Thursday, December 1, 2011

It's Been a Little While

I think this may be the longest period of time in which I haven't posted, since starting my blog in mid 2009.  Life has been crazy busy it seems:  doctors' appointments for Seth and Lizzie (vaccinations with our family doctor; dermatologist appointment to talk about a few skin things); homeschooling; household maintenance; play dates; and trying to get myself to bed at a decent hour.

In addition, we spent a four-day weekend in a hotel south of the border, thanks to Geoff's boss, who was saying thank you for Geoff's significant investment of working hours in the past couple of months.  We went to a hotel with a huge waterpark, and the kids loved it.  I'm sure that the boys spent 16-20 hours in the  waterpark over those four days...most of it on the middle two days!  Matthew has had quite a few swimming lessons over the past few summers, and loves the water; and it was great to see Seth's comfort level with the water visibly improve over the few days we were away.  Lizzie was pretty good with the water, though definitely had a preference to stay in the shallow pools where she could stand...and she did not like relying on a parent to tote her through deeper water!

On day two, after Seth complained regularly that he knew how to swim (not!) and that he didn't need his life jacket, we allowed him to take it off while in the shallow pool and as long as a parent was in the water with him.  It was funny to watch him start out without a life jacket: he tried to impress us with his no-life-jacket swimming expertise and then promptly sank to the bottom of the pool!  When he jumped back up, spluttering, he looked so shocked that he hadn't remained buoyant - he hardly knew what to make of that.  But he adjusted quickly and was soon imitating Matthew as Matthew sank under water and swam along the bottom of the pool like the little fish that he is.

It was great not to have to cook meals for four days!  That was probably my biggest break of the long weekend.  What struck Geoff and me both very strongly, however, was that just because you go on fun little getaway, you don't actually get a vacation from the more challenging behaviours of your children!  We still had to deal with bickering, an occasional tantrum, owies inflicted by a sibling, and bad moods!  We also learned another obvious lesson:  it really makes no difference whatsoever to say to the kids at the beginning of the weekend something like "ok guys, let's try really hard to get along well this weekend, ok, and enjoy the treat of getting away for a little while."

Here are a few pictures from our mini vacation - the pictures in the waterpark aren't great, due to the lighting, but you'll have to take my word for it:  it was awesome!!

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We were fortunate enough to have a suite in the hotel, with a separate bedroom and a lovely, roomy space to utilize.




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Within minutes of arriving, the kids demanded their swim suits and were screeching with excitement about the water park (which we could see from the big wall of windows at the side of our room).

The day before we left, I needed to find the boys swimsuits because they had apparently outgrown every pair we had in the house!  Do you know how hard it is to find swimsuits when there's snow on the ground?  After much looking about, I found these ones - not the trunks that I would have chosen, but they boys adored them (apparently the snug fit of the suit felt very 'supportive!')  













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Lizzie, stealing Geoff's hat!

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Wow, they sure look angelic while they're sleeping!

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I spent a bunch of evening hours working on a large puzzle.

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Matthew helped me with the last few pieces and, of course, took credit for finishing off my many hours of work!


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Matthew took two pictures of me...I hate pictures of myself, but I figure it's only fair given how many I take of them!

6 comments:

  1. Looks like a fun time judging by the huge smiles on the kids' faces!
    Great photos (I thought the 2nd one that Matthew took of you was excellent by the way) :)
    I'm glad to hear that I am not the only mom who asks her kids to "let's try to all be kind to each other", only to have the effect last less than 2 minutes!

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  2. So glad you got to get away (even though you're right about the behaviours and squabbles coming along with you!) and have some family time. Love the pictures!

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  3. So true - you can try to get away but life's challenges still follow you!
    I'm glad you had a mini break from the day to day though.
    Loved the comment on Seth not wanting his life jacket on. After the first swim lesson the twins had, the teacher had to talk to me to help her explain to Bereket that she was supposed to be TEACHING him how to swim. He just wanted to be left alone to figure it out himself!
    Many levels later, he is thankfully not as stubborn (in the pool anyway!)
    Michelle

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  4. So glad to see an update Ruth. Its a great way to stay connected. Great to catch up today. Thanks! I sooooo get the break from the day to day meals. I'm glad you had a bit of a break even though it wasn't totally a vacation.

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  5. Congrats on the weekend away!! \
    What a wonderful treat for all of you. The waterpark looks like a lot of fun.

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  6. so fun!! where is that? it looks like one we stayed at years ago in minot which the girls LOVED!
    ps..so great to see your face, beautiful momma!

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