I knew something was up with that when the woman that I spent such a long time chatting with on Monday was at the basketball game Tuesday, and we scarcely exchanged a word.

I hate that.

And then I was so tired from two days of running to basketball games that I was tempted to cancel my park day again, but since we haven’t met for two weeks, I thought I would invite them to my house.

Since everyone has been too busy for each other this fall, I just invited Julie and Annette. Julie came at 1:30 with her three children, and we had a great time.

I was itching to watch Pride and Prejudice for the umpteenth millionth time, but we just watched it on Monday, and even I thought that was pushing it. Julie brought her crochet, which she hasn’t worked on in a long time, because “I knew Angela had some kind of project going.” She was right. I was trying to finish up the booties for the baby across the street so I could go back to Curtis’ afghan. We cooed over each other’s hand work for a while, and then I thought of Scene It.

We just got that fun game on Friday, and I thought Julie would get a kick out of it. Yanni joined us,while Xay and Sage watched, pretending to play Transformers Risk right in front of us. Of course, the TV is a kid magnet, and little children stormed the room sometime during our second game. We had a ball playing movie trivia, and we played it girl style–talking the whole time, sharing which movie it was with each other—you know, interactive. Julie won the first game, and I won the second. We decided against a third game, and moved onto sharing pictures and home movies.

We had so much fun, we forgot about the time, and it was almost dark when they pulled themselves away.

This was the kind of day I definitely needed in the midst of all the running around. I’m looking forward to next week already!

English, I didn’t want to cancel park day in vain hopes of having a baby today.

So, I sent out a blog-like email to my peeps, and we scheduled a nice day at Miriam’s.

Bless her heart.  They had just returned from a family trip to Vancouver on Monday, and were ready for visiting. Miriam has a beautiful house that her husband  THE BUILDER made on I don’t know how many acres.  The best part is that she used to live way across town, a good 15-20 minutes away, and now it’s just 5 minutes to get to her house.  I could ride my bike if I weren’t 39 weeks pregnant.

So, anyway, Juile and I were the two that could make it, and we sat in the kitchen reading homeschool and Christian magazines, eating chocolate zucchini cake and turtle cookies, and drinking chai tea.

The children are drifting in and out, eating, sharing toys, petting the dog, losing shoes, etc.

It’s pretty idyllic.

Then, it’s time to leave.  I glanced at the clock around 2:36, thinking, I could still make a late nap time if I leave now.  But it was so comfortable. . .
Around 3:15, Julie and I told the kids “10 minutes.”

Around 4, Sage and Simeon brought baby mice in the house.  “Look what we found!” They excitedly exclaimed.  This prompted us all to troop onto the back porch and see where they came from.  The mommy mouse was nowhere to be found, but there was a large dead mouse close to house.  Miriam’s cat had brought that by as a welcome home present. There was conjecture that the dead mouse was mommy to the babies.  Nobody wanted to put the babies back where they’d found them.  “Did Mani touch a baby mouse?” I interrupted the hubub to ask.  Miriam winked at me.  “Why do you care?” Her 6 year old was holding three in his bare hands.  At least Sage had the presence of mind to hold his mouse in his baseball mitt.

Simeon and Issac begged Miriam to let them keep the babies.  She gently resisted.  They urgently persisted.

Julie was down on the ground with all the children at this point, her hands cupping mice babies, and in quiet conference with Sage.  “We’ll take the mice,” she said.  Miriam jumped at the possibility.  “Oh, you see?  Mrs. Benner’s going to take the mice home,” she told her boys.

I laughed at her relief.  “Darn it!  We can’t keep the mice!”

Julie called herself a sucker for animals, taking home the mice babies to add to her menagerie of 7 pets.  She assured Miriam that she had every conceivable cage, terrarium, aquariam, whatever she would need to house an animal.  She didn’t think these babies had much chance for survival, though.  “We’ll see how far we get with this mouse experiment,” she said.

I found myself admiring the whole homeschoolness of it all, but grateful I wasn’t pressed into bringing home vermin.  I asked Julie to keep me abreast of the whole development.

