YeYe's Day with Nicholas - July 10, 2014

Thursday July 10, 2014 - Our day with Nicholas !

Because Joshua wasn’t with us today, we decided to go bike riding with Nicholas.  We set out at about 10 a.m., going east on the Pleasant Park sidewalk.  Jean went ahead, then Nicholas, and then me.  Nicholas was a little slow, but very steady.  Jean got ahead a way, but I was just behind Nicholas, ringing my bell when I wanted him to go a bit faster.  He stopped me underneath an oak tree and told me he wanted to pick up the “dreidles” lying about.  He pocketed 4 acorns and we resumed riding.

It took about 20 minutes to get to the bike path that leads to the allotments; Nicholas was more relaxed and zipped along the paved path to our garden.  

The first thing we did was check the peas that he’d planted 2 weeks ago - growing nicely.  Then I attached the hose and Nicholas watered much of the garden.  Then he noticed me using the Japanese hand-hoe I bought 2 or 3 years ago at Lee Valley, cutting off weeds.  He wanted to try!  The zucchini plants are quite far apart, so he went to work on the weeds in that bed, cutting them off just under the surface.

We worked in the garden for 30 minutes, but it was getting quite hot, so we closed the gate and biked back along Kilborne St to our next destination - the 3 Sisters ice-cream parlour.  We sat outside while Jean got our order: a chocolate cone for our apprentice gardener, coffees for Jean and me, plus a blueberry muffin for me.

Nicholas ended up with sticky hands and chocolate cheeks, so before we left he and I went inside to wash him up.  3rd destination - Grasshopper Hill.  Before we got there we had to stop once to wait for a driver to back out of her driveway and across the sidewalk, but Nicholas stopped well back from her.  At a stop sign further along I was in the lead (on the sidewalk) and didn’t stop until I was 10 feet past it.  Nicholas pointed out to Nana that I hadn’t stopped where I was supposed to!  Ouch!

We were all happy to ride into Grasshopper Hill park; there’s a long upward slope to be climbed, but Nicholas pedaled strongly and reached the play area at the top.  We stayed about 15 minutes there; Nicholas wanted to play hide and seek with Jean, and then he couldn’t find her!  (She was in the bushes, but I didn’t tell.)

He was leery of riding down the opposite slope, so Nicholas walked down with his bike almost to the bottom, and then resumed riding.  A block out of the park we came upon a lady in her yard with her year-old dog.  She had a toy gun that ejected a ball for the dog to chase, and we stopped to watch.  Her yard was open, but it had little flags around the perimeter, and she told us that if the dog crossed it, he would get a shock.  The effect was to keep him in the yard.  The lady offered Nicholas the ball-gun and as the dog was gentle we let him go ahead.  He shot the ball about 20 feet, twice, and then the dog came over to make friends with him.  Then we continued our ride.

Turning left onto Pleasant Park, again on the sidewalk, we completed the last stretch to home.  According to the computer, we did about 2.5 kms each way, and we all felt a bit tired.

After a while we had some lunch, and at about 1 p.m. Jean suggested that both Nicholas and I would benefit from a nap - I was ready for that!  Downstairs he got Joshua’s bed, and I got the mattress on the floor.  Nicholas tried, not very hard, to be quiet, but after 5 minutes he went up to see Nana.  2 minutes later I was out like a light, for an hour and a half.

In the afternoon Nicholas changed into his bathing suit and had a splash in the kiddie-pool.  Joan came along on her way home and stopped to talk to Nicholas and then me.  She and I sat down to chat, and Nicholas went and told Jean that “aunt” Joan was there, so Jean joined us at poolside.  Joan & Ray’s grandchild is due to be born on the 15th; the doctors say the baby will weigh 8 pounds when it arrives.

Later, Jean wanted to show Nicholas a “volcano” experiment; it involves baking soda and vinegar.  The first try didn’t work, so we tried a different bottle of vinegar - instant volcano in a small jar.  Then she mixed up some goop and spread it on a cookie sheet.  Goop is cornstarch mixed with water, and its texture is very odd - like oil but not sticky.  That kept Nicholas amused for a long time.  

Dada arrived while Jean was reading a story to Nicholas, but then he wanted to show Dada how he could ride the bicycle.  He used us grandparents as pylons to ride around us in a large figure-8 on the driveway.  20 minutes later it was time to go.

Thanks for a lovely day Nicholas!