Day 1.272: Breakfast times three

Since I was not going to work and the girls were not going to school, some of the normal evening jobs were not done yesterday, so it seemed like a good idea to picnic breakfast in the playroom this morning (a successful twist on Saturday breakfast from a couple of weekends ago). This meant that Exile #4's breakfast of choice: porridge was out, eventually she had her second choice (but we had to go and buy them first): croissants.

Aftet that, we finally returned to the site of a very nice walk on Day 248. We had a great time including chatting to the newly appointed director and taking the long-promised side-trail to the beach. One of the things that the director wanted to know was how people might find out about events going on at this very attractive corner of the region. I'm happy to say that you can now find out here. At the lake the fall foliage is in full swing. I'll probably post a picture or two another day.

After the walk we returned via a brief stop at a cafe with a checks/cash only policy (we had no cash or check-book) to a local restaurant where we had a very nice late lunch - the girls had blueberry pancakes.

This afternoon I expected to fall asleep but the large amounts of coffee consumed over lunch kept me pepped, so I mowed the lawn instead. At bedtime, the girls needed something to eat (although lunch had lasted well past 3pm), so they requested one of my favourite can't-be-bothered-to-cook dinners: a bowl of cereal.

It was only at story time that I realised that all they had eaten today was three breakfasts.

Day 1.271: Autumnal fall

Autumn is definitely Exile #3's best season (for photos anyway). Today was definitely not my best day - this morning Exile #3 ended up catching the bus in floods of tears after I thought we had missed it and got rather grumpy. Sorry.

There were several other seemingly major crises before I got to work this morning. None have turned out to be too serious. The rest of the day went OK for all of us and my cold is getting better at last.

I have taken the day off work tomorrow (it's another one-day school holiday). Hopefully we can stay rather less stressed then. I'll let you know.

Day 1.270: Bobbing

Apples are something of an obsession around here at this time of year. Both the girls have been on apple-picking field-trips with school and cider (cloudy juice - not an alcoholic beverage) and cider doughnuts are everywhere. I overheard Exile #2 observe to someone at the party on Sunday "When you start thinking about apple-craft activities, you know you have too many apples."

On Sunday many of the kids threw themselves into apple bobbing (in some cases literally) with a fair deal of enthusiasm despite the huge barrel and the cool temperatures. Only one adult took part - her first attempts - however, she came away empty mouthed each time. None of our family was tempted to join in this activity (although Exile #3 stayed to watch) - not that is until long after the party had moved on to other activities, when E5N1 sauntered over and claimed the last floating apple and proceeded to eat some of it, washing it in between bites 'like a little raccoon' as an onlooker observed.

Day 1.269: Cold, cold, what - her?

It's still cold (relatively speaking of course). Exile #2 put the heating on today.

I've come down with a nasty cold. Paracetamol / Acetaminophen kept me almost functional today.

I promise to give virtually no spoilers, but we just watched last week's episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (ep13) - it was great stuff. It reminded me in some respects of one of my favourite novels: Iain M Banks' Use of Weapons. However, be warned that is not a book for people of a literal or delicate disposition.

The picture is from Saturday to prove that we did see some autumnal foliage. It has nothing to do with pop pun 81 for title watchers, as Miles Dyson might have said to the 'first' Terminator: all I have is your hand (and a bit of your CPU).

Day 1.268: The Princesses and the P

By 'P' I mean pumpkin-head - in case there was any doubt.

Last night at bedtime I felt genuinely cold in the house for the first time in months. This morning, the house felt very cold. Exile #2 is keen to resist the heating switch-on for as long as possible, so we lit the fire instead - and unlike last night had a good blaze going all morning.

Around lunchtime we headed over to Albany for a birthday costume-party. Exile #4 found this pink unicorn contraption and we all thought it was very 'her'. Exile #3 and Exile #2 conceived and executed an Egyptian Princess costume and E5N1 had a pumpkin on his head - briefly anyway. The party was an outdoor affair with a Halloween theme including apple bobbing and an eyeball piñata. The adults were well catered for with a choice of three wines and at least four different beers - children's parties were rarely like this back in the UK.

By the time we left it was time for our church gathering, so the girls had to go in costume, although the pumpkin and the unicorn stayed in the car. Our visitors leave tomorrow for a few days in NYC - they'll be back at the end of the week for another weekend of mayhem with the Exiles.