Good morning and welcome to Saturday, June 16th!
When my husband and I were first married, some friends of ours who had four sons gave us the craziest advice. "Let the kids stay up late!" We promptly ignored this advice as we went on to have one, two, then three toddlers all in a bustling brood. We looked forward to a 7:30 p.m. bedtime so that we could finally have time for each other and ourselves.
Fast forward six years. The toddlers were all elementary school-aged; we had another baby and then - surprise! - one more. Babies roll with bedtime no problem. Bedtime slowly creeped up to 8:00 p.m...8:30...9 p.m....9:30 p.m. While we knew the toddler bedtime rule, we had a new problem. Teenagers.
I don't know how other families do it, but we found it really difficult to get the little ones to bed before the big ones. Then we remembered our friends' advice: Let the kids stay up late. And sixteen years later, we finally see the wisdom, which simply is: more family time.
Case in point: Summer Vacation Week #3. This past week kicked off with my two older sons taking me to see Warroad Summer Theatre's, Always a Bridesmaid production for my birthday. (Note: Very fun and funny. Last shows are THIS WEEKEND, today and tomorrow.) After the play, I took four of the kids out to Zippel Bay State Park. We arrived at 6:30 p.m. A few folks were on their way out and, other than a couple who stopped for only a few minutes, we had the whole beach to ourselves. The sun was shining, the water was warm. There was a strong northeasterly wind (okay, honestly, I'm guessing here on the wind direction, but I'm trying to create some ambiance, so please forgive any directional errors) producing waves with big enough white caps to provide a little thrill.
Lucie was anxious to try out her new skills learned at swimming lessons, David was jumping over and diving into the cheerful waves, and Luke was happy to stroll up the beach in search of treasures. While Luke went west, I ventured east with the toddler - down the rocky stretch I had never explored before. Baby (that's our nickname for him) and I "went on a bear hunt," climbing over, under, or around fallen logs, through the "mud," "rivers" and "caves" of tangled roots and sun bleached trunks that offered openings big enough for the toddler's little body to pass. Every rock was an island, hop, hop, hop, splashing through the water to the next obstacle. This side of the strand was warmer, sheltered from the wind. Up and down the beach we swam and explored. At 8:30 p.m. we packed up and headed home where we were greeted with a fire in the pit and dad grilling klobasa. Twilight trampoline jumping for the kids, while hubby and I rocked in our chairs by the dying fire, enjoying the light breeze and bug-free night. Fireflies dotted the darkness, delighting us all.
Hi, it's David again. You know from my mom's previous blog post she mentioned that we got another cat. Although, she did not give many details about the cat. So I'll tell you about the cat from start to finish.
In November, a friend of ours came to our house offering a cat that she had found freezing on her doorstep. Since she was allergic to cats she asked us if we wanted it. Of course, Lucie and Antonin were all about the cat, and me and Tereza were up to taking care of it and Luke didn't want to do the work. So my parents discussed it and the next time she came to our house with the cat, the cat was ours. Having Fuzzy in our house (after awhile we started calling the cat Fuzzy), became a great responsibility: Cleaning his litter box, sweeping the bathroom, and after all, the bathroom was the best spot to have a cat and to give him food and water.
So, over the months, Fuzzy was living in our bathroom growing from about eight inches long to about one foot long.When Fuzzy was living with us twice he simply disappeared from our family for a week each. Both times we found him in our garage. That made us uncertain about having him be an outside cat. It was a little concerning since the last two times he disappeared. But, on the bright side, the first times he went outside in May, he was very shy to go outside. He took a couple of steps outside, then ran back in. That's what he did basically all day. Soon, he started to spend nights outside and he started to take shape as an outside cat: eating food in our garage, exploring the forest, following me while I'm doing my Cross Country running mile, and everything else an outside cat does. Just this past Thursday, almost a month after Fuzzy moved outdoors, I moved Fuzzy's living space from the bathroom, out of the house to the garage. So he went from being a shivering, wild one-month old kitten, to a nearly one-year-old cat that is loved very much.
David
P.S. According to the vet, when Fuzzy had his shots, his birthday is October 10th.
2010 - The world's first country-wide total tobacco ban goes into effect. Bhutan banned the cultivation, harvesting, production, and sale of tobacco and tobacco products. It is still legal in the South Asian country to smoke in a private setting, but obtaining tobacco products legally is close to impossible.
1976 - South African police kill hundreds of protesting school children. An estimated 20,000 youth were protesting against the introduction of Afrikaans as the languages of instruction in their schools when police officers started firing into the crowd. The “Soweto uprising” is today commemorated on Youth Day each year.
1967 - The Monterey Pop Festival opens. The three-day concert event featured historic performances by Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Ravi Shankar, and Janis Joplin.
1963 - Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space. The Soviet cosmonaut completed 48 orbits on board the spaceship “Vostok 6” before returning safely to Earth. The former textile worker was declared “Hero of the Soviet Union” and received the United Nations Gold Medal of Peace.
1960 - Alfred Hitchcock's film Psycho is premiered. The horror-thriller starring Anthony Perkins and Vera Miles has become one of the classics of the genre. The shower scene is one of the best-known murder scenes in the history of film.
