Category: Holidays

Trick or Treating

Witch pumpkin. Alien pumpkin. Cute-as-a-button pumpkin, with stars (though Fooey says it’s pretty scary; that’s a bow on its forehead).
CJ. Not impressed by Albus’s costume (Darth Maul from Star Wars).
Anakin from Star Wars. Darth Maul from Star Wars. Pumpkin. “Just a plane.”
Anakin after dark.

A Grand Debauch

To celebrate their recent wedding, my brother and brand-new sister-in-law hosted a party at their farm, complete with festively blue-and-white striped tent (yuh-huh, it rained off and on, and somehow that just added to the experience), pig roast, bonfire, sparklers, marshmallows, kegs, music, mud, and a device that shot potatoes into the netherworld. Let’s just say it was exactly the wild time that was called for, fun for all ages, complete with a few necessary sparks of danger. Just add fire. A moment that returns to me now: lying in our tent, trying to get CJ back to sleep, listening to the younger/child-less crowd scream out the lyrics to “Sabotage.” Apparently (I can actually picture this) my middle brother somehow managed to get his feet well above his head in a display of dancing virtuosity. How late was this? I have no idea. As soon as we arrived, I lost all track of time, and that was sweet, too. A day and night out of time.
And this week Kevin’s on holiday, and we are getting organized, hanging out, moving at our own pace for a few more blissful days before we return to routine. Let the good times roll.

It’s Our Anniversary!

Ten years, and it does feel significant. Kevin and I have been enjoying reminiscing about our day, remembering where we were, who we were with, all of the happy emotions, and marvelling at the fruits of our marriage (four of them, specifically). Check back later, because I plan to post some scanned photos from way back then (though, honestly, it doesn’t feel that long ago, it feels like the blink of a cosmic eye).

The best part of today was this lovely surprise: Kevin arriving just after us at the Rec Centre, where the kids take swim lessons every morning. Kev said he could hear CJ’s screams from the parking lot (CJ wasn’t too pleased about being dragged away from a small tree by the bike lock-up which he fancied attempting to climb), and he sprinted to intercept us before I began the rather complicated changeroom dance. He handed me this book (Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout), which he’d bought on the way, picked up CJ, and honestly, I just couldn’t stop smiling. He stayed for the whole set of lessons, and it was all a hundred times easier. I even sat and read part of a story. The book was one I should have read at the cottage, because when I finally started it this week, I realized how fabulous it was (will blog about it later, I hope), and then realized it was due (yesterday), and someone else had a hold on it, meaning it had to be returned (I have a thing about avoiding library fines). Isn’t that just the greatest gift?
Oh, and I’m still smiling!

Hillside Festival, aka Soak-a-palooza 2009

Day one: swimming “at your own risk,” hiding out from a brief rainstorm by the bicycle lock-up, Mapleton’s ice cream, good advance packing and planning, sharing rice and curry with Albus, and grilled corn on the cob with CJ, huge slices of watermelon, conversations with friends, kids on a self-propelled wooden merry-go-round, yoga in the kids’ tent, wandering around with Albus while getting CJ for his nap in the backpack, leaving while everyone was still in a fine mood. Bands we saw? Uh. A smidgen of Julie Doiron, a hint of Hey Rosetta, and anyone who was at the main stage as we wandered by. Best moment: walking off the island, past the bay, on the trail, with Buffy Sainte-Marie singing us home.
Day two: uh oh, huge thunderstorm delays our departure, but looks on the radar like it will blow over; wait in long line-up for parking due to mud pits at the lot entrances; walk an extra half kilometre to the ticket booth; swim briefly; head immediately for food tent, argue over how much food everyone should be hungry for given that we’ve just eaten a picnic lunch in the car; decide to try to watch the band at the main stage, sit on blanket, relax, notice we have over our heads a patch of gorgeous hot blue sky which is surrounded on all sides by ominous looming dark clouds; sense arrival of rain, pack in the blanket, gear up, hit the ice cream stand just as skies open; thunderstorm, fierce winds, seriously everything shuts down, occasional drenched festival-goer runs by barefoot, everyone else huddled under tents or umbrellas; crack of thunder combined with lightening that sounds like we’ve been hit–CJ continues destroying banana ice cream cone with deep contentment; storm passes but rain continues, children complaining of cold, head for hot chocolate; storm returns, take shelter inside island stage tent where Montreal band Clues decimates our collective eardrums, children now complaining of cold and pressing hands to ears; CJ sleeps through; head for kids’ craft tent; then supper; then stop to dance to band on main stage; multiple trips to porta-potties with various children; still raining; start walking home; reach car in lot–sunshine! Though it’s storming again now as I write this … Best moment: that crack of thunder/lightening. It was so surreal, so extreme, and the kids were so extraordinarily content and calm as they licked their ice cream cones in our narrow shelter. Wish I’d gotten photos, but had hands enough only to hold umbrella, napkins, and periodically retrieve CJ’s fallen ball of ice cream.