Day 334: “One small step for man…”

24/06/2022

The week started with a Gymboree catchup with Juju, Eloise was buzzing to go. The perfect way to kick off the week.

After a fun session, the kids were not done playing so it was to the playground to burn off the rest of their breakfast. Lachlan, our social butterfly, was mingling with the friendly Glaswegians.

Eloise gave Juju the “special gift” she had picked up for her besties from Pinocchio Land.

After a fun morning with Juju it was to the shops. Super Mum had got both kids from the car into a trolley, always a juggle, before Eloise saw her second favourite thing in the world, behind buttons. “Mum! Mum! MUUUUMMM! Look! Little Trolley!”. Whenever we go shopping, Eloise always requests a little trolley. Looks like the weekly shop might be at Lidl from now on.

It was actually hot Monday. Hot enough for ice creams, Batmobile rides and a perfectly executed Super Mum ambush, good one Eloise. Although Super Mum returned fire with a vengeance.

As the girls dried out, Lachlan put on a standing master class before dinner. Pasta was back on the menu, it was actually special coloured pasta that Eloise had picked up in her wee trolley, to the delight of Lachlan.

The airports in the UK seem to be going from bad to worse as people try to take flight for their summer holidays, “5,000 people hit by Heathrow flight cancellations”. However, the show must go on for the “Queen’s Baton Relay [which] has travelled around Scotland ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham”. On the topic of the Commonwealth Games which kicks off in just over a month, Team Scotland has a rad new Tartan.

On Tuesday morning after somewhat feeding themselves, the kids went to feed the ducks. Lachlan is getting better at it, no longer trying to eat the duck food himself.

In the afternoon we all dropped Eloise off at her dance lesson. We did not go far because all the parents were invited back early for a sneak peek. It was our first chance to see what they have been learning for the past couple of months.

Eloise did well in her first dance performance in front of a group of strangers. There were time when she followed the dance instructor well and times when she remembered she was being watched by lots of strangers and froze. It was funny seeing snippets of the random dance moves that she would pull out throughout the week.

A catchy tune for those playing along at home.

Eloise was ecstatic to receive her first medal, she was showing it to Lachlan all afternoon.

In the evening we thought it was finally time we started to tackle the forest before dinner, Eloise is always keen to help.

Tuesday was the summer solstice in the UK. “Thousands of people from all walks of life have flocked to greet the summer solstice at Stonehenge to mark the longest day of the northern hemisphere year”. It has been tricky the past few months trying to put the kids to bed when it looks like midday. Thankfully the days will be getting shorter now.

News out of Australia, “South Australia has recorded 11 COVID-related deaths with the Premier warning case numbers could rise after a new subvariant [BA.5 subvariant] was detected in the state”. Meanwhile, the travel industry powers on as “Qantas no longer requires passengers to wear masks on some of its international flights… It means masks are no longer required on board flights… to the United Kingdom”. Similarly to the UK though, “travellers warned to expect more disruptions in coming months”. In the UK not only are the airports bursting at the seams but there are also issues with the rail network. “Rail strike: Millions faced delays and congestion on first day”. The UK love a good strike.

On Wednesday morning, Eloise woke up in a terrific mood and came charging into our room wearing her medal. There was no time to rest as we had to dash to the shops for supplies to bake cookies for Jennine who was visiting. We think Dad left her a couple of cookies.

Dad must have been locked in at work, so sadly he missed the afternoon stroll.

In the evening, THE BOY DID IT! Lachlan successfully stood up and traversed forwards while balancing on his two legs. Super Mum was not convinced it was walking. She is a bit of a tough operator, it was good enough for Dad to claim he has walked. Eloise was thrilled her wee bro is up and about and could hardly contain her excitement. He could have done it in Rome or St Andrews Old Course but we are up and off.

Wednesday night, it was too hot for the like-minded mummas to Bounce Back to Netball. Instead, they bounced back to the local pub, Super Mum had a great time jibber-jabbering and hearing about everyone’s holiday plans. According to new figures in Scotland “Covid cases increase by more than 30%”, but who really knows?

Lachlan slept a big seven hours Wednesday night, perhaps now he is a big walking boy we will have more luck at night. After their morning warmup, they were off to Gymboree, sadly Emma was away this week.

After a couple of days of wrestling the “big wall tree” it was starting to show signs of improvement.

This morning once Super Mum had sorted out the bambinos upstairs they were all out and about to enjoy the sun.

Turns out it was Football Friday. After lunch, it was on with the football tops and to the park for Eloise to practice and Lachlan to run laps.

Lachlan was looking the part sporting his wee Scotland rugby kit that we picked up for his birthday in Edinburgh.

It had been a month since we had seen the ducklings, we were a bit concerned. Luckily they made a special appearance for the kids today.

It was then home for Lachlan to do a jig before dinner. Just ignore Eloise reading a brochure about retirement plans.

Today in the green half of Scotland it was announced that one of Liam’s favourite football players when he was a smaller kid, has moved to Glasgow as Celtic’s first team coach, joining Ange. Sorry Paul, not looking good for Rangers here.

It goes from bad to worse for Qantas who announced they will “cut flights from some of its busiest Australian routes as it struggles to cope with the high cost of fuel and staffing shortages at airports”.

The numbers continue to go the wrong way for Scotland as “Scotland saw the largest increase in Covid cases in the UK last week, according to the Office for National Statistics. It estimates about 250,700 people – one in 20 – had the virus in the week ending 17 June”. The case graph below is misleading as everyone here is fast and loose, no one tests and you don’t even have to isolate if you have COVID-19.