Chick Chat: Staying Busy for the Fourth

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Staying Busy for the Fourth

I have a love/hate relationship with long holiday weekends. Before kids, when I was working, I LOVED them for the 3-day weekend they provided. Time to just kick back, hang out, and have fun. Then, after Nicholas but before law school, the long weekends meant we got to see more of Mr. Chick, and that's always a good thing. But now, staying home with 2 kids with a husband who is studying for the wicked bar exam, holiday weekends don't have the same appeal. In fact, for me, it's just one more day of trying to find fun things to do with the kids on the cheap when everything is closed. And what is open is crowded. But despite my "bah humbug" attitude towards this particular holiday, it ended up being a better weekend than I expected. And when things exceed expectations, I get happy.

Friday was a very good day (don't ALL holiday weekends actually start on Friday in anticipation of the long weekend?? They always did for me.) We had a playdate with one of Nicholas's best friends and the kids got along beautifully. We had time at their house, time at a nearby park where the kids played and rode bikes, lunch together, and then a trip to a wading pool. It made the day go by so fast! We had yet another birthday party to attend on Saturday morning. It was a nice diversion, if early to indulge in rich and yummy chocolate cake. Mr. Chick set up our tent in the backyard and he and Nicholas "camped" there that night. Always a fun adventure to sleep in the backyard in a tent with your Daddy! We went on a really long bike ride as a family on Sunday. I always enjoy those. We rode downtown and stopped at REI so I could pick out a new bike helmut to replace the old, incredibly ugly white styrofoam one I had been wearing. Mr. Chick referred to me as "egg head" whenever I wore it. And on Monday we took the kids down to the waterfront and the "Art In The Vineyard" annual celebration. I love these types of things. Lots of crafts and artwork to see. A special area for art in the garden. They had a nice area for childrens art with plenty of things for the kids to color or make. One booth in particular specialized in art from recycled materials and Nicholas made a necklace from paper tubes, pogs, wood beads, and old laminate countertop samples. It was strung onto some recycled wire. He loved it. Speaking of art, he's FINALLY starting to draw stuff that has shape and intent vs. random scribbling. AND, he's able to write his own name now! Some of the letters are backwards, but you can tell what they are. YESS!! Now he writes him name on everything - even when he has to turn the paper over to finish writing all the letters. After all, he DOES have a rather long name... Mr. Chick and I got to do a little wine tasting, something we really enjoy, and the weather was perfect! It was a nice way to spend a couple of hours together as a family. Once home the kids each took 3 hour naps (thank you, nap gods!) and even Mr. Chick snuck into the tent and took a quick catnap. I got to put my feet up and indulged in some R&R for me on the couch. It doesn't get any better than catching some zzz's on the couch on a lazy weekend afternoon! Now THAT'S a holiday!

I was able to convince Nicholas, upon waking from his nap, that if were able to ride his bike to the 7-11 I'd get him a Slurpee. It's just under a mile to the 7-11 from our house. He was game and he rode all the way! We went slowly, but we got there. It's a big deal for him to ride his bike that far - he's still learning and is slowly mastering all the scary stuff like driveway dips and corners. And those speed-inducing "hills" onto the streets - ! (aka the cutouts on the corners so you don't actually have to step off the curb). But he loved that Slurpee and sucked that baby down like a champ. He knew that if he rode his bike all the way home again he'd get to see some fireworks, so he pedalled all the way back. I was very proud and impressed with my boy, who tends to be sort of wussy about anything physical or that requires a lot of effort. He's the type that gives up easily when things get tough.

We joined some friends for a casual dinner and then walked to the waterfront for the fireworks display. I love fireworks. Seeing them this year with both kids highlighted the intrinsic differences between them. Nicholas was initially scared of the loud booms and was actually shaking at one point. He liked the IDEA of fireworks, but the reality was something he didn't care for. He kept saying "I don't like it here anymore!". Until he got used to it in the safety of my arms and then he liked them - a lot. On the other hand we have Lauren, who was excited about them from the get-go. The loud booms and pops would make her jump, but she seemed to really like the thrill of it. She had the biggest smile on her face, and was clapping to the fireworks. She embraced them, Nicholas shied away. That, in a nutshell, is how my two are different. We didn't get the kids home and in bed until after 11:30pm last night. They were both up at their normal time of 7am this morning. And the nap gods must have moved on to other families because neither kid has napped a wink today and it's 3pm.

I snapped this pic this weekend. It pretty much sums everything up. I was a good weekend for everyone. Even my period held off, choosing instead to grace me with it's presence today. But I'm still in a good mood so I don't even care.... too much... maybe because I've already indulged my sweet tooth? That always helps.