Yesterday Sarah and Sophie got to spend the morning doing something they have wanted to do for years. They took a ride through the forest on a pony! The Family Club in Affoltern, which is the town next to ours, offers special activities during the spring and fall school holidays. Since our school systems are linked, they invite our kids to attend as well. There is this big long list of different activities, the dates they are offered, and how much they cost, that the kids brought home from school a couple of months ago. Nicholas was either never interested in attending any, or we never had the extra cash to send him. But as things are on an upward swing around here, we told the kids they could each pick out one activity to attend. Nicholas wanted to go to a beginning scuba diving course, alas, it was all filled up by the time I was allowed to register him for it. The girls both wanted to go ride ponies.
Fortunately, there were still a few spots free on one of the days it was offered, so I signed them both up. Their friend, Sophie, from kindergarten also was signed up for the same day. (Her mother and I waited in line together.) Bettina, the mom, called the night before and arranged to pick up the girls at 8:30 am and drive them over. Her husband had the day off, and it was easier for her to get one kid in the car than for me to get all five of mine. She also has four kids and so understands what a treat that is. :) Anyway, Wednesday morning I am hanging out in my jammies washing all the mirrors and windows when all of the sudden the doorbell rings. Who on earth could that be? Sarah and Sophie both open it together and let out an "Oh no!" then dash off down the hall. Yeah, that would be Bettina and her Sophie here to pick up the girls, who are by the way, still in their jammies as well. I don't think they had even eaten breakfast yet.
They got dressed in world record time, threw on their rain boots (because of the horse poop they were sure to encounter) grabbed their backpack I had filled with apples and bread, and tore down the stairs. If only they could get ready for school that quickly and happily. I went by later and got pictures of them riding their ponies and then we went to the park to play with some friends from church.
Today is an official holiday, Ascension Day. The ward traditionally has some kind of outing on this day, and today it was a walk around Turler Lake and then a grill party afterwards. For those who may not know, Turler Lake is literally in our backyard. Check out google maps if you don't believe me. This turned out to be a very good thing. My family, or at least some of them, are not as social as I am. They would seriously stay in our house and rot to death if left on their own. No one wanted to go on this walk. NO ONE! So Alexandra and I hitched a ride with our neighbors (I cannot tell you how fun it is to have members living across the street) and the rest of them came later when the walk was over and it was time to eat. This way they still socialized a little bit, but I didn't have to deal with all the whining and was able to enjoy some peace and quiet in nature instead. Well, of course, I did a bit of chatting, so it wasn't all peace and quiet, but it was uninterrupted!
Chris took over baby duty for me, so I could help the kids get their sausages poked onto the ends of the sticks that Chris carved with one of many Swiss Army knives. (have to justify their existence somehow). But when it came time to actually stand over the hot fire, with the smoke blowing in their faces for what seemed like eternity to get that nice fast sausage to finally cook, they were less than enthusiastic. One by one, they handed me their sticks and wandered off to play with the other kids. Chris had found this cool stick with two branches in a fork, which contained our sausages. Then I had Sarah's, Sophie's and Noah's. Nick did cook his own, thankfully. It was quite a handful, literally, and it was quite uncomfortable kneeling over the fire that whole time. Eventually, someone very kindly gave me a little camping stool to sit on while I did all that cooking. (We are so getting a couple of them when we go to the States this summer)
I finally get Sarah's cooked, after much questioning by her "Is it done yet?" "Is it done yet?" in the persistent manner she has perfected in her short life. I hand it over to her, relieved that she will finally leave me to finish cooking these other four sausages in peace, when suddenly, there she is by my side, demanding another sausage. How could she have possibly eaten it that fast? Oh, she didn't eat it, she DROPPED it in the dirt and was now refusing to eat it. Um, that sausage represents fifteen minutes of my life that I will never get back, kid, so you best go find it, wipe it off, and eat it anyway. She was surprisingly willing to do that, the thought hadn't occurred to her that you could wash off the dirt, I guess. I was seriously saying a silent prayer of gratitude. I did not want to put up with one of her tantrums in the middle of a ward activity. And the icing on the cake is, she didn't fall in the lake!
Chris was asked to be the official photographer to record the event for the ward newsletter later. This was perfect, as it got him circulating through the group, without forcing him to actually converse with anyone he didn't want to. All in all, it was a perfect day, even the rain stopped just as we commenced our little stroll around the lake, and the sun shone down the whole time we were grilling.