Here we are! The long anticipated summer pastoral ministry internship. Brad already knocked out two of the ten weeks so as a family we are now here for the remaining eight weeks all together. It's going to be good. (Skip to the bottom for prayer requests if you want.)
We arrived Saturday...much later than we'd hoped but still at a reasonable hour. It was a good trip down (we drove the two cars - boys in one, girls in the other) and the main delaying factor was that no one coordinated their bathroom needs! Anyway, we made it to town, unloaded and unpacked. The first nap and first bedtime proved to be a challenge for Addie. Whether because it was a new place, or because she was all wound up from all the excitement, who knows. Peter and Cora managed to settle in to the new place well. Sometimes I wonder if sharing a bedroom makes that transition easier for them? They are not alone in a new place. As for Brad and me, it was nice to have all the work (of packing and planning) behind us and to be able to settle in. There are always new sounds and new smells that I find I am sensitive to in a new place. Mostly the sounds unsettling. I think it's because parenting uses all 5 (or more if you have more) senses. When I can't see my children, my sense of hearing is on higher alert. When I'm in an unfamiliar place where I can't easily identify all the clicks, ticks, bumps and thumps, I find that I'm alerted to every little sound until I determine if it's something I need to pay attention to or not. It's all part of adjusting...
A few key planning things about Saturday: after we had settled in we took the kids to the church and walked around together. We hoped this would help Sunday morning to be less overwhelming for them (and therefore for us also). Also, we brought our own sheets, comforters and pillows along so that it would be a little more familiar sleeping environment for each of us.
Sunday morning church service was lovely, and we felt warmly greeted and welcomed by many people from a variety of age groups. I think we also had about 5 invitations to come swimming over the summer in people's private pools! I hope we can take advantage of those offers!
After some afternoon naps we ventured out to a park with a playground, then to Meijer to pick up some goldfish. We are borrowing friends' fish tank for the summer and thought it would be a fun diversion for the kids to have fish (for however long they survive - the fish, that is.) Cora names hers Lipstick because it has white around its face except for bright orange lips. Peter named his Uncle Brandon. I have no idea why.
Day 2: Monday morning, Brad left for the office and I decided the kids and I should try to feed the ducks and geese that live in our apartment complex's pond. We'd fed them from our deck on Sunday, but this morning I wanted to walk around the pond together. However, as we approached the reeds the big white goose came after us with wings spread out and beak hissing. Seeing it up close and aggressive like that made me realize how big of a bird it actually is! Knowing that there are baby birds around (I thought only ducklings, but maybe I'm wrong) I decided we'd better chuck the bread and get out of that bird's territory. It felt a little bit like running from the bear at the cabin, but less dramatic.
We ended up wandering around the various parking lots, essentially just trying to enjoy the cool morning air and getting out some energy before going in for Addie's morning nap. Peter spotted a tiny frog on the sidewalk near our building. Cora scooped it up in her hands to examine it, and then we noticed that there were a bunch of tiny baby frogs! We collected 5 in a plastic bowl, added some rain water from a puddle and a couple rocks and put them on our deck. Cora happily summed 2 pets + 5 pets = 7 pets! The frogs proved to be of high interest all day, but Cora decided that to take good care of nature we should let them go that night. (I was relieved that we weren't going to have to clean their water, too, and figure out how to feed them...and later deal with the trauma of missing or deceased pets.)
Another element of planning that came into play on Monday was swimming lessons! I had signed up both older kids at the YMCA a few weeks ago. I hoped it would give us something to look forward to in these early days before we really have much else to do. The kids' swimming personalities remained consistent with history: Cora was in her element. Peter was uncomfortable and hesitant. He's been doing better recently so I had hoped this would be more fun for him...maybe by the end of the session?
Day 3: Don't worry, I won't be counting and reporting every day! I'll lose track in a few days and things will start blending together from one day to the next. Tuesdays will be gymnastics lessons day. Again, the older two are signed up for classes (not at the Y this time). Again, their personalities were interesting to observe. Cora jumped right in and had a blast. Peter was really intimidated to go with his class without me. I was somewhat surprised by this, but I decided to play hard ball with him. I first gave him a little sympathy, but then it was time to get out and let him see that he would be OK. He mostly was OK. The trick is to not let him catch my eye, so I pretty much couldn't look in the direction of his class, otherwise he would chicken out and came crying over to me, which he did once. Boy is that tough to be so tough! But tonight at dinner he was excitedly talking all about the fun things he did at "gym-nack-sticks".
We had swimming lessons again this afternoon and I had to play hardball again with Peter. He put on his resistance tactics when we got there, but thankfully an extra teacher was on hand and she was amazing. She stepped right in and coaxed him away from me and to the side of the pool. Phew! Again, he ended up laughing and having a blast. Here's to hoping that tomorrow he goes without a fight!
Afterwards, we made a trip to pick up the items that I'd been adding to my list of things that we either didn't think to pack (stain remover spray) or just realized we need (a few more hangers). Our apartment has been very well furnished and supplied by people in the church. Much better than I had anticipated! So the list was relatively short, and are not things I would ask to borrow for a summer. After dinner we took a family walk through the cemetery that is across the street. I didn't think there would be a good place for the kids to bike-ride, but actually this is perfect. There are lots of paved roads to follow but no traffic or streets to cross! And our kids are young enough to not be creeped out by hanging out in a cemetery!
Some prayer requests:
1) Addie has had a fever since Monday noon. It goes down for a while and then comes back up, but I hope she doesn't get too sick. (Thankfully I did pack our thermometer and infant tylenol!)
2) Cora has been asking already when we're going to make new friends. We haven't met anyone with kids around Cora and Peters' ages yet, so I'm keeping my eyes open and my heart praying.