Speaking of, these ladies and Maureen and family are going up to family camp next week.  It coincides with my due date, so we won’t be joining them.  Annette doesn’t do camping, so they won’t be going either.
I wonder when our next park day will be?

I had mentioned how there is always some unexpected child at one of my birthday parties. How my brother would always bring someone extraneous–even someone way too old to expect a goody bag. Yet, they will gleefully run off with the extra goody bag I’d reserved for Esteban.

And the conversation moved to the idea that boys never seem to notice things like age appropriate. Like, you don’t play rough with a baby, because it’s a baby. No, everyone is a playmate.

Annette: they are slow to mature, and wait a minute, do they ever grow up? I mean, they like to play sports,

Me: video games

Annette: yeah, video games, Chris loves video games! He’s always playing with the girls, I mean, don’t they ever just grow up?

Me: Well, growing up does kind of stink. I mean, all the responsibilities of earning money, paying bills. . .

Julie: supporting the household. . .

Me: If someone breaks into your house at night, he deals with it. You don’t have to. . .

Annette: Yeah, you’re right.

So, maybe, that other stuff helps them to deal with the awesome responsibility of laying down their lives?

I have long felt that it isn’t summer unless I get to Lake Michigan, though. We made a trip in June to Grand Haven with Miriam, and that was beautiful, and cold. This past Wednesday, we went to St. Joseph with Annette and Tracie. It was a perfect day for the beach–the weather was in the low 80s, and the lake was in the 60s. It had that cool edge you come to expect from Lake Michigan, but it wasn’t too cold to go in.

album/IMG_6869.jpg

My theory about Esteban liking Markin Glen because it was warm was off. He liked cool Lake Michigan, too. Maybe because it is shallow enough for him to stand up!

We thought there wasn’t going to be many of us this time. I mean, only three of us could come, but Tracie had four of her children, and three neices with her, Annette had her two daughters, and I had all five of mine, so we had 15 children among us!
We were also pleasantly surprised to see a few people from the swim club at the beach. Kathleen, an active mother in the swim club, is also Tracie’s daycare provider, so she was thrilled to see some of ‘her kids’ at the beach, and Yanni was happy to hang out with Kathleen’s daughter, Jessie.

It was also good for Yanni to have other teenagers along for once; Tracie has an almost 16 year old son, a 15 year old neice, and a 13 year old neice. She also has a son Xay’s age, a 7 year old neice, and a daughter a year younger than Joy, so that’s someone for everyone in our family, and Amethyst and Lavender had a ball, too.

Silver Beach has a playground and a concession stand on the beach, and the children all took advantage of that. I found myself by the shore much of the time, keeping an eye on Esteban nm. Annette has a beach umbrella, which Tracie and I eventually tried to crowd under, too. album/IMG_6873.jpg

Tracie was sweet enough to let me sit in her chair; I should have let Annette carry her extra, but I felt funny about it, considering how far we had to lug our junk from the car.

Yanni and Xay chased sea gulls and all the bigger kids had a huge water fight in the water. The little kids tried that thing where they pour water into a deep sand hole, only to leave it alone and find just sand later on. Everyone except Annette got really sandy and wet, and it was a good time.

album/IMG_6875.jpg

I totally agreed–the park is very far from our house, and I was leery of all the sunny places there. . .

and, Xay had a diabolical plan to catch fish and bring them home (!) for dinner.

I couldn’t put my finger on my discomfort, aside from the fact that the day at Lakeview park just drags on and on. . .

And then, talking to Miriam, I realized that it was that homeschool thing.

“What homeschool thing?” she asked. “That thing where they research a subject to its final conclusion. They dig, and dig, and dig, until they exhaust that subject.” “Yeah,” Miriam agreed, “And then they can move onto something else.”

So, I reluctantly agreed to take the kids way out to Lakeview park. It’s a beautiful park, and one that everyone likes, so that’s nice. All the other mothers brought fishing supplies, too, even if it meant going to the store on the way to the park.

