Laura’s Life

We just got home from a playdate at my friend Angela’s house.  We had walked home in the puring rain and so I was reasonably flustered as I walked through the door.  Shoes to take off, coats to hang up, requests from all three children at once… So I declared, “Just wait a minute; I can’t do a thousand things at once!”  Aidan - not skipping a beat - responded, “Well just do 999 things then.”

 Just as well I was too busy busting a gut with laughter to throttle him.

Chris’ parents, Heather and Jim, came to visit this weekend so on Saturday we all took a walk over to Kilmory Gardens.

 On the walk there, Aidan gave Evan his Roman sword and Evan had a lot of fun pretending to battle barbarians.  It is both amusing and bemusing to see a one year old wielding a toy sword with such dexterity and determination.

When we arrived at the Gardens, Aidan and Orin immediately chose sticks to be their “Harry Potter wands” and - copying his big brothers again - Evan had to have a magic twig too.

Orin and Aidan sitting in the window of the folly.

Orin standing on a stone chair.

Heather with Aidan and Orin on the stone table.

Orin being a Roman attacking barbarian invaders - namely me!

A very warty old tree!

There is a thicket of trees that the kids love to treat as a secret hideaway and the jumble of trunks are like a climbing frame.

And, of course, as always they had to have photos taken on top of the mushrooms like the wee pixies they are.  (Please excuse the fact that Orin has a face full of food.)

Evan giggling.

Aidan climbing a fence.

Daffodil and Narcissus.

Heather and Jim.

Chris.

Cheeky-faced Aidan having a rest.

Aidan among the flowers.  With a sword.  This photo reminds me of the cartoon of Ferdinand the Bull.

Here is a short video of me playing with the kids last night at bedtime. We were doing an action song and they were getting very hyper and giggly as a result of all being on my lap at once. Probably not the thing to calm them down just prior to being taken to bed but nevermind!

There is somewhat of a cyclicar structure to this blog entry, which will become apparent at its conclusion.

On Thursday afternoon, the sun was shining so we played in the garden and the boys got out their chunky chalks to do some drawing on the pavement and patio.  Evan is incredibly dextrous when drawing for such a wee tot.  Perhaps he will grow up to be an artist.

Chris was working in Stirling on Friday so we took the opportunity to go and have a brief visit with the folks in Fife.  With Mum, Aimee and Logan, we strolled to the play park next to the primary school I attended as a lass.  Despite the arctic wind, the boys enjoyed playing on the equipment.

Baby Logan just had to watch his cousins larking around.

When we got back to the house, Logan promptly fell asleep on his baby gym.  We discovered him fast asleep with some Star Wars figures scattered on him.  Apparently Orin wanted to share them with his baby cousin and, of course, you cannot sleep unless you have a Star Wars figure to cuddle up with.

On Saturday, we had a big family expedition to Ravenscraig Park in Kirkcaldy.  In addition to the five of us, there was my Mum and Dad, brother Aaron, sister Aimee with Logan and sister Leanne with Jordan and Rhys.

Orin getting some help with bouncing from Granny.

And then it was Jordan’s turn to receive some help from Granny.

Rhys about to dangle from a climbing frame:

And spinning around in a bowl:

There were these really fun trampolines there that we all had to have a go on:

Aidan in the spinning bowl, which made him feel queasy.

Dad

Aidan bouncing on a duck.

Evan was frozen to his marrow so we bundled him up under everyone else’s jackets to make him a snug wee nest.

Then we moved on to some slightly more adventurous equipment.  Jordan was dangling like he was in a circus act.

 So then everyone else had to have a go at dangling too!

My younger siblings - Leanne, Aimee and Aaron:

Orin injured his leg and was hobbling around feebly so Chris had to carry him around the rest of the park.

My nephew the fruit bat!

Squirrels.

Jordan sitting on a bear.

Yesterday, back home again, it was a nice sunny day so the kiddliwinks went out in the garden to play.  Amongst other things they did more chalking.

It does not seem like half a decade has passed since Blob came into the world and became Aidan.  That time has most definitely zipped past.  Aidan, on the other hand, has been anticipating this birthday for a long time.  Five is a big deal to him.  He was quite disappointed to discover he had to still wait until August to start school.

Aidan seems to have really enjoyed his birthday.  He certainly enjoyed all of his presents and he was very sweet and allowed his little brothers to help him unwrap them all.

Opening his cards.

For once he was happy to receive clothes as a gift - because we gave him two Star Wars t-shirt.  Here he is wearing the Star Wars Lego one.

As Birthday Boy, Aidan got to choose the activity for the day and he chose a trip to the play park.  We were there for over two hours so they had a lot of fun despite the chilly wind whipping up the loch.

Then we went for a walk along the Canal.

For dinner we had quesedillas because that is one of Aidan’s favourite meals.

And then he had a Dinosaur cake.  He really wanted a Pirate Treasure Chest cake but Chris needed time to bake and construct that and, with the weekend away, it just was not possible.  So he is getting that cake at a later date and the Dinosaur cake for the actual birthday.  He seemed chuffed enough with that!

Two birthdays in one week is exhausting.  Thank goodness Orin does not have his birthday until October!

As it was Aidan’s birthday, he got to choose where we went on an outing and he chose the play park - which made life easy. Anyway, while there all three boys were swinging at the same time, which Evan in particular thought was hilarious. So here is a ten second video of my swinging monkeys.

As part of the festivities surrounding Evan and Aidan’s birthday, we decided to take the kids to stay in Glasgow for a long weekend.  While we go to Glasgow reasonably frequently, it is usually with some set purpose and not one that is centred around the kids so we thought it would be a treat to stay in the city for once so that we could take the boys to some of the things we never have the time for during our day trips there.

 We arrived on Friday just in time for lunch.  Aidan had already declared that we were to eat in Pizza Hut so that was where we went first.

It was then just a hop, skip and jump from there to the Science Centre.

The Science Centre is full of fun, child-centred activities for kids of all ages that convey ideas and principles behind science (mainly physics) through practical experimentation and pitched at a level appropriate for young children.  I had a feeling it would engage Aidan but was not sure what Orin or Evan would gain from it but actually they all really enjoyed their time there.  We were there for hours and probably could have been there longer had we also done the Planetarium.

Aidan making a ball float in the air:

Sticking internal organs onto Daddy:

Evan playing with some funky optical lenses:

Orin whirling a vessel of water to create a meniscus:

Evan laughing at something or other:

Chris and Aidan enjoying a weight and motion experiment:

Orin looks a wee bit miserable in this photo but he is actually watching the boats on the River Clyde below:

Aidan being Captain Jack Sparrow while supposedly learning about compass bearings:

Aidan dancing on a giant keyboard:

We chopped Chris’ head off in order to learn about mirrors!

Orin drawing a picture that turned out to be a portrait of “splattered Yoda”:

Aidan building with KNex:

Playing inside an igloo made of triangles:

Evan was obsessed with the phone at the hotel.  He kept picking it up and saying “Hiya, Dadda!”

On Saturday we took them to the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery:

There are lots of interactive things for the kids to do there.  This is Orin creating a beadwork pattern near a display of Native American clothing:

We all loved this display of heads.  The kids were trying to copy all the different expressions.

Evan slouching in front of a display of masks:

Orin wearing a mask:

A sculpture I liked - Nocturnal Landscape by Jake Harvey:

This is Aidan working at an activity where he had to recreate a modernist landscape painting using coloured cords and a metal cube frame:

Then in the afternoon we took the boys to the cinema - the world’s tallest cinema indeed - to see ‘Horton Hears a Who’.  It was only Aidan’s second time in a cinema and a first for both Orin and Evan.  They all loved the movie and were so superbly good we were even complimented on their behaviour.  These photos are dreadful because of the lighting conditions but they mark the event and obviously I took the photos of them seated once the end credits were rolling and the cinema was empty.

Walking back to the hotel we had to stop and take a picture beside the Tardis from Dr Who - although the fact a bloke was serving coffee out of it kind of ruined the mystique for the kids:

We took them into Forbidden Planet where they went hyper at all the Star Wars goodies on the shelves.  They got to choose one figure each for being so good in the cinema so Aidan chose a Darth Vader hologram - which he insists is a ghost - and Orin chose Han Solo dressed as a stormtrooper.  Poor wee Evan didn’t get anything because comic book stores don’t really cater for babies.

The kids loved the glass gable end to the corridor in our hotel because they felt like they were floating above the traffic.

On Sunday we drove down the west coast to Kelburn Castle, a place where there are loads of outdoor activities.  We started off in a fort full of places to climb.

There was a small collection of animals there too.  The boys liked the bunnies best.

Evan watching the ducks splashing about in the pond:

The castle itself is pretty cool as it is part of a graffiti project:

Then we went into the Secret Forest which is a trail through the woods leading to lots of wee fun places.  The first stop was at the Giant’s house.  This is Aidan and Orin sitting on the Giant’s seat.

Chris being the Giant at the bottom of the Beanstalk!

Evan pointing the way to the next destination:

Aidan in the centre of the maze.  I took the photo from one of the edges because I got stuck going around in circles whereas Aidan found the centre first time.

Evan snacking outside the maze:

Aidan and Orin inside the Teenie Weenie house:

And Orin lying in the bed inside the Teenie Weenie house.  How uncomfortable does he look?

Crossing the crocodile lake:

Evan outside the Gingerbread Cottage:

Then we stopped for lunch:

And the kids got to see some newborn lambs up close:

Then we went to an adventure area that had a great assault course for Aidan and Orin to throw themselves around on.  Aidan in particular was fearless!

 Orin making Evan giggle with tickles and funny faces:

We had a really fun weekend!

Since Evan discovered that he could stand he does it all the time.  He just gets himself up from the floor using those stocky wee legs of his and stands there.  He took three steps last week but, apart from that, he does not seem to be interested in mobility.  It’s like having a miniature statue in the house!  I imagine he is going to be walking soon and then I will have three mobile boys to run me ragged.

 

Today is Evan’s first birthday.  Well, technically only the last five minutes of today but we allowed him to celebrate for the entire day.  It does not seem like a year has passed since I was bouncing up and down on a birthing ball willing him to make his way into the world at last; but conversely it seems as if he has been part of our lives for more than a year now.  Relativity of time and all that.

 Here he is getting ready to open his presents.  His big brothers helped him, of course.  Nothing like some birthday presents to encourage sharing!

Opening a present (a watering can):

“And it’s yet another book.  Thanks, Mother!”

“Now that I am a whole year old I can climb wherever I please!”

We did not have a party as such but we spent the afternoon with a group of friends and much cake was consumed.  That did not, however, prevent us from having a birthday cake at home too.

Evan laughing at his brothers singing “Happy Birthday” to him.

Scoffing some cake.  Yummy!

Talk about having eyes bigger than your belly!  I guess I passed the chocoholic gene on.

Happy wee cake face.

Happy first birthday, Evan Tait!

One of Evan’s birthday presents was the HappyLand airport.  It comprises a plane, a helicopter, a motorbike and sidecar, a runway, a control tower, three people and even a windsock.  Aidan and Orin decided to pretend that the plane was on a flight to California.  Orin then pointed to the air traffic control tower and said, “This could be the hotel.”  Aidan gasped in wonderment and said, “Orin!  You are a genius!”