WINTER KIDS
I pinkie promised them to go ice skating today. There are some things for which technology and social media are useful. In today's case it was an email from Whole Foods I received yesterday informing me of the small ice skating rink on the plaza above Whole Foods opening today.
But first it was our special Sunday breakfast. It was French themed to go along with the two Eiffel Towers puzzles I got the children to work on later today. Sage's tower was the classic 3D version whilst the girls got the colourful Tula Moon version.
'Something with dots' I said from the kitchen as one of my clues. Cinnamon tried guessing and was close.
'Puffy pancake!' she exclaimed. Almost but not French I told her.
'Is it something we had before?' was another question as the girls continued to guess as the stayed upstairs whilst I continue making one crepe after the other using the same recipe I had used at the cottage at Greyabbey for Mario and me earlier this month. Except that I added one more egg, a bit more milk, and extra flour to make more crepes for us four. The last time I made them crepes was perhaps three years ago.
The saw a bowl of sugar with freshly grated lemon zest on the table as they looked down upon our dining coffee table from their view at the top of the stairs. As they all sat around the table their eyes lit up as they realised these were crepes. Puzzled looks crossed their faces as they wondered what was in the large ramekin.
Ricotta mixed with some of the lemon zest sugar to put on the crepes, I let them know as they watched me spoon a small amount on my first crepe. Though they were hesitant at first, they decided they liked the lemon ricotta on their crepes and wished for more.
After our Sunday breakfast we waited for the Amazon package to arrive before leaving for the ice skating rink. Along with the 3D puzzles I ordered books for all three children. One of the books I ordered for Sage was Enormous Smallness: A Story of E.E. Cummings. I also ordered the next two Sophie Mouse books for Cinnamon and two more of the Never Girls series for Saffron. Instilling a love of books in my home is something I strive to do for my children as it gives me great pleasure to watch them devour one book after the other and is a better use of their time than them using their iDevices.
Since the weather had been warm until before I left for Europe a month ago, the girls did not wish to wear the new jeans I bought for them at the start of the school year. Saffron cried that her new jeans were too tight. How in the world could they be too tight, I thought. We bought them only three months ago. But they were and she could not even button the top button. Therefore, our first stop was Gap Kids for a new pair of jeans though she insisted she would wear them anyways.
The children bustled around the store with eyes wide with excitement at all of the colourful winter clothing. All of a sudden, the mittens from last year were cast aside for a new pair. Granted the older pair were a bit small for both of the younger two so I was willing to get them ones which fit their growing hands.
Saffron was the one who really needed new gear as she was in Germany this time last year. She found a hat and matching mittens along with bright red/black/grey patterned pants she really wanted along with the larger pair of jeans for which we initially came to the store. She changed into her new colourful pants in the car and we were on our way to the Whole Foods downtown.
We arrived as the small temporary ice rink was being cleared off. I was glad for the tent covering overhead as I wondered about the possibility of rain impacting the closure of the rink. The children were happy to get to go skating with me today but we all wished Mario was here as well skating with us.
Though the ice was bumpy and we all noticed it was not as nice as a real ice skating rink, we had fun for the next 45 minutes nonetheless. I took turns with each of the three children and was especially surprised at Sage's ability to skate without too much difficultly.
Close to an hour later we decided we would leave. After changing into our shoes, we headed down in the elevator to the store level for one Whole Foods taco before getting a few items in the store. Mini marshmallows for hot chocolate were one of the items we bought along with a few items for school lunches this week.
Our first weekend together after our having been apart for five weeks was filled with laughter and fun but not without the usual challenges of family life. My winter kids and I have more to look forward to this month as we get to spend four uninterrupted weeks together after next week. Adapting to change is never easy but worthwhile in the end.