I’d called Julie beforehand to ask if she, or rather her son Sage, could catch some worms. Meanwhile, Xay went out and caught about 5 worms himself in our backyard. (I had flatly refused to take him to the tackle store to buy something that everyone has in their yard!)

At the park, however, everyone pooled their resources. I saw that someone had brought a cupfull of mealworms–they were so neat, it looked like someone had bought it. Actually, Julie had bought them; she said they couldn’t find any worms in their yard.

When the mothers made their way to the dock, we saw that the children had caught about 5 fish already, and were going strong. Isaac, Miriam’s son, had caught a fish, and couldn’t get the hook out. It had pierced the fish through the eye.art/science_001/IMG_6796.jpg

Xay called out, “William!” His friend hasn’t made it to Wednesdays at the park in a month, so he was thrilled to see him. Isaac excitedly showed his fish on the hook to Jack, William’s brother, and Jack helped him get it off the hook.

Soon, Jack and William were catching fish, borrowing other peoples’ poles. They had spent part of their summer on their annual fishing trip with their father and uncles.

All the children enjoyed picking up the still live fish from Xay’s bucket. The fish would flop around in their hands until they got a little sluggish, and someone would urge the child to put the fish back in the bucket. Camillo, Miriam’s vision impaired son, was especially thrilled with the feel of the fish in the bucket. The challenge was to let him play with the fish, while keeping their dog away from the bucket.

All the mothers were ready to go well before the children had had their fill of fishing, and playing near the lake.

Rose and Laurel, Julie’s daughters, had both dipped in at the shore and collected shells before we left. Miriam’s daughter Annalese had fallen into the lake, trying to judge how deep it was. I was surprised at how white her clothes still looked after that, and how serenely Miriam responded to her. “Now we have to smell lake on the way home,” she told her.

Most of the boys stopped fishing to play baseball in a different part of the park, while Yanni babysat the fish. When Annalese found out that they couldn’t bring any fish home, she and some of the younger children started setting soem of the fish free. They had caught 10 in all, but we managed to bring 6 home.

I had told the children that I would have no part in the scaling, gutting, fileting of the fish. This was their project. Yanni pulled out her chef book to find out how to cut up a fish. Curtis told them they had to kill the fish first.

art/science_001/IMG_6813.jpg

It took a long time for the biggest fish to suffocate, but Yanni and Xay persevered. I didn’t even want to look, but I told them to take pictures. They even took movies.

Now Yanni is frying up her tiny filets. I just got a taste. It was good! I’m not sure what kind of fish they were; maybe we should have googled that. Annalese said they were bluegill or sunfish. I’ll take her word for it.

Then, I remembered that we have some local beaches. I decided to invite my friends and their children to a county park with a beach. It cost $5 for parking for the day, but the fact that it is only 4.5 miles away, as opposed to Lake Michigan, (which is at least 30 miles away), made it an easy decision.

I had thought that I would go to the park whether my friends made it or not, but I was so thrilled at the turnout. Julie, Lilliian, Miraim, and Tracie made it out with their children today, and the best part was that all the ladies got in the water, too!

I love having fun friends.

The water was perfect–clear and warm. Even Esteban had fun playing in the water. There were lots of little fish following me around for a while. Xay borrowed a little net from a boy at the park, and he managed to catch a few of my tagalongs. I’m thinking he has a deep sea fishing adventure in his future. . .

It was so relaxing, even as I thought how foolish are we, in the middle of the day–splashing around in the water, just talking and hanging out.

It’s been good and muggy lately, but not the kind of hot where I say–I will die if I don’t get to the beach today!–

Needless to say, the beach wasn’t my idea.

But, I usually find the offer to go irresistible, so. . .

Friday, Miriam invited us up to the Christian Reformed conference center on Lake Michigan. She had discovered that they were having a homeschool week the first week in September, and had invited our Wednesday play group to that. Unfortunately, that’s the week the baby is due, so I better not risk it.

This past week was families with disabilities week, and she invited us up to enjoy the day with her father and her son Camilo, who are both blind.

