The weather has been foul of late - snow... melt... snow... rain... melt... snow... rain... melt and shoveling in between. I haven't been in the mood to blog about our family happenings because there haven't really been any (unless everyone would like to read about laundry?). The snow and slush and general lateness of spring have put a damper on our spirits somewhat and acutely limited our accessibility to Places of Fun, like parks and suchlike.
We've tried to cope, though. One way is by playing board games. The other day, I went out and bought a vintage (but sold in modern stores like Target) Clue and introduced it to the girls. Jenna, in particular, is hooked, but they all love the idea of solving a mystery with weapons and clues. Kate has to be helped because she can't read yet, so we let her be on someone's (who can read) team and she's happy. Some of us have problems pronouncing some of the names, so we casually and familiarly refer to the suspects as "the mustard guy" and "the baking lady". And sometimes we make up our own out-of-the-box deductions, like, "I suspect that the baking lady killed whatsisname in the kitchen with the rolling pin."
The other new game we've introduced to the kids is Pictionary. They're all avid drawists, but in that game, there is the added challenge of drawing in such a way that a picture can communicate an accurate idea.
So, when it came to my turn to draw for Kate to guess, I decided it would be a piece of cake. After all, I'd been drawing for years, right?
Kate looked at my masterpiece and said, confidently, "Oh, I know that. It's Steve and Adam."
Stunned silence as the rest of us stared at each other, mouthing, "Who?"
And I, in particular, thought, "Hey! My drawing isn't that bad. Especially with that skirt!"
Finally, Kate elaborated, correctly explaining about the snake and who was not supposed to eat what and what happened in the end.
Then one of us - tentatively - asked, "And who did you say those people are?"
"Adam and Eve!" returned Kate.
All sighed in relief, trying hard not to giggle. Maybe we'd all misheard initially. Or maybe the neverending winter's gotten to us in ways we imagined not.
Kate has had a birthday, incidentally. She's now five and has one and a half loose teeth. We haven't thrown her fancy birthday party for her friends yet - we've decided to wait for nice weather and do it outdoors rather than be all rigid and precise and hold it on her actual birthday in midwinter in the claustrophobic and dim interior of our house.
The girls are also enjoying swimming lessons at the swim school. The water is bathwater-warm, the teachers are wonderful, the classes are cosy and it's a nice break from the cold and school and general feeling of being shut in. Also, we've bought our season passes for the outdoor water park, sewed ourselves swimsuits, robes and wraps and stocked up on spaghetti strap dresses and new flipflops. We feel ready for real outdoor summer swimming! Now if only summer would come!
