I was pretty excited as Fremantle had made the final Alas, they lost, but it was still a fun day sharing the game with a bunch of Canadians and going over to Rideau Hall for a kick of the footy after the game too.
We also had our last visitor (we think) for this posting; a friend with her 2 year old boy. There was a bit of conflict amongst all the 2 year olds (we have 2 of most things, not enough apparently!) but it was great to hang out and the kids did a much better job of playing together when it was nice to play outside. We did lots of the usual stuff - coffee in the market, checking out the city sights, Museum of Civilisation and playing at the Governor General's. They also snuck away for a few days to do some sightseeing. It was also very handy for me having an extra grown-up in the house as I could run Miss 4 to and from school on the days the twins didn't go without getting the whole mob organised.
Just because we could, we took a few days last weekend and travelled down to Niagara. I've actually been there twice in winter, so was looking forward to all the attractions actually being operational. We left on Friday and after a quick stop to see family Friday night, we popped into Niagara-on-the-Lake for lunch on the Saturday; very picturesque. (As a bonus we found proper pies, pasties and sausage rolls for lunch. Very hard to come by in this part of the world!) We finally arrived in Niagara on Saturday afternoon, but as the Maid of the Mist was booked, we only had time to check out the rapids walk a little downstream. After loading up at the buffet breakfast on Sunday, we ticked a bunch of items off the list: Behind the falls (noisy and damp, but the kids were fine with it), Niagara's Fury, a 4D movie experience (too scary for the kids and we had to leave) and the famous Maid of the Mist. It really is a fantastic experience - you really appreciate the immense size and power of the Falls when you're right at the bottom. We all got very wet though - it didn't help that the twins didn't like wearing the hoods on their ponchos. The thing that did surprise me was that the twins in particular really liked looking at the Falls. We kept having to lift them up so they could see over the fence and point at all the "water", and in our hotel room they kept pressing up to the glass to look out at the view. The other highlight for the kids was catching the bus around the various sights (first bus trip for the twins) and splashing in the many puddles left by rain and spray from the falls. I'd been given a tip to take gumboots and many other parents watched the girls splashing around and said "I wish I'd thought of that!"
We got home Monday evening and have had a short week - no school today (Friday) due to teacher PD and Monday is Thanksgiving so it's a long weekend for everyone. We have no real plans, but the weather is supposed to be nice so we'll maybe get out to a museum, or play at the park. Of course, fall leaves are the best entertainment going around - Miss 4 loves to rake and the twins love to put them in the bin. Happy with that! But right now, it's t-shirt weather (20 and sunny) so I think I'll head outside :) 'Til next time...
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