Future Family

Somehow, Kai and I got into a conversation about our future families.   He was all excited because he had worked out that one day Isaac and he would be Dads and Elizabeth would be a Mom.    This prompted me to say that when he was a Daddy I would be a grandma.

This little bit of information went down quite well.   He liked the idea of having kids and me being a grandma.

What didn't go so well was when he asked "Will I live in our house?".

I foolishly replied "Oh no!   You will have your own house."

There was a lengthy pause.

Sob.  Sob.  Sob.

"Mummy, I want to live with you when I'm all grown up".  

Zoo Trip

Fridays are special days for me.   Friday is the only day where Kai and I are at home alone with no other commitments.   I like to try and do something special on Fridays but it hit me the other day that we only have 6 more Fridays left.

In 6 more weeks it will be Summer holidays and the big kids will be home from school.   And then Kai goes off to school.   There will be no more Fridays, and I feel sad about that.

Don't get me wrong.   I love having all my children at home, and I love doing stuff during the holidays with them.   But the end of these 6 weeks will be the end of an era.   For the past 12 years I have had a young child in my house, who wanted to visit the zoo, or the aquarium or the park.   And we could because we had time during the day.    Now those big trips will be reserved for holidays and weekends.   It will be fun.   But it will be different.

Last Friday we went to the Zoo.   It was great.   We walked and ran.   Kai climbed and chatted.   I got to take lots of photos of Kai and of the animals.   It was a wonderful day.   But it was probably our last Friday trip to the zoo.    Will I renew our membership next year?   I don't know.   Will I go to the zoo by myself to enjoy the animals and practice photography?   Maybe.   Will we go as a family enough times during the year to make membership worthwhile?   Maybe.  So much change is coming.   Life is about change.   I think next year will be different for me.   I'm kind of excited about what the new school year will hold.  

But, I really think I'm going to miss our Fridays.

5 Years and Skylanders

Yes - another year has passed and another birthday has been celebrated.   Kai is now 5 years old.   It's hard to believe that he's going to start reading in the next year.   And going to school.   And just getting so much bigger.  

We celebrated his birthday on Tuesday afternoon with the family.   As per our usual custom, it was just a family party but we had lots of fun.   This year Kai chose to have a Skylanders theme.   This was hit and miss - as he kept on changing his mind.   However, on the weekend prior we made him choose, bought some Skylander party stuff and said that the theme was locked in.

As you can see, Kai was extremely pleased with his birthday theme!

You may have noticed that in these photos Kai is wearing a large magicians hat.   In the game of Skylanders, the player gets to choose hats for their character.   So we decided that all party guests were going to get a hat to wear.   Kai went to the Party shop with me, and we found a large collection of silly hats.   Kai picked each one and allocated the hats to each of us.   I think he made great choices!

And we can't miss out on the cake.   

This was the first time I have ever used fondant when making a cake.  It was a learning experience, but lots of fun.   I think it turned out pretty good for a first attempt.   I think fondant will appear in future cakes I make for the kids.