On Thursday we went down to St. Catharines to stay a couple of days with Heather and Lyle, the other set of grandparents. I have been there a few times and a very good time is had by all, as a rule. The added spice this time was a bossy little monster called Callum. Needless to say that life revolved round him and most programs were organised round his sleep and meal times. He is not the easiest little fellow, but makes up for the exhausting schedule with his amazing humour, his nattering, singing and generally seriously amusing little persona. The title of this post is a quote from his majesty upon awakening in Granma's living room after a good long snooze on the sofa. We didn't abandon him, as he thought, but were eventually rolling with laughter at his complaints about finding "no everybody". There are also occasions when it is quite a struggle to get him into his pyjamas or the bath or to eat his dinner, prompting his father to declare: "Anybody who has said that 'We don't negotiate with terrorists!' obviously has never had children!" He occasionally breaks out in unrestrained singing, usually in the car, which is also hilarious, as he usually doesn't remember half the words and just makes it up to fill in the gaps.
The first day he charged straight out into Granma's back yard and sat in his paddling pool for hours. The weather was hot and he enjoyed himself there. In the evening we had a lovely BBQ with hamburgers, hot dogs and a lovely salad.
Friday we went out to visit the Welland Canal at Lock Gates 3 where we watched an enormous ship sail into the lock, sink down to the next level and then go on its way towards Lake Ontario. There was about 1-1.5m on either side of the lock and not much more in front of and behind the ship. It was fascinating to watch and read about the building of the canal which took nearly 20 years between 1913 and 1932.
In the afternoon we had Callum's "unbirthday" which consisted of another BBQ, this time with steak, salmon, salad, plus a hot dog and a cake, of course, for the unbirthday boy. The adults had a couple of bottles of Niagara red, which was superb, chosen with great skill by Lyle as usual. This peculiar celebration usually happens when we come visiting not around Callum's birthday. It did include some lovely presents: a helicopter, some rails and trains to add to his train table, a play tent bought in IKEA the day before and a lovely memory game. As you can see the cake was enjoyed, especially by him, and the evening included some silliness as well.
Finally we returned to Toronto this afternoon and now I have to go and bathe him as his parents have departed about an hour ago to spend some extremely well earned time together at a nice down town restaurant tonight.
The first day he charged straight out into Granma's back yard and sat in his paddling pool for hours. The weather was hot and he enjoyed himself there. In the evening we had a lovely BBQ with hamburgers, hot dogs and a lovely salad.
Friday we went out to visit the Welland Canal at Lock Gates 3 where we watched an enormous ship sail into the lock, sink down to the next level and then go on its way towards Lake Ontario. There was about 1-1.5m on either side of the lock and not much more in front of and behind the ship. It was fascinating to watch and read about the building of the canal which took nearly 20 years between 1913 and 1932.
In the afternoon we had Callum's "unbirthday" which consisted of another BBQ, this time with steak, salmon, salad, plus a hot dog and a cake, of course, for the unbirthday boy. The adults had a couple of bottles of Niagara red, which was superb, chosen with great skill by Lyle as usual. This peculiar celebration usually happens when we come visiting not around Callum's birthday. It did include some lovely presents: a helicopter, some rails and trains to add to his train table, a play tent bought in IKEA the day before and a lovely memory game. As you can see the cake was enjoyed, especially by him, and the evening included some silliness as well.
Finally we returned to Toronto this afternoon and now I have to go and bathe him as his parents have departed about an hour ago to spend some extremely well earned time together at a nice down town restaurant tonight.
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