Things: We Are Doing Them

We have been successfully evacuated from the wet and windy winterland.

All manner of holiday-related activities have ensued: swimming and beaching, the Farmer's Market, (the kids' first) fireworks, a science museum, and playgrounds. Infinite playgrounds.

And so many treats.  By the time I get around to photographing my Wonder Woman bathing suit, it will no longer fit. Or so I will tell you if I feel like too big a dork for public sharing.

Maia does not like the heat very much.  It forced us into a midday showing of Brave, which despite being a precise combination of the two things they are terrified of (bears and thunderstorms), was very much enjoyed by all. Other Things Maia Does Not Like would take to much of my Mum's bandwidth to chronicle, but she doesn't like mosquitos. The feeling is not mutual:

Believe it or not, this is day five of the bite and a vast improvement on days three and four.  And now a bite on her arm is going the same way.  So much fun.

Today's photos are courtesy of a new-to-me DSLR, which my mum kindly passed on!  Now I can take technically sophisticated terrible pictures too.

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Bless me, Blogger, for I have sinned. It has been twenty four days since my last confession.

Well, goodness. Sorry about the lengthy hiatus. For those of you not au fait with the intricacies of my life, the majority of that time was spent with my family in the States but the remainder has been spent trying to get my act together and do 10,000 things I don't want to do.

Not pictured: Things I want to do

A Big Girl conglomeration of complaining to various companies for being hateful, form-filling, lots of things involving doctors, even more things involving screwdrivers, a steady stream of money going in the wrong direction, an intense cardiovascular programme based on trips to the garage carrying increasingly awkward things, and meetings, and emails about meetings, and the resultant meetings about meetings both past and present, and meetings we might have in future to be planned in email. None of it involves dorky gingerbread houses.

Which is unfortunate. Because I am infinitely better at the things I want to do.

And so endeth my obligitory post-holiday-mid-homesick whinge. Things are returning to normal, progress is being made, and hopefully I'll be back at my machines soon. Sewing myself a sense of humour.

Attention all lovers of schadenfreude: who thinks I can make a bean bag couch?

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If you go out the the woods today, you're sure of a big let down

Rather than speaking of our holiday in one mega-holiday redux, I'm continuing my strategy of boring you gently and gradually forevermore. How's that working out for you?

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Wordless Wednesday: Pure joy

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Pickings from Paradise

Yesterday we set off on masse to a local farm.


Armed with dozens of empty punnets and a sense of purpose.


We were lucky to have such robust systems of quality control.


Grandparents to grandkids, cousins to cousins, memories formed and moments were captured.


The girls with their matching tops and strawberry stained hands.


Jamie tried a blueberry (!!) and the fibres of the universe did not rip apart and send us all careening into oblivion. It 'was nice'.


Isla ate several thousand blueberries and went to her own tiny version of Heaven.


Knowledge was imparted.


Hilarity shared.


It's hard not to view our trips back to the place I grew up through rose-tinted spectacles. Probably because I wasn't the one who spent $70 on a car full of berries. Thanks, Dad :)

NB. As I continue to be cut off from the world by lack of email access and non-ridiculous internet connection, I will continue to update my Open Post with further questions for you all to answer. So keep checking back!

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Top ten excuses why I didn't blog while I was away

• 10. I did not almost die from a mysterious illness. Maia did not projectile vomit on my head. She did, however, have the bejesus scared out of her by a tremendous mid-pee automatic flush at the airport. To the extent that she was hysterical about public toilets and ergo, pooped herself at all of these places:

• 9. My mom has dial-up internet access and I might have stabbed her computer and then we would have fallen out.
• 8. I was dazzled by Steven's first beard:
• 7. I was attempting to go CSI on some fisher tracks I found near the house: A what?! A fisher: Yes, I sprinkled ash on the tracks and blew. No, it didn't work.
• 6. I read 14 books. Steven read 27 issues of Sports Illustrated and one book:
• 5. Monitoring the alarming rate of grey hair growth on my head is a full time job.
• 4. Calvin needed airplane rides:
• 3. I slept, on average, 100% more than I do in Edinburgh.
• 2. Sledding: Playing in the snow: 'Nuff said.
• 1. The airline lost my mojo.

Here are some more pictures of the lovely time the kids had with their cousins:
And some more pictures of our happy family:
And for the truly hard-core Nosey Parkers, all photos can be seen here.

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Holiday Roundup

I don't want to bore you silly with holiday snaps, so instead I'm going to issue some awards, American Yearbook style....

• Biggest Lovefest: Me and Calvin

• Serena Williams Bubble Butt award: Maia And look, it's makes her incredibly buoyant!

• Least Reciprocated friendship: Maia and Mister Bo
• Big Kid Award: Four way tie (Steven, Grandma, Grandpa, me)
• Least observant person: Steven. For a laugh (and, yes, I am hilarious) I moved the car twice while Steven was inside a shop and he never noticed. Or at least he never said anything, probably so as not to encourage me.
• Future Supermodel Award: Calvin
• Silly Sunburn award: Me
• Farmer's Tan award: Steven
• Most Impressed by Creatures Award: Maia, upon meeting a salamander
• Most Eccentric Child: Maia
• Campest Moment: To get up here, Jamie has to tell a tween goth who was brooding on the top tire, 'Excuse me, big boy'
• Biggest control freak about sand castles: me
• The 'Really Loves Swings' Award: Maia
• The 'Really loves Tunnels' Award: Jamie
• Future Architect Award: Maia
• World's Strongest Toddler Award: Maia
• Harry Potter Appreciation Award: Jamie
• Most Redundant Paddling But We Won't Tell Him Because He's Having Fun' Award: Jamie
• The Y Chromosome Bonding Experience Award: Liam, Conor and Jamie playing the Wii
• The Eat your Body Weight in Ice Cream Award: Jamie and Maia

• Buy Your Bodyweight in Fabric Award: Me
• Audry Hepburn Sunglasses Award: Isla

• We All Love Each Other Award: Too close to call

• We Specifically Love Calvin Award: (Just between me and you, I'm the winner)
• Sainthood Award: Despite getting more than 200 bugbites, I didn't scratch a single one. Truly.
  

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