It took about an hour and a half to get there. The camp is in between Holland and Grand Haven, which are north of us. The shade and the wind made for very comfortable weather while we ate lunch. Then the kids played on a huge wooden playground for a while, before we all headed to the beach.

The first thing I did, after finding a place to put my ugly comforter and our bags, was try the water. I don’t understand all the white people of all ages lying all over the place. The kids act like they’re not there, and start jumping over them, etc. It’s like a serene scene, with dead bodies lying everywhere. . . except they are potentially grumpy (old) people that you want your children to be careful of disturbing. . .

. . . not that my children would do anything like that. They are a bit too timid from years of fussing to do something like that, but Miriam’s kids have no guile. So, I’m trying to bite my tongue about that deal, and park our stuff as far away from the water and the *dead* bodies as I can. The kids are perplexed about our sitting so far back, but, oh well. . .

I trudged up to the water. It was so cold my feet burned. Esteban squealed and tried to get away. And the older children were sitting in the water at the shore, building castles, moats, etc. All that junk children always build at the beach. I tried to carry Esteban a little ways in the water. He wasn’t having it. My calves started tingling in the cold. I decided to walk back to the comforter.

Miriam hadn’t made it to the beach yet. I’m not sure what she was doing, but I watched as Yanni, Annalese and Linnea made themselves jump and dive in the waves. Xay and Isaac played some manhood game of throwing wet sand at each other, and Simeon joined the volleyball game to our right. Miriam looked so elegant in her long skirt over her halter top swim suit.

She joined me on the comforter, and we talked while Esteban dug in the sand at my feet. There were tiny shells in the sand all around me. Mommy would have loved this. Annalese and Yanni brought back a frisbee full of actual clay. Anna excitedly explained to me how the clay would dry in the sun after you formed it into something.

I told Miriam how Yanni loved clay and was so good at clay, thinking I myself was no good with clay, didn’t like it, etc. Then I proceeded to make things with the clay. I guess I don’t like idol hands. After a failed attempt at a cat face, I remembered the ceramic roses that Aunt Mollye and Grandmommy used to make. I started to make one, and I could do it! I told Miriam about Aunt Mollye, explaining that she was actually my great aunt, but we called her aunt, etc.
Joy and Mani kept filling up a hole with water. Their little butts were covered with wet sand. Mani would lie in the sand from time to time, filling her hair with it. Then she’d go down to the lake and splash and rinse. Joy made quicker trips to the lake. She was careful not to get her hair wet or sandy.

Yanni and Xay were much hardier. They actually got their heads wet! Yanni alternated lying full bodied in the sand and then lying in the water. I couldn’t believe it. Xay would jump in and get his whole body wet, too.

Isaac and Anna, the skinniest of the Glas children, were freezing cold. Anna wanted to lie in the sand and warm up, Miriam told me. This bored Yanni, who amazed me with her Amazon-like body, and her childlike sensibilities. I loved that she would dart in and out of the water, lie in the sand and get all covered, and then back into the water. She seems so much older when she’s at home.

Xay and Camilo spent most of their time building that castle right by the shore. Isaac and Simeon helped, periodically.

It was cloudy on the beach for a while, prompting me to cover my back with a towel, but when the sun came out, it made jumping in that cold lake worthwhile. I waded up to my butt, screaming the whole time. Esteban felt the water on his feet and screeched to be picked up. He was fine digging in the sand, thank you.

I like the warmth of the sun and the icy cold of the lake. I feel torn, because even though I think I am too pale usually, I am a black person, and I’d rather be in the shade than in the sun. Maybe that’s why I like the cold lake.

Yanni complains bitterly of getting too black by having to swim in the Kik pool (an outdoor pool that used to house the swim team in the summer), but is drawn to lake Michigan.

Curtis can really take or leave the beach–usually leave it–but he’ll go with us because we love it so. I want to try it later on, on one of those sweltering days when the sand is too hot to sit in–and we’ll play in the water–maybe it’ll be up to 60 degrees!