William's vacation, Day 5 & 6

Friday 6/26

Not much was going on this day. We had to get ready to go away for a week. We did make it for a short time to Sarah's house so the cousins could see at least a little bit. So, not many photos were taken. Ha-ha, how about the one of the toad Owen tried to catch?

Saturday

Packing the suitcases and packing the car. We knew it was about a 4 hour drive and we could not check into the rented house before 3 pm. We left between 10 and 11 am with a picnic for lunch. 

Off to beach. Oh, how everybody had anticipated it.

Just before Emerald Isle was a traffic problem but we had still checked in, unpacked, united the cousins, and were in the pool at 5 pm. 8 of us.

Dinner was my version of taco salad mostly prepared at home.

At 7:30 pm we walked down the street to the public beach access. 

How do you get a good picture with 4 little guys? Anyway, these grandparents are happy.

The beach was pretty empty and we had a lovely walk. Time to go back.

Oh dear, we learned fast that when it is dark we have to go into the house from the back through the screened porch. Sarah is an excellent mosquito killer though.

When the children were (finally) in bed the adults played a game called Sequence. Sarah and Wade had brought it. I really like it. Santa Claus might be asked to bring me one. 

Then it was time for the adults to go to bed too. The children always wake up early.

William's vacation, Day 4

Thursday

The boys were awake very early. They looked around and asked about all the things they saw and found interesting. For example: we had to take the babushka nesting doll apart into all 10 dolls. Caleb kept calling there is another one in there! Then they found Papa's team photos from the rowing teams and the rugby teams. They searched until they found him in each of the photos.

The boys helped taking cuttings from our hydrangeas to make a nice bouquet for Sarah.

I forgot to take a photo of the flower arrangement but Sarah loved it. And soon we were on our way to Mid-Lothian Mines Park. Sarah knew her way and James had been there before too. It was an overcast day but perfect for hiking.

The Canadian geese were a bit of a challenge when they were on a walkway which happened several times. They had young ones and hissed at us when we got too close. Excuse me!

The boys had to investigate every side trail. Here they had to go steep up. I kept Stella the dog.

I think their intent was to slide down this hill but that was discouraged.

Remnants of the former coal mines were seen here and there but all fenced.

Oh, and then we came to THIS! Obviously other children had slid down here. I don't think Sarah's children had done it before but they immediately went for it and loved it.

VIDEO! A     (0:38)

VIDEO! B     (0:42)

This was a lot of fun.

There was a casualty though. Owen's pants. Of course Owen's.

One can enjoy simple things. Coming and going we had to go through this tunnel. Oh, the noise making. Again I wasn't fast enough to record it.

Lunch in Sarah's back yard.

At 2 pm we were on a ZOOM call. It was the birthdays of James's older sister and younger brother. Since Jane turned 80 a family chat was arranged. We all sang of course. James and I used Sarah's computer. Sarah was on her iPhone in another room. The boys popped in and out of the picture. Helen of course was in Nashville, other family members in Spain and all over England/Scotland. Technology can be really nice.

And then it was time for William's hair cut. He too had not had one in quite a while like most of us. The parents gave permission of course. And he was eager. A "before photo".

The twins woke up from their nap and found us outside ... and watched.

Good job by Sarah as always. Ha-ha, by now she had enough practice. 

As soon as I had taken this last photo the sky opened and we had to rush inside. It was a major downpour which we watched from the screened porch. The gutters were overflowing.

Before going home I shared the hard-boiled quail eggs as promised. Consensus was: taste just like regular eggs.

Amazing how fast each day is over especially when you have fun.

William's vacation, Day 3

Wednesday. 

1 month and 10 days late. Today will be exciting! But about that later.

The day started out well with a fat envelope being delivered for William. His Mom had ordered a book for him. William is an avid reader. Of course that needs to be encouraged. Our library didn't have the book he is currently "into". They can't be visited right now. Only curbside pickup. What did we do before Amazon?

Omi had bought herself a new toy, a digital microscope. It connects with the iPhone or computer and can magnify 1000x. It came just before William arrived and I had no time to play with it but managed to download the necessary app and found out how to turn it on. 

I had found a dead fly and asked William whether he wanted to find out with me how the new toy works. We had a grand time with it. We should have moved into an area where there was better light but here are just two of the photos we took. There is potential. 

There was still time before lunch and James took William to Meadow Farm Park again. There is that huge grass area in the middle. William had brought his bike too and we had never seen him ride it. Ben had just recently taught him how to do it.

VIDEO     (0:18)     So proud of him being willing to give it a try.

The pre-virus plan had been that William visits us shortly after his birthday. We had hired the Magician/Juggler Jonathan as a birthday treat and the event should have taken place at our church because William knows some of our friends there.

Plan B: Sarah and Wade volunteered their place with social distancing in mind of course. It started at 5pm. Sarah invited a few of her friends but it was not really a party because no food or drink was offered. She designated 5 different areas for the 5 families besides us with space in-between. They came with blankets or camping chairs and everybody had a grand time. 

I had not expected Jonathan the Magician to call William forward but was very pleasantly surprised how comfortable William was with it. He was a very good sport.

VIDEO!     (0:30)

More videos:

Juggling with fire     (0:33)

On uni-cycle     (from Sarah 0:55)

At the end William was called up again. This time because he was the guest of honor. He was turned into a rabbit. VIDEO!     (1:00)

And it led right into the last act. Caleb, Colin and Owen were waiting for it because they remembered it from Caleb's 5th birthday party.

VIDEO!     (0:46)

Yes, it was the highlight again. 

After everybody was gone we had dinner.

And then we went for a little walk in the neighborhood. William was eager to use Caleb's bicycle which is a little larger than his. He did a great job.

VIDEO!     (0:15)

Back to the house for "special" dessert:

VIDEO!     (0:17)

Time to go home. William and Caleb were very excited because Caleb was spending the night with us. The boys were so cute. It did take a little while to settle them though. 

Altogether another wonderful day.