Enjoying The Mundane in Vancouver, British Columbia

For the last two days, the sun has been shining in Vancouver and we have drunk it in. We have walked and biked in it, basked in it at two different parks and enjoyed its warmth through the windows of our lovely house. I lied on the grass at a park yesterday for two hours and just listened to all the different accents while the kids played. Vancouver truly is an international city. Someone asked us where we were from because of our accent and Mary Polly was bewildered to discover that it is WE, who have accents and not THEM. Besides the park we haven’t ventured out to too many places. A bakery here, a small grocery there. But we have soooo enjoyed our house.

We’ve baked cookies, which was top on Mary Polly’s list of things to do while we have an oven. We have pulled out of our buried plastic tubs lots of the treasures I brought for the summer that are perfect for a rainy day, but that you can’t actually pull out in the rain. You can only fit so much inside a camper, so for the last weeks much of the entertainment I brought has remