Yeterday

A long day but a good one!

We started the day with the usual rush for Ballet; Scarlett has lessons on Saturday mornings, it's not actually that early but we struggle to get out of bed! I wanted to walk the dog while Liam took Scarlett, as the park is near her class. Of course as usual I couldn't get the boys and myself together fast enough to leave with Scarlett and Liam, but we left soon after. I'm putting the amount of time it took to get ready down to lack of help - Liam was out with friends that hadn't all been together since school and got in after 3am.

The park was chilly, but one of those perfectly clear days. Tonks didn't do too bad at staying away from other people - I really worry that she's going to terrify someone, especially when she's bigger. As she's a lab she will get quite big, but she wont mature mentally until she's about 3 years old - she'll be fully grown at about 2!
Frazer and Rowan completely soaked the bottoms of their trousers with the dew in the grass, but it was beautiful. We found an area behind a hilly bit, so Tonks couldn't see people on the path so much. I wanted to work on her recall so I had the whistle with me and a pot full of chopped up hot dog sausages! She was doing really well, so I thought Frazer could give it a try. I took Tonks off about 15 metres i think, sat her down facing Frazer and held until he blew the whistle. It was a bit of a risk because;
a) i need Tonks to respond to the whistle or else it will undo the good work we have achieved so far
b) Frazer gets very nervous about new things, so if he couldn't do it right he would get upset.

As it turned out, he made a valiant effort. the only problem was that the first time he tried he did the 'pip' noise at first and when she changed her mind about going to him he did long blasts which had no effect at all on her.
I explained to him that he *must* do the pip noise, as I'm going to save long blasts to teach her other things, like lay down. I was pleased though, that she didn't respond to the long blasts, and I do know that the pips can be hard to achieve.
Second time around Frazer did much better - he followed what i said and when Tonks got near to him, then slowed down, he turned and ran, still pipping away on the whistle! He gave her a stroke and hot dog bits when she got there too. He did this one or two more times and it went well. the only problem is that where I was the one holding her to wait for the whistle, and she thinks i am the whistle blower, so would be unsure whether to stay with me or go to him (if that makes sense!)

Anyway, we were at the park quite a while (Tonks not doing great at retrieving but never mind) and then I got fed up waiting for Liam and Scarlett to meet us. Couldn't be sure of the time as I dont have a watch and my phone is lost (that's a sob story I wont go in to) but my camera said they should be done by now - if the time was right on it!
We met them on their way home, then got back, did the weekly shopping and home for lunch. As we had been out fairly early I thought I'd stick on a family film for a family rest. Frazer picked Peter Pan - his all time favourite and Liam and I fell asleep! Me for longer, much to Liam's annoyance because he was the one that had been up late ht night before! He woke me up saying that we had to leave for the party!

Z's 2nd birthday party was that afternoon, and all of us were invited. It was at a really nice venue overlooking the river - I want a party there! Especially as it is near to the school; if we do a kids party at home it's quite far from where most of S&F's classmates live. Problem is you have to be or know a tenant there to get it - but I'm still planning! lol
We were an hour late for the party, but still the first to arrive! The children all had fun, but I got really p*ssed off at a brute from Frazer's year (so 6 or 7 yrs old) that shoved Rowan (who is a small 3 year old!) off a seat during musical chairs then blatantly denied it even though I argued. I didn't drag it out too much though - I was too angry at his bl**dy mother who sat and watched, SMILING! Grrrr.

anyway, we had to leave the party to get home in time for the game. We took the Thames path for part of the way; it was beautiful. The clear night air showed the lights up perfectly on the river and Liam got some lovely shots of Tower Bridge. i got a family shot with my camera which is nice as we dont often get them!
I think the children were very happy and excited to be out while the world was dark, though it wasn't actually too late really.

Home just in time for the Rugby World Cup Final. Rushed the children in to bed and they were all asleep within minutes. Liam ordered an indian takeaway that we munched on while watching a mildly depressing England defeat. I do think that was a genuine try, as do most people I suspect, but never mind. South Africa played well, it's just a shame we didn't get to make world cup history but successfully defending the title - we can try again in 2011.

Today I am successfully doing nothing much at all while Liam and Frazer are at Kung Fu. I am already regretting it so I'd better get off my bum and get stuff done before our Sunday trip to the parents in law's house.