We have had a great week! Jeff's dad (Pop) is here from the States. It has been three years since he has seen the kids - too long if you ask me :) When we first picked Pop up from the train station and brought him to his apartment in Mollymook, Arley was SO naughty. To give him some credit, he just had been sitting in the car for an hour and a half being really good, so I guess he had to get the naughty out some time! Anyway, it has been lovely to see Pop again. We are making the most of his time. On his first full day here we took him to the Bogey Hole (which is right next to where he is staying) at Mollymook Beach. The kids climbed every rock they could so they could jump into the water to make a splash. It was a really hot day, so good to be at the beach. That evening we all had a pizza and chips dinner at the beach park there, along with my parents. We have all had lunch at the farm with my parents, and we have also had Pop over for dinner a few times. The kids were quite shy around him, until last night, when they threw that to the wind. They ran around like little maniacs when he came over, so excited to see him, and then after dinner, I put Arley to bed and Pop and Jeff and Carmie played Rat-a-Tat-Cat. It was a really nice bonding moment, and Carmie asked me tonight if Pop could come over every day to play it with her :)
Arley was really naughty for a few days, and one morning after about an hour and a half of continuous naughtiness, I snapped and told him I had to leave for a break. Jeff was home, so I left Arley sitting at the breakfast counter and walked straight out the front door and down the road for a breather. It was the best thing I ever did! Apparently he absolutely lost the plot (he of course didn't know when I was coming back), but when I got back he gave me a big hug, and he has been so much better ever since. He is still naughty, but he has been allowing me to pull him up on it, so he doesn't get out of hand. Hopefully he stays this way, because I was really having a hard time!
So, school holidays are done and all the kids have gone back to school. Carmie would have been starting kindergarten today, but instead we took our dog Bella to Dolphin Point and had the entire beach to ourselves. So nice! The kids had so much fun, I had to threaten them with never ever coming back unless they got in the car, because they just wouldn't leave! This morning I took the kids to a playgroup, which Carmie wasn't too thrilled about, as all the kids were quite a bit younger, but Arley enjoyed himself. I think we will try to find at least one good playgroup around here so that Arley can have some kids to play with. Carmie has a few good friends, but Arley just tags along with her.
We have also been doing a lot of fun things around the house. Carmie is hooked on this computer game called Slither, although she has been pretty good monitoring her time with it. She has also been doing tons of reading, of course, and is spouting amazing facts to me from her favourite book about animals. Arley has done some painting with me up in the studio, he has learned to use scissors (he had absolutely no trouble, I couldn't believe it), Carmie has practiced her writing, and Arley has become really interested in doing their hundreds board, which he asks to do almost every day. We also made pompoms and practiced hula hooping, which is Carmie's newest craze. It was pretty funny when Jeff tried to do it too :)
Anyway, here is a video of Carmie reading her favourite book:
Taking care of her brother :)
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