1912 - Enoch Powell, British politician
1890 - Stan Laurel, English actor, comedian of Laurel & Hardy
1882 - Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iranian politician, 60th Prime Minister of Iran
1723 - Adam Smith, Scottish philosopher, economist
It looks like it might rain (my weather app is still not getting the weather alerts right) but get outside anyway and make it a great Saturday!
Kim
When my husband and I were first married, some friends of ours who had four sons gave us the craziest advice. "Let the kids stay up late!" We promptly ignored this advice as we went on to have one, two, then three toddlers all in a bustling brood. We looked forward to a 7:30 p.m. bedtime so that we could finally have time for each other and ourselves.
Fast forward six years. The toddlers were all elementary school-aged; we had another baby and then - surprise! - one more. Babies roll with bedtime no problem. Bedtime slowly creeped up to 8:00 p.m...8:30...9 p.m....9:30 p.m. While we knew the toddler bedtime rule, we had a new problem. Teenagers.
I don't know how other families do it, but we found it really difficult to get the little ones to bed before the big ones. Then we remembered our friends' advice: Let the kids stay up late. And sixteen years later, we finally see the wisdom, which simply is: more family time.
Case in point: Summer Vacation Week #3. This past week kicked off with my two older sons taking me to see Warroad Summer Theatre's, Always a Bridesmaid production for my birthday. (Note: Very fun and funny. Last shows are THIS WEEKEND, today and tomorrow.) After the play, I took four of the kids out to Zippel Bay State Park. We arrived at 6:30 p.m. A few folks were on their way out and, other than a couple who stopped for only a few minutes, we had the whole beach to ourselves. The sun was shining, the water was warm. There was a strong northeasterly wind (okay, honestly, I'm guessing here on the wind direction, but I'm trying to create some ambiance, so please forgive any directional errors) producing waves with big enough white caps to provide a little thrill.Lucie was anxious to try out her new skills learned at swimming lessons, David was jumping over and diving into the cheerful waves, and Luke was happy to stroll up the beach in search of treasures. While Luke went west, I ventured east with the toddler - down the rocky stretch I had never explored before. Baby (that's our nickname for him) and I "went on a bear hunt," climbing over, under, or around fallen logs, through the "mud," "rivers" and "caves" of tangled roots and sun bleached trunks that offered openings big enough for the toddler's little body to pass. Every rock was an island, hop, hop, hop, splashing through the water to the next obstacle. This side of the strand was warmer, sheltered from the wind. Up and down the beach we swam and explored. At 8:30 p.m. we packed up and headed home where we were greeted with a fire in the pit and dad grilling klobasa. Twilight trampoline jumping for the kids, while hubby and I rocked in our chairs by the dying fire, enjoying the light breeze and bug-free night. Fireflies dotted the darkness, delighting us all.
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| "Shrieking Shell" and other treasures found on the beach. |
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| East beach |
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| Fuzzy on his first night at our house |
Kid-provided (Fuzzy) Fun Facts
Fuzzy
Hi, it's David again. You know from my mom's previous blog post she mentioned that we got another cat. Although, she did not give many details about the cat. So I'll tell you about the cat from start to finish.
In November, a friend of ours came to our house offering a cat that she had found freezing on her doorstep. Since she was allergic to cats she asked us if we wanted it. Of course, Lucie and Antonin were all about the cat, and me and Tereza were up to taking care of it and Luke didn't want to do the work. So my parents discussed it and the next time she came to our house with the cat, the cat was ours. Having Fuzzy in our house (after awhile we started calling the cat Fuzzy), became a great responsibility: Cleaning his litter box, sweeping the bathroom, and after all, the bathroom was the best spot to have a cat and to give him food and water.
David
P.S. According to the vet, when Fuzzy had his shots, his birthday is October 10th.
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| Grown up Fuzzy |
On This Day
Historic Highlights (credits)2010 - The world's first country-wide total tobacco ban goes into effect. Bhutan banned the cultivation, harvesting, production, and sale of tobacco and tobacco products. It is still legal in the South Asian country to smoke in a private setting, but obtaining tobacco products legally is close to impossible.
1976 - South African police kill hundreds of protesting school children. An estimated 20,000 youth were protesting against the introduction of Afrikaans as the languages of instruction in their schools when police officers started firing into the crowd. The “Soweto uprising” is today commemorated on Youth Day each year.
1967 - The Monterey Pop Festival opens. The three-day concert event featured historic performances by Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Ravi Shankar, and Janis Joplin.
1963 - Valentina Tereshkova becomes the first woman in space. The Soviet cosmonaut completed 48 orbits on board the spaceship “Vostok 6” before returning safely to Earth. The former textile worker was declared “Hero of the Soviet Union” and received the United Nations Gold Medal of Peace.
1960 - Alfred Hitchcock's film Psycho is premiered. The horror-thriller starring Anthony Perkins and Vera Miles has become one of the classics of the genre. The shower scene is one of the best-known murder scenes in the history of film.
Happy Birthday to You!🎶
1971 - Tupac Shakur, American rapper, producer, actor1912 - Enoch Powell, British politician
1890 - Stan Laurel, English actor, comedian of Laurel & Hardy
1882 - Mohammad Mosaddegh, Iranian politician, 60th Prime Minister of Iran
1723 - Adam Smith, Scottish philosopher, economist
It looks like it might rain (my weather app is still not getting the weather alerts right) but get outside anyway and make it a great Saturday!
Kim
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