We had Xena and Babalouie stay with us for four days and nights last week. Ty and Megan went on a long weekend trip to visit friends so the kiddles stayed with us. They’ve spent enough time at our house so they feel perfectly comfortable and at home with us. We had a great time and everyone slept like the dead every night.
Jay was out of town when the visit began. He had a speaking engagement in Oklahoma, followed by a scouting trip to Vegas. He came home late Saturday night when we were all asleep. The kids were delighted to find their ‘Coachie’ in the house when they woke up Sunday morning. Whenever they visit, the first words out of Babalouie’s mouth are always ‘Where’s Coach?’
The weather was great while the kids were here; very July-ish. Clear skies, temps in the high 80s, low 90s, some breezes and some humidity. We slept with the air on but opened everything up in the mornings to let in some fresh summer air. They mowed the park at least once while the kids were here and there’s not much in life that smells better than a freshly mown park. We spent a lot of time down there, either at the playground or at the pool. Xena has taught herself to pump the swings and likes to go as high as she can. This fearless kid would try bungee jumping if it were offered. Babalouie, on the other hand, was brave enough to sprint across the swinging bridge on one of the playsets, which he wasn’t confident enough to do at the beginning of the summer.
It was great to have the excuse of little kids to take to the pool. By late afternoon, we were all very hot and sweaty, so it was really nice to throw on our suits and stroll down to the wading pool. The kids would swim until they were cold and I’d sit in the water and watch them. Sometimes, I’d even lay down in the water, which is not heated and very refreshing.
We walked around the lake several times, with and without other company. One day the kids and I went down just by ourselves and ran into no less than three people we know! We also went into the rose gardens and stopped at the bandstand for ice cream.
The Rose Gardens look dreadful this year. It’s the first time in my life that’s ever happened. I don’t know if there’s something wrong with the soil or if the roses are suffering a blight but there are hardly any blooms on the roses at all. The rest of the garden looks no better. It usually looks like an American version of a formal English garden, with beds that are beautifully designed and coordinated by color, height and blooms. This year, the place looks like it was turned over the neighborhood hippies to grow organic lettuce. I don’t know what’s going on but we have a park board that every few years forgets what it’s mission is and decides not to mow the grass or clean the milfoil out of the lakes. They claim they don’t have the budget for basic maintenance yet they always find money for more asphalt and signage.
But we still had a nice time.
The kids were very patient while I got them ice cream. I parked the stroller in the shade of an umbrella and stood in the very hot, sunny line for twenty minutes. I got two kid sized cups of chocolate ice cream. One would have been enough. Babalouie was done after three bites and Xena took so long that half of hers melted away before she got to it. Once it was melted, she was no longer interested. We bought lemonade from a stand near the duck pond.
We were so busy and outside so much that the kids were asleep by 9 every night. Our routine has been to get into pajamas, brush teeth etc, then watch a movie. They were too tired. It took us three nights to get through Beauty and the Beast. I’d pop the DVD in and we’d snuggle on the couch and twenty minutes in, one of them (usually Babalouie) would say “Nana, I’m going to bed.” Xena would decide that sounded like a great idea, she’d stop the movie and off we’d go. The air mattress was in the livingroom beside the couch. I’d lay on the couch until Babalouie was asleep (Xena made it very clear that she didn’t need my presence to fall asleep). It never took him more than five minutes to conk out. Same with his afternoon nap: I’d lay with him on my bed and within five he’d be snoring. While he napped in the afternoons, Xena and I would go upstairs to my office. I’d get some work done while she drew pictures with a set of markers I found for her.
Nanners, Bean, Tot and Boopity Boop all joined us on occasion.
One morning, Xena woke me up at 6:30, asking “Can we be ready to wake up now?” I said “Yeah, sure.” Then fell back asleep. I woke up two hours later and ran out to make sure all was well only to find her sound asleep in Jay’s recliner. I guess neither of us was really ready to wake up yet. Sleeping is scary when you’ve got little kids in the house. One morning, I put them both in front of cartoons and told them I was going to take a quick shower. No sooner did I get out of my jammies when I heard the back door open and close. I threw on my robe and ran into the back yard, explaining to them both that they had to stay in the house while I washed up.
When Zack was a toddler, he was the worst. Every time I turned my back, he was out the door. I lost track of how many times I ran down the street, asking everyone I could find if they’d seen a little boy wearing (whatever). The worst was a Saturday morning while Ty and Katie (who were 7 and 5) were watching cartoons. I put Zack down for a nap then went to take a shower. When I came out of the shower, Zack’s door was open, a wooden chair was pushed to the front door, the lock was off the chain, the door was open and the toddler was gone. Ty and Katie never saw or heard a thing. We found Zack on the fire escape of the apartment building next door.
Xena and Babalouie have never done anything like that to me.
We had a swell visit! For the most part, everyone got along like gang busters. Sure, there was the occasional punch, kick and even a bite or two but that’s to be expected. We finally finished watching Beauty and the Beast, then tried the other movie they brought with them: Brother Bear. I hadn’t seen that one before and I’ll never watch it again. The back grounds and scenery were gorgeous but the story was boring and stupid. Who thinks it’s a good idea to teach kids that bears aren’t dangerous?
Bears are very dangerous. Hey, I’m real sorry that the grizzly the Inuit brothers had to kill was a mother protecting her young but were they supposed to let her steal their fish and rip them to shreds just because she had a cub? And as for the happy, hippy bear ‘community’; I did not tell my grandkids that in real life that big male grizz was just as likely to kill and eat the cub as the Inuit were.
G.K. Chesterton famously said that Fairy Tales didn’t exist to teach children that dragons exist; they already know that. Fairy Tales exist to teach children that dragons can be killed.
Too many Disney movies exist to teach our kids that dragons don’t exist. No wonder so many of them are getting to college with no ability to deal with real life. If you were raised on stories of the Three Little Pigs in which the wolf was just misunderstood and happy to share the piggies’ veggie pizza and mudpies, you’d need a safe space and play doh when you finally met a real wolf, too.
Ty and Megan came back to town Tuesday evening.
A fabulous weekend had been had by all.