New "not so ordinary" ordinary days - Jan-Mar 2014

We've had some more really great ordinary days here in Belfast. Generally, the weather was terrible after we returned from FL (gales, gray, rain, drak (not much daylight)), but we made the most of it and now that we are on the other side of winter, we feel good about how we coped. Here are some of the things we've done that aren't already chronicled on the blog.

Watson was invited to a couple more birthday parties for kids in his class. First, was Gab's bday party at Funky Monkey's (http://www.funkymonkeys.co/), a soft-play centre in City Centre (luckily we had a car hire  planned for that weekend already!). Watson had a great time playing, mainly, with his friend Antonia. Jamieson also really enjoyed the place, although he was at an awkward stage where he was a little advanced for the toddler area but at the same time not advanced enough for the preschool/school-age area. He made the most of it, as you'll see in the pix. Interestingly, this place really outshines Jumpin' Jax in Lansing - much more to do for the kids in addition to slides and bounce areas AND much more for parents to do. Lots of tables and chairs, a real cafe with home-made food, etc...

Gab (Gabriel - the bday boy) is between Watson and Antonia.

BFFs! 

Then, a month or so later, his other school friend Oisin (some neat Irish names here!) invited Watson to his party at the Olympia Leisure Centre (http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/leisure/leisurecentres/LeisureCentre-6507.aspx). The City has a bunch of these centers in various neighborhoods that are similar to the Lansing-area YMCAs, except that they are run by the city. For their parties, the kids have access to a bounce castle for an hour, along with balls and nets for basketball and football, and then a room for food and party games for an hour. Watson had a great time bouncing (all of the kids were a sweaty mess after an hour!) and enjoyed the pizza and the 'pass the parcel' game (The parents wrap a small gift over and over again in may layers, with candy in between some of the layers. The kids pass the parcel around the table while music is on and when the music stops, whoever is holding the parcel unwraps one layer of paper, keeping the candy if there is some, and then when the last layer is removed that child gets the small gift). However, he didn't want to have a go at the pinata - not sure what that was about (he still got in there for some of the treats that fell on the ground once it opened up though!). Jamie had a tough time at this party. He SOOOO wanted to be in the bounce castle and really could not be in there - way too dangerous. So, he and I wandered the leisure centre for most of the hour. Jubin was away this weekend, so we took a taxi back and forth from the party, which worked out just fine. Our favorite place to buy bday gifts for friends? The Ulster Museum gift shop!

Watson and Antonia, and Jamieson in the background (of course!)

Watson is on the left with his back to the camera in the blue sweater (jumper here!)

We have continued to do a LOT of bike riding here, even throughout the winter. When we got back from FL, Kendra found a second bike on Gumtree (Belfast's craigslist) and Jubin installed the toddler seat she had previously snagged off the site. Jamieson loves to ride behind! Much prefers it over the pram. So, he is taken to Avril's house most mornings by bike now. As you can see below, most days Jamie's quite happy to put on his helmet and go (signified by patting his head and pointing outside)!

And, now the whole family can go together on bike rides! About a week later, Jubin snagged another bike off the site, upgrading from a really rusty old bike to a much nicer Giant with functioning brakes. Woop woop! Here are a couple of pix from a nice bike ride that Kendra took with Watson and Grace one weekend on the Tow Path. They went to Lock Keeper's Inn (http://www.walkni.com/walks/566/lagan-towpath-shaws-bridge-to-lock-keepers-cottage/) and back, stopping there for German biscuits (yummy cookies - sorta like 2 shortbread cookies with jam in between them and coconut on top) and stopping along the way to feed ducks. No seals that day!

Watson is taking a class this semester at the QUB Physical Education Center (PEC; http://www.queenssport.com/) - this is like MSU's IM but there is only 1, central location, and they have programs for families as well as students. He took the 1st class each of Rock Monkeys (intro rock climbing) and trampolining, and decided to stick with trampolining. Rock climbing was too hard, he said (his hands and arms were sore 2 days later even)! But, trampolining is great. He's learning all sorts of tricks and keeping Mum very nervous. There are no nets. Yes, there are mats on the ground around the big trampolines, but still...sometimes they seem to just bounce weird and go flying! Needless to say, Kendra stays down at the coffee shop (Clements) during most of the class where she cannot see any of the action. Think we might have a backyard trampoline in our future!

Kendra had her 39th birthday in Belfast (gasp!). Jubin made a nice meal and a really lovely homemade chocolate cake - yum!

Jamie is a chocolate FIEND - seriously...

After cake, a bath was quite necessary. Fun with shaving cream... 

Kendra would also like to put it into the written record that she is enjoying her Friday mornings with Jamieson. He goes to Avril's Mon-Thurs while Watson is at school, but on Fridays Kendra stays home until Jubin and Watson get back from school. It is nice to have a little cuddle time with the little guy! She doesn't get as much 1-on-1 time with Watson, but they are sure to do something alone together at least every 3rd weekend (movie, bike ride and meal, etc...). He SOOOO loves his neighborhood friends here in Belfast. They play all the time - biking, kicking balls, tag, hide and seek, hammock, and then tablet and games and movies when it is raining. It is a "bad day" if they do not play together. Not sure what the transition back to Lansing will be like...hopefully he and Izzy still get along well! Maybe some other kids will have moved in close by?

Jamieson sitting on our purple fuzzy bean bag chair reading - he LOVES books...
And, he is super into signing. We've been doing ASL with him, both on our own and with
Rachel Coleman's Signing Time and he is really good - huge vocabulary already. Fun!

Finally, we experienced St Patrick's Day this month in Belfast. Jubin was in Oxford, England, so Kendra took the boys down to City Centre for the parade. We had high hopes, since we ARE on the island of Ireland, and St. Patrick is supposed to have been buried just SE of us in Downpatrick. However, the parade was super-short...maybe 10 floats and bands combined. The bag pipes at the front were beautiful and there were a couple of neat floats, but all and all it was a disappointment. Watson seemed content though - he got a great spot at the front of the crowd to see it all and then was treated to McDonald's afterwards. In hindsight, I suppose that with "the troubles" being linked so tightly with NI being part of ROI or the UK, it makes sense that the people here would shy away from making too much of a big deal about this particular holiday. I guess we should have gone to Dublin! Watson did make a really nice St. Patty's Day scene at Jumping Clay though - check it out below.