Scheduling and Fun Friday

We had a nice Friday, and have found a fun and somewhat efficient scheduling that seems to be working for everyone involved. Basically, I try to get out in the AM before everyone is ready to start their day and do some sort of work, either in the yard or on the barn/house, then come inside and get ready for the school day. After lessons, I go back out and do more work while the kids entertain themselves. At some point, I have to come in and make lunch, then clean up, and if I'm lucky, I can squeeze in an hour or two of more work, and maybe if I'm lucky, a quick power nap.

Then, once the afternoon kicks in, it's time for kids entertainment, which entails one of their classes or heading to a social gathering with other kids. Now that the school play is done, we have more breathing room, at least until the next gig.

This past week was April vacation, whatever that means, so a lot of our structured activities were on hold. We decided to hit the pool and afterward Shepard's Pie for dinner and to see KR's band play.

The kids were excited about being at the pool, though I have my reservations about the place. It's a bit too Disneyland, and like a lot of kid's activities in the modern era, really designed to get them out of the parent's hair so that mom or dad can spend the time on their Blackberries. They even have wireless internet. Plus, kids don't really swim there, they just float around because the wave pool does all the work. I shouldn't complain, the kids love it, but I have to confess, I prefer just a regular pool where kids can actually swim.

Anyway, we saw some friends there. HW was there with her buddies, and she was happy to see A. She even said hi to me, which is unusual in most of the kids we know. They never seem to acknowledge the parents, just look right through them. HW saw me and and said hi, and we haven't seen her in probably two years. Also saw NM and SM, and of course, mom was busy on the laptop while her kid was swimming in the pool.

There is a big water slide at the pool that A&N were toying with trying, but it's a bit intimidating. A wrestled with it, you could see her ruminating on whether to try it, before finally going for it. And you know what? She loved it and couldn't stop.

Of course, N wanted to, but he's a bit too young. They ask that you be a certain height, and he falls short an inch or two, not much. I told him to wait, but as we were watching the other kids, this one girl who was the same height as N got on and slid down. I told N to go for it, and he loved it. I even tried it, and you do go pretty fast. N got in line to try it again, but the lifeguard busted us and said he wasn't big enough. Oh well, at least he got a taste for it. I'm guessing by the end of Summer he'll be ready.

After the pool, we showered and headed over to Shepard's Pie, where KR's band was playing. Got to see JM and finally got to meet D. Best of all, KR is always cool about letting A get on stage and jam with her (we brought her guitar). A loves performing, she's such a natural. What a sight to behold.

After dinner, which was great as always, we had desert and headed home. I was beat, but not so much as to miss an episode or two of 24.

It was a really enjoyable day, though exhausting. Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Jan Willem Geertsma and Colin Brough for the pics.