Hanging with the Chickens

June, in Tennessee.


Note: this is quite a departure from my typical "music video" version of our lives. I tried a couple of versions with choppy edits set to music, but that really didn't capture this quiet week we spent with the chickens. Max was at such peace when he held them, calm, centered—both kids seemed to enjoy them so very much, and this seemed the only way to really document that. In other news, the video quality seems to be better. I think I am finally figuring that part out.

But Wait, There's More!

The weather continues to amaze and delight. Cool mornings and evenings, sunny days. No rain at all. It is absolutely ideal weather, and it makes me wonder why I put up with the craziness of Chicago, where it would normally be sweltering at this time of year, but report has it that kids are running around in winter coats. ?

We've only got a couple more days of this model weather, and we intend to soak it up as much as possible.

We may be pushing that metaphor. These pants, for instance, soaked up a good afternoon in the sandbox (as did the boy who was wearing them).



The kids have spent many afternoons just roaming around the property here, jumping on the trampoline, running around on the paths, hiding their treasures (hand-decorated rocks), losing the same treasures (it's can be kind of hard to find a "rock," even if you're the one who has hidden it). The dappled sunlight on the porch is so perfect for afternoon drawing sessions.



They made "rubbings" of the various surfaces.



Otto is very proud of his "Otto" here, he says he is getting better and better at writing his name. "Look at these nice O's!" he said.



We have spent most evenings exploring the various beaches within a short drive of the house. Last night's venture was a particularly fun one, involving crossing through a bit of water (it was about knee high for me) to reach the other side, where there was sort of an island on which to play. I think this is a lagoon, although I suppose I need the more experienced Victorians to tell me the proper terms to use when describing this beach. Whatever it is actually called, I'd call it an adventure.

When we got there, two other boys were catching largish crabs, and they happily shared them with us. Here are some of us observing the caught crabs in their temporary habitat.



We also caught a jellyfish and watched it pulse. I couldn't get a good photo of the jellyfish (or the crabs, for that matter), but I was reading a bit about them this morning and found this lovely photo of one, whose Latin name is Aequorea victoria. It seemed so appropriate that I had to include it here.


Digging deep.



A pretty nice way to end the day.



The whole experience was so exciting that at the end of it all, as we were hiking back to the car, Max cried out, "This was even better than I expected!" And that about sums it up.

But wait! The fun doesn't stop there. When we got home, Effie and Gillian orchestrated Easter in July for us. There was a hike through the trail to find colored eggs filled with various candy. It's hard to imagine going back to our usual Easter egg hunt in the apartment: "Um, did you look under the piano? How about by that chair?" SO FUN to find these things out in the woods!

Another Beautiful Day in Victoria

We continue to have fun with the Canadians, even though the rest of the RU Fun clan has evacuated. There were a few days of solid recovery, cleaning, sleep and the like, but we had a big day out yesterday (and may well have worn ourselves out enough to justify further days of recovery).

There were morning concoctions with ice cream and three flavors of Crush.



Followed by a sprinkler session on the trampoline.



We rode to downtown Victoria in a double decker bus and saw all sorts of cool cars to see from a pretty awesome view, then in Bastion Square and some time to play in the fountain.




We got a glimpse of all of Canada in miniature (we went to a Miniature Museum, which the kids LOVED). We also saw lots of other cool scenes, including, hey, more cars!




And then a visit to the Bug Museum, where we saw several varieties of stick bugs, some scorpions, millipedes, and a giant ant colony. Otto was almost always the first hand in the air volunteering to hold each variety.






We took a boat taxi out to Fisherman's Wharf, ate crispy delicious fish and chips and spent the perfect sunny afternoon walking around the wharf, looking at all the boathouses.





Another boat taxi with the same funny driver who brought us out.





Back on land, Fergus stopped to smell the roses.



Another double decker bus ride and a nicely restored Tin Lizzie.



And then a trip to the beach at sunset, a most beautiful beach. Very happy children (who promised not to go in the water in their only clean pair of clothes and did so with great abandon anyway) found crabs, saw fish leaping out of the water, and built a see saw out of driftwood. 






Ahhhh....Baby Feet

We all had the pleasure of holding this beautiful little girl in her first two weeks of life. It was such a wonderful thing for the family to share with us (and must have been difficult to do, a little more than one week after having the baby, they were here, at our gathering, surrounded by adoring parents who all wanted a turn to hold their baby...and on top of that, they had only just moved into a new house, their four year old had tonsillitis, and their two older boys were still trying to work out all the shifts and changes and needed extra attention). I know I spent the first two weeks (and then some) mostly in bed, cuddling with my babies, very reluctant to hand them over to anyone else. We all realized that this little baby knew she was number 4, because she is incredibly mellow, will be held by mostly anyone (although of course she is always looking around for her mom), and well, she is absolutely beautiful. It was quite a gift from their family that we all got to bask in Gabriella's glow.

RU Fun 2009

We are gathered this year in Victoria BC for another amazing collection of kids and parents and activities and fun.

Communal paintings.





Tent city. (We had the deluxe accommodations, in the main house with an en suite bathroom!).



A trip to the marina.





Wiiiiiii!



Hanging with MJ.



Night goggles.



Baby holding funshop.





Wildlife.



Bling.



Tie-dye, free form.



And unveiling the finished product.



Sandbox.



Hula hooping.



Craig made a movie of (almost) all of us, taking a turn on the hula hoop. It's too good not to share it here.

Happy Canada Day!