Being There

We were at Nana and Papa's house for seven days but the first day and last day were short.  We did a lot in that time.  On Sunday, Buddy, Cora, and I did a garden tour that Papa was part of.  It was weird to just have one child since the other two stayed with Nana.  It was a lot quieter and a lot easier.  On Tuesday we went to a lake.  Bohdin and Nyla went fishing while I hung out with Cora.  It was the first time in her life that we spent a significant portion of time outdoors and she was my sole focus.  Taking a walk with her reminded me of being in San Francisco with one year old Bohdin.  It was really nice to have that alone time with her.  Once the kids came back from fishing we had lunch and walked down to the beach.  Bohdin enjoyed the water but Nyla stayed mostly on shore.  I don't think Cora went into the water at all.  Unfortunately I didn't take the camera out that day.  Now I wish I had. 

During our stay Bohdin had many spray water bottle fights with anybody.  He took it too far several times and became a little annoying.  Neither Nyla nor Cora like being sprayed but they were sprayed on occasion.  Luckily for Bohdin, Nana indulged his desire to spray someone on many many occasions.  In the picture below he is using the umbrella for protection from her spray bottle. 





Wednesday morning the neighbor girl came to play with Nyla.  I think it went well but since I was gone shopping I can't say for certain.  I thoroughly enjoyed my kid free time.  I showed up at the house right after Buddy's aunt, uncle, cousin, and his cousin's daughter showed up.  They live a good distance away but were nice enough to make the drive.  They are my favorite of Buddy's aunts and uncles and we can't see them often enough.  The little girl is four months older than Nyla.  At first Nyla was in a bit of a bad mood.  Eventually she tried to play with A- but A- is a little slow to warm up to people which caused a grumpy Nyla to almost give up.  Eventually things clicked and they became great friends.  Nyla had an amazing time with her.  The picture below has them wearing their capes.  During the visit they had gone on a bear hunt among other things.  I don't remember what the capes were for.  They came after the bear hunt when the girls took a bath together. 


Papa got a dog days before we arrived.  It's a puppy and has the excitability that goes along with being a puppy.  When we first arrived Marley jumped all over us.  Nyla and Cora hated it.  None of us were big fans of that behavior but the rest of us were annoyed instead of scared like Nyla and Cora.  By the end of our visit Marley had stopped jumping.  Bohdin seemed to become attached to the dog as the week progressed.  He would spend time outside with Marley and Champ, the neighbor's dog who was usually visiting.  Nyla liked telling Marley to sit.  Cora wanted to pet the dogs but was too scared.  By the end of the week she had touched the dogs a few times.  The week before we visited Nyla asked if we could get a dog.  Once she spent time with Marley she said she had changed her mind about wanting a dog. 




Wednesday brought some strong winds which made great kite flying weather.  The wind continued on Thursday so the kite was pulled out again.  The kids liked chasing the tail of the kite.  I asked Bohdin what his favorite part of the visit had been while we were still there.  He gave me a very lengthy description of a Wii game he enjoyed.  I wrote it down but it's downstairs and I'm not.  Nyla never gave me a good answer because I always seemed to ask at the wrong time.  If she is not in a good mood she will say that she didn't have any fun at all.  She did get home sick at one point but was over that by the next day.  Cora's favorite parts were the puppies and the plums.  The plums on the tree were ripening so the kids were able to eat as many plums as they wanted.  They all wanted to eat a lot of them.



On our last night we went to a nearby restaurant that has really good catfish.  Cora does not do well in restaurants because she doesn't want to sit still.  That night she did it.  She behaved pretty well.  To compensate, Bohdin and Nyla behaved horribly.  Nyla was grouchy because she fell asleep on the way there.  Eventually she perked up.  Bohdin was in an off mood and just wanted to lay down and read instead of eat.  We stopped for ice cream afterward.  Bohdin and Nyla behaved fine while Cora ran around the table playing duck duck goose.  Someday I would like all three to behave at the same time.