So many things happened this weekend, I could really use a couple of days off to recover! Nevertheless, I do have to work tomorrow so I really should be heading to bed right now, but alas, this blogging thing is an addiction.
Preschool Fine Arts
I'll start with Friday... It was Sophia's first morning of preschool. She was very excited to go. I dressed her nicely and did her hair in two neat braids. (Sharon started doing Sophia's hair that way this summer and I really like it--it's so cute.) It was a wonderful coincidence that Friday happened to be Bronwyn's "Special Day", so Laurel spent the entire morning at the preschool with them. (It is one of the Special Day requirements that the child bring an adult helper.) Laurel said Sophia was a little shy at first, but she really enjoyed the morning. I'm so glad Laurel was there for Sophia's first day.
Dragon Boat Festival
Sharon had taken Friday off, so I took Bronwyn for the afternoon as Laurel had to work. It happened that preschool was over at 11:30 a.m. and the Opening Ceremonies for the Dragon Boat Festival were at 11:45 a.m., so I took the three girls straight downtown to see the ceremony. We arrived just in time and were lucky to find a good place to sit. There were dancers with an elaborate dragon costume and priests from the Ching Chung Taoist Church in Vancouver who performed the ritual of awakening the dragons.
Afterwards, at home, the girls played inside and out (they got very dirty making a "cake" in the bird bath) and I managed to get quite a bit of housework done. I worked all evening too, getting things in order for the next day.
Saturday was the big day for dragon boat racing. My team had planned to meet at 9:00 a.m. to prepare for the first race, so Mom and my Aunt Colleen arrived before 8:30 a.m. We finished packing everything up and headed to Wascana Park. I was a bit nervous before the race, but not as much as last year because I'd been through the process before. For our first race, we came in 2nd with a time of 3:02 (minutes). Meanwhile, Mom and Colleen were busy watching the girls and weren't able to see much of the race. We met up again and went home to have lunch before the second race.
For our second race, we came in 2nd again with a time of 2:53 (in one of the lighter and faster? boats). We were pretty happy about that! Our combined time put us in fourth place among the 12 womens teams, which meant we'd be in the A Final! That was a bit surprising. Some of the other teams have a lot more experience. In fact, one of the teams had even competed in South Africa and came in third there! We really didn't have to race to know we'd be the slowest team in the final.
That was all fine and good, except for one thing--we had to wait soooo long for that final race. The Womens A Final was scheduled for 4:30 p.m., but we didn't actually race until close to 6:00 p.m. We waited to line up for over two hours.
After the second race, I met up with Mom, Colleen, and the girls again. We took the girls to the playground for awhile and then into the Dragon's Lair (beer gardens) where I had a bite to eat. I think Madeline had been fairly happy up to that point, but it was getting way past her nap time. We were hoping she'd fall asleep in the stroller, but that didn't happen. By the time I was supposed to meet my team again at 3:30 p.m., it was pretty obvious they'd have to take Madeline home. I know that whole scene wasn't much fun for Mom and I feel terrible about that--especially knowing I would have had plenty of time to go home before the final race! But of course I didn't know that at the time.
The final race went well enough. We placed fourth and our time was 2:53 again (but this time in one of the heavier and slower? boats). When we were finally finished, I had to catch a ride home with a team mate and didn't get home until 6:30 p.m. Disaster! Let's see... the girls were supposed to be over at Laurel's by 6:30 p.m. and I had to get ready (including wrapping the gift) for a wedding reception that started at 7:30 p.m. I quickly packed the girls' overnight bags and rushed them over to Laurel's because she was taking the three girls to the Circus at 7:00 p.m. Miraculously, they made it just before the lights went down and the show started. Laurel said the kids loved it and were really good too. I'm so glad!
Gina's Wedding Reception
Neil had been working all day and just arrived home at 7:00 p.m., later than he'd wanted as well. We both got ready in record time, I wrapped the gift, and we made it to the wedding reception by 8:00 p.m. A little late, but not bad considering the circumstances. Unfortunately, we missed what sounded like the highlight of the evening--our friend Penny's belly dance. Everyone raved about it. Leeann said you may not think a belly dance is right for a wedding reception, but it really worked and was very nice.
We had a good time at the wedding, so I'm glad we went. We knew a lot of people there; in fact, there were a number of people there that we knew, but had no idea they knew Gina and David. It just goes to show how small this community really is (for those who have no idea: Regina 190,000; Saskatchewan 1,000,000).
By the time I crawled into bed at 12:15 a.m., I was beyond tired. I felt like I would cry if anything kept me out of bed for one more second.
Our Nephew Cole
On Sunday, I went over to get the girls before 9:00 a.m. Neil had to go to work (a bit unexpected, but understandable). The first part of the day wasn't the greatest--I had a bunch of work to do and the girls were awfully grouchy. Apparently, they woke up too early.
I really wanted to go to the airport to meet Shauna and Cole when they arrived (from Edmonton), but Madeline was still sleeping at that time, so we weren't able to go. We finally made it over to Laurel's mid-afternoon. It was the first time we got to meet our beautiful, healthy, two-month-old nephew, Cole, in person. That was the highlight of the weekend for me!
Unfortunately, I had to take off for a couple of hours to get groceries for the following week (or two). I was so thankful to be able to leave the girls with Neil's family while I got that done. We had supper at Laurel's that day too.
The Farm
The girls and I went to the farm late Monday morning. Laurel, Bronwyn, Shauna, and Cole arrived after lunch. Neil's mom had wanted to get pictures of the girls in a field of sunflowers, but the weather really didn't cooperate for that. It was too cool and windy.
It was a good day anyway. The men harvested peas all day, the girls played inside mostly, and the rest of us got in some quality Cole-time. I enjoyed holding him while he slept.
By the time we left the farm at 8:30 p.m., the girls were really pooped out and fell quickly to sleep in the van. It's always a nice break to just carry the girls into bed, skipping the whole bedtime routine thing.
P.S. If you're wondering why you just spent 10 minutes of your life reading this, please note that I have said, "...I don't expect this to be interesting to anyone but me" (see About Me)!
