yesterday was "a different today" for the kids.

andrea and i were both at loose ends, and on a whim, we decided to go to the boat club with the kids for a swim and dinner.

i strongly dislike swimming when there is a cold wind. i dislike that my kids are unable to understand what "no running around the pool" means regardless of what level voice range i use to instruct them of this command and whatever tone the command is delivered in.

but, the look on their little dirt smudged faces when i informed them that we were doing something unexpected, made my day extraordinary.

i admit, in my hurry to get out of the flat i forgot sebastian’s earplug’s (honestly) and my swimming cossie (accidentally on purpose). so only sebastian was able to go into the big deep pool, but he and adam has a great time, even if seb wasn’t diving under the water a lot. and the younger three raced around and around the pool, playing and having the greatest time. oh it did my heart good. andrea and i sat back and smiled at each other and tried to get in six sentences before one of the seven came up to us with a crisis.

after swimming, we let sebastian and adam go into the men’s changing room alone, and the boys decided to have a spa date or something. come on..they’re six! how long does it take to get changed and showered! i of course, had no intention of showering my kids, figuring 10 seconds under the spigot by the pool should suffice for an evening bath. jasper, who is into equality or hygiene (not sure which) on wednesday evenings, thought this most unfair and started crying and was so upset he had to take off his socks. andrea got so upset with the boys (after 25 minutes) that she walked into the men’s washroom to tell them a few plain facts. love andrea. they joined us, their hair combed and perfect, three minutes later.

i taught the girls about blow drying their hair yesterday. they were very pleased.

my wretched children told me they wanted fried rice, spaghetti, spaghetti, and spaghetti for dinner last night. i offered them pizza but no no no, they wanted fried rice, spaghetti, spaghetti and spaghetti. so why the flying fart when the pizza arrived for adam, ashleigh and ella, did my four start wailing? how annoying are they? andrea and i tried to finish our conversation.

on the way home, andrea took us all in her vehicle, further enchantment for the kids. sebastian and carys, who were, to quote carys, "smooshy" together in the back seat, fell asleep on the 10 minute trip home, while jasper and sela enjoyed ashleigh and adam singing vertigo. daddy chad is a big time U2 fan and has taught his kids the words to all the u2 songs.

it was, to quote sela, "a different today". the kids were thrilled. i think we might do it again next week, IF homework is done. i must be insane. after the kids were in bed, andrea and i went for a walk and finished our conversation.