Rain or Shine

We'd just been at the beach so I wasn't expecting to go again so soon, but Bella saw the rainy, cloudy day today and thought it'd be the perfect day to go to the beach since no one would be there.  Since the weather was still quite warm despite the rain and there was no lightning, I agreed.  It was wonderful.  Warm water, beach to ourselves, but no burning sun.  We had a marvelous afternoon and our new tent was perfect for shelter when the drizzle became a bit heavier for a few minutes.  Peter has really become comfortable in the water and, of course, loves the seaweed snacks Bella always packs.

The kids have determined that they are going to turn Peter into a cello virtuoso.  They feel that the cello would be the perfect accompaniment to their piano.  Every day the kids turn on cello music on youtube so that he can hear it and be inspired.  Yesterday Christian was searching for cello music and came across a Yo Yo Ma's concert.  He had never heard of him, which surprised me.  I taught him about who Yo Yo Ma is and we watched his first concert in the US - his cello performance at age 7 for President John F. Kennedy.  Then we watched some later ones and a few interviews as well.  I hate the internet and all the evil it brings into our home, but in that moment, I loved what it provided for me and Christian - a marvelous opportunity for learning.  He loved listening to the music and really came to appreciate this great musician.  He decided to get out his own "cello" and play along.  So cute.

We were trying to find something else to do and I remembered our bottle topple game we'd received as a present a few years ago but hadn't played in a while.  Christian and I went out and played.  At first I was a miserable failure and more often almost hit Peter rather than the bottle.  Christian kicked my trash 21-3 the first game.  He was so stoked that he wanted to play again.  Big mistake.  By then, I'd warmed up and I won 21-3 the next game!  21-8 the next game and that's when he quit.  So we just threw the frisbee a while and then I got out the sprinkler to cheer him up.  We ended the afternoon happy and soaked.  It was a great day.  I'll see if I can get him to play again tomorrow and maybe he'll win again.

Peter has some funny habits.  Whenever I'm cooking, he entertains himself by emptying all my drawers.  By the time dinner is done, my floor is nearly impassable due to all the detritus.  I always try to include him in the clean-up process, but he always seems to think I've simply joined him in the campaign to empty the remaining contents.  Hopefully as he grows, he'll get it.  Also, when he's done eating, he lets me know by throwing the remaining food onto the floor.  I was giving him some food while I cooked and when I looked over at him, I saw this.  It was almost bed time and he was getting tired, but the all-important food chucking had to occur.  So funny.