THE O’Briens decided to make the most of the beautiful spring weather yesterday and headed out for a picnic and bike ride. To be honest, when it rains nine months of the year and drips off the trees the other three, it doesn’t take much to convince Taswegians it’s shorts and t-shirt weather.
We headed off to the Bluff (a playground and sheltered family beach area). Princess Ella held my hand, while The Bloke in The Shed cuddled Baby Holly as we searched for a spot to throw down our fetching brown and yellow picnic rug. We’re relishing these moments, knowing in the future they’ll much prefer to walk five feet in front of us and wouldn’t dare sit on “that ugly thing’’.
Once we’d all filled our tummies – that included the seagulls Ella decided to feed half her sandwich to – we set off for a bike ride to the lighthouse. Ella walked up to the door and knocked on it, in the hope someone might come and answer.
She was impressed to hear I’d climbed “100 stairs’’ to reach its top. OK, so I made it sound rather romantic, when in reality it was hot and claustrophobic up there. We then walked, hand in hand, around the base of the lighthouse so she could see how wide it was.
No bike ride is complete without a little crash, which thankfully this time only required a bit of patting on the knee and a kiss. The rest of the trek was fairly uneventful, if you don’t count Ella making us stop at the soundshell so she could perform a concert. If it wasn’t for the hair, you would have sworn she was Dolly Parton. Well, sort of.
We ended the day with Holly’s first swim at a private pool. After seeing her earlier with that face – the one of full concentration – there was some trepidation about the swim on my part. I had fears the pool would end up featuring more than just the floaties that were attached to her arms.
Snuggled up to her, we were barely five minutes into our swim when I lost my footing in the deep end and dunked her under, resulting in her drinking half the pool. At 150cms tall, it’s not hard for me to be in the deep end. She then held onto me with a vice-like grip – and me to her. Or maybe it was just the fact she missed out on her usual afternoon top up from the milk tankers. Although, there was no way she was getting a pre-swim drink. Apparently, regurgitated boobie juice is like confetti in a pool.
Half an hour later, she gained a little more confidence and was happy to go to The Bloke in The Shed for cuddles and a swim, while Ella showered me in kisses while inadvertently pulling me under. Holly’s scared shivers and little frown were replaced with laughter and splashing as they trailed along behind Ella and I who, I might add, kept leaving bright green patches for her sister to swim through.
After the usual cuddles and bedtime kisses after their big day, the day ended just as I was about to finish this post last night with Ella experiencing a night terror for the first time since that last episode. Thankfully, some soothing words, stroking of her hair and kiss on her forehead she was back in the land of nod.
What little acts of affection have you shown your cherubs today?
Linking up with Naomi from Seven Cherubs for the final in the Cherish Your Cherubs series.
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