Where Has The Time Gone???

It is hard to believe that it has been three weeks since I last posted. We have been busy with the usual outings, sleep overs, schooling, gymnastics, music, a visit from Grandad and Nana Sharon, two big birthday bashes and lots of fun.

Elyssa had her third birthday at Polly's Playground (a little play gym that she attends weekly) on the 17th. Her little friend from swim lessons, Jazz, was there as well as all the cousins. She had a great time and was quite pleased with her party (thank goodness - she has talked about this party for the last several months). There are only a few photos as we were constantly on the move.

Gary and Sharon were able to visit last week. It was quite nice to show them around our new community and take them out to Springbrook National Park for a hike around the Twin Falls Circuit. As usual they were great company and we look forward to seeing them again in early 2009.

This weekend saw a new kind of excitement...... Melissa had her 12th birthday party at the farm. It was a blast. Sadly, Grant had been working overnight shifts and was home sleeping while the rest of us had a wild day. It started at 10 AM with pony rides (a friend of Tim and Rachel's brought two of her horses over for the day). When we arrive and Tim started the rides, one at a time, I made an offer to lead the other horse/rider set. This worked well for a while as the horse was much easier to lead around the farm than Elyssa. Rachel got the bad end of that deal as she was in charge of Elyssa who wanted nothing more than to be on a horse. She would get in line and wait with the rest of the kids and finally get a ride around the property - I can only imagine how much fun she was while waiting - luckily I never had to know. After the horse rides, there was a really nice lunch and cake, followed by a tug-of-war (which Elyssa insisted on being in - and nearly got trampled). Then it was to the "water slide" - I use the term quite loosely. There was a trench dug down a slight hill, through the previous potato field, ending with a puddle surrounded by bales of hay. The "slide" was lined all the way down with thick plastic. Water was then pumped down the slide and the children (and a few brave adults!) were lathered in soap suds and sent flying down this slide of soap and mud. Do I really need to say how very much the kids loved this? Over and over again, muddy children lined up to be shoved down the slide. Even Elyssa, who wore her wetsuit and was quite comfortable, would just not stop making the trip down the slide then back up the hill to do it all again. This later evolved into the adults (again loosely) using a rope, with one on each side of the slide to tow the children half way down, at a dead run, and fling them the remainder of the way. I have never seen a group of happier, muddier, soapier children in my life. No one could believe that Elyssa just kept coming up for more. That girl has no fear! By the way, the pictures do not do this event justice - my hands were so muddy and soapy that photos were few and far between. It was truly a sight to see.

As a second thought, it may have been a good thing that Grant was home sleeping. I think he may have thought the entire slide thing a bit dangerous (visions of broken bones in the ER) and I know for sure that he would have thought it far too dirty to ever bring the kids home in the car. At least he was able to get some quiet while we were away for hours. By the time he got up everyone was mud and soap free - sadly, there is still a pile of soapy clothes in the garage - hey, I can only do a few things a once.