It's what time?
It is already so late at night and I have done almost nothing on Hive yet. I am so far behind! It is the start of the ski week holidays here, so Smallsteps is home from school but with her still recovering from influenza, we are stuck at home a bit longer. My wife who is also ill worked from home, but it was up to me to entertain Smallsteps for the day and I had a plan.
Go camping!
Well.... not really camping. Instead, I took a large white bedsheet and Smallsteps and I made a tent together. Then we chose forest animals from her toys to surround us, with a few bunnies, mice, squirrels, and a naughty fox. Smallsteps packed a bag with a sleeping toy for her and I and a book, while I made us some juice in drink bottles to carry with us on our journeys around her room.
We lit a fire (pick-up sticks and Lego blocks) and I grilled some sausages in the oven that we enjoyed for lunch, before finishing it off with hot chocolate with marshmallows. After this, we played some games, invited the forest animals for a sing along, read a little, and just laid together talking about things, while staring at the ceiling like it was full of stars.
We played like this for about five hours.
It was time well spent in my opinion, and Smallsteps and I got to chat about a lot of life things that were both not serious and serious. At times, it did kind of feel like we were out of the house, because the conversation was freer. As I said to her today, when I used to train adults in the classroom, when the spring came we would have the session outside in the park and the discussion would shift into far more personal and reflective topics. It was a great way to get to know people better.
Tomorrow, since she is still not recovered enough to do anything too active, we are going to go into the city together and buy her the next book in the series she is reading, as well as have a daddy-daughter coffee date, since we haven't had one for a little while. I was just thinking about it and I reckon Smallsteps was ill for this holiday last year also, so I guess it is a bit of a tradition.
Ah, and the entry picture....
We got our car back from the mechanic this evening, after they repaired a broken injector seal, or something like that. Whatever it was that broke meant that fuel poured out. It wasn't quite as expensive as I had feared, but it wasn't not expensive. They also gave it a service (which is what it had been booked in for last Monday anyway) and suggested we change the timing belt at some point, because VW suggests that it is "time" to change it, as it is X-years or 200,000km. That can wait.
120,000
And since I like round numbers, our car hit 120,000 kilometres perfectly when I parked at the gym, so I had to take a photo. Since we can't afford any other car, I just hope that with a little maintenance, this one will continue ticking over for a lot longer. At least until I win the lottery, or HIVE gets into the whole dollar valuations.
We are a long way from there at the moment.
But maybe in the summer, we will borrow a tent from some friends and go camping for real, as I haven't been since I was a kid, Smallsteps never, and I don't think my wife has ever gone either, but unsure. I reckon it will be chaotic rather than relaxing, but fun. There are heaps of places we can go not too far away, so it might be one of those "new experience" kinds of things that families do once, and never do again - or it might become a thing for us.
Have to try to know.
It was pretty easy today though.
Taraz
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