This weekend was Tamie’s first full weekend of having to work. I got the honour of taking care of the two little ones during that time. Actually, Julia went to daycare on Sunday so I guess you could say I have 1.5 kids for 2 days.
Saturday was a scorcher and just opening the door outside was like opening an oven door (not that I’ve ever opened an oven door before =). What better way to spend the day than to take the kids to the park? Layla was excited to go back since she had such a great time last time I took her so how could I say no? I even took the baby carrier we bought so I could carry Julia around the park with her sister — what could go wrong?
Layla biked to the park while I pushed the stroller beside her, doing my best to shade Julia from the unrelenting sun. We did lather on sunscreen but I had my doubts that SPF 50 was strong enough. We made it to the convenience store beside the park before needing to stop for a drink, where I realized I only had 1000 yen to last the day. That’s 6 bottles of tea, or 4 bottles of tea, and Layla’s snack and yogurt drink she wanted at the convenience store. Luckily the money lasted until we got home. Barely.
At the park, there were few kids – most sensible parents probably took their children to pools, oceans or inside air conditioned theaters. The rest of us were baking their little ones in 35~40 degree heat. That didn’t stop Layla from doing her best to have a good time. She ran, jumped, climbed, and slid her way to happy. I took Julia with her for a while but the baby is like a furnace and combining that with my already sweaty chest made for two uncomfortable Estey’s. The baby carrier lasted no more than 10 minutes before I put Julia on my lap to let her cool down.
I think the lack of kids was a bit of a disappointment for Layla so I made up for in and we spent more time playing together – I took her to a gazebo so Julia could sleep in the shade and we played catch with a frisbee and a ball. Her frisbee tosses are a bit off center as she lets go a little too late – I tried to do the fatherly thing and teach her how to throw better (because I am the epitome of what a frisbee tosser should be) but she ignored me and continued to throw it away. At one point I was giving Julia some attention and I swear the frisbee hit me square in the gut at 100 miles an hour. I got to thinking she knew how to throw it and just liked seeing me chase it into the hot sun every time.
We did get a few visitors in our little gazebo. An old lady came by completely covered to protect herself from the sun and complaining about the heat. She offered Layla a plum before heading back out into the sun. A giant bug came by, digging through the sand but we scared him away (ie. I poked it into a direction away from us so Layla wouldn’t have a heart attack). A mother and daughter came by and after a minute of shy awkwardness the two kids played with each other. When the kid’s father showed up they headed home leaving us alone again.
We took the cue from the family and decided it was a good time to head back home after a full day at the park. Layla rode her bike home while Julia rode shotgun in the stroller. We got home, turned on the A/C, drank some more tea and relaxed. Julia passed out again and not long after, Layla went to lay down for what turned out to be a 2 hour nap. Tamie called to say she was coming home just as Julia woke up, so all she heard was crying in the background – timing is everything. When Tamie got back, we had a nice meal before putting the kids to sleepbed.
Sunday, Tamie took Julia to her office where the company has set up a daycare to help employees with families cope with the weekend shift so it was just Layla and I. Tamie’s sister and father invited us for lunch so we went to meet them for unagi (eel) at a restaurant where Hamster used to work as a student. It was a good lunch and I think everyone enjoyed. Afterwards we spent some time in Isehara before eventually coming back home.
Layla was excited at home because I’ve been busy setting up an htpc so I can stream videos onto our new TV. I finally got it working well enough that she could watch her new favourite show (Hi-5) on something bigger than an ipad. Despite being tired and at one point wanting to take a nap, she bounced around the living room rambunctiously as she sang and danced with the characters on the TV until Tamie called. We met Tamie and Julia at the station and we all went for a nice family dinner.
All in all, I’d say this was a successful weekend sans Tamie. We definitely missed her, but we survived. Here’s hoping the rest of the weekends over the next 3 months are equally survivable.
Friday Pics
Saturday Pics
Sorry, no pics for Sunday – without Julia, I had no need for a backpack (for the first time in 4+ years!) so forgot my camera at home.
