What a packed weekend! My mum recently moved into her new home so we thought we’d take a trip up to visit her before she went on her holiday to England (she will be missing Nicholas’ birthday). Our trip was mostly uneventful, except for the hour-long parking lot we were in from Westbank. Oh, that bridge! Apparently there had been a couple of accidents that really snarled up traffic. I wonder if the new bridge they’re building will be any better. As soon as we drove into Kelowna, Patrick dropped me off at the hairdresser’s and took Nicholas to Nana’s work (to be shown off, of course). We had a delicious BBQ dinner, Nicholas played with a ride-on toy that Mum had found in her garage when she moved (along with some other toys from my childhood that she’d saved), and we watched videos of Nicholas. Lochlan was in town, with his parents, at the end of their holiday, so they stopped over for a visit and we made plans for next week to introduce them to one of our favourite restaurants, Memphis Blues. Nicholas had a Miserable (capital M because it was so bad) night, which means so did I – he woke up numerous times through the night, wanting to nurse. I have no idea why, except that maybe his teeth were bothering him. Then again, it may have been the heat – it was pretty warm there. My sister arrived in the middle of the night with her husband and his son. They were only stopping for the one night and then returning later in their vacation. Whirlwind visit!
On Saturday, we went to do a little shopping and visit the animals at the Tomato King – Nicholas quite enjoyed feeding some grass to the goats. Then we went across the street to the SPCA – he really loves dogs! Does this have anything to do with the fact that he was born in the Chinese Year of the Dog? Hmmm … interesting. In the afternoon, I took a much-needed nap while Mum, Patrick, and Nicholas went to pick cherries – yummy! They brought home 3 large bags of delicious, succulent, fresh cherries … they brought back memories for me of when I was a kid, climbing the cherry tree and eating them right from the tree. Or picking a double cherry and hanging it over my ear like an earring (long before my ears were pierced). What fun those days were! The plan was to go to Elaine’s for a swim in her pool, but she noticed a sign that strictly prohibited babies from the pool – bummer. Instead, Nicholas paddled in the pool that Mum bought for him. We can’t bring it home, because it’s too big for me to carry between the apartment and the deck – if only we had a patch of grass to put it on! Anyways, he absolutely loved it! He spent well over an hour in the pool, having a blast! On occasion, he would suddenly stand up by himself (once for about 20 seconds) and a couple of times he even crawled out (to retrieve toys he’d tossed) and back in again.
Because Mum is going to be in England and miss his birthday, we had a mini party for him and did the typical 1st birthday thing … baby mostly naked in the highchair with his first piece of cake. He was very typically Nicholas … he didn’t dive into the cake quickly – he was very measured and calculated as he delved into it, until he got comfortable with it and started smearing it all over! Mum gave him a Dora the Explorer ride on toy, which he loved instantly. It has tons of things to press and different sounds and tunes. It’s great to help him learn to walk, too.
We went to visit Cohen’s family, but he was already asleep and Nicholas would have NONE of that, so he played with Cohen’s toys while we visited. At one point, he was sitting on a ride on toy and pushed himself forward a few steps – I’m not sure he did it on purpose, but it was cool to see. When we got back to my Mum’s he had a really good sleep through the night …. yay!
Sunday morning saw a few more early birthday gifts for Nicholas …. these ones were from OG … some books in French that she found when she was in Quebec. I’m so glad I have the opportunity to teach Nicholas more than one language. I wonder if he’ll enjoy languages as much as I do. After a marathon 3-hour nap, he played in the pool with Patrick until it was time to leave. We wished my mum a safe and happy trip to England and headed for home.
The drive home was not uneventful … I received my first ever speeding ticket. That really sucked! It was one of those places on the highway that they usually camp out because it’s clearly a lucrative spot. Not that I wasn’t at fault, but I felt ripped off by the circumstances. After climbing uphill for 45 minutes (approx.), with the gas pedal flat on the floor to maintain a speed below the limit, the road finally flattens and before you realize it, you ‘re speeding. Every other car around you is in the same position, so you can’t even use them to gauge yourself. Irritating to the max! Not a great end to a fun weekend, but life goes on. There goes my perfect record! I was especially apologetic to Patrick because I give him a hard time for speeding. Off I go to eat crow.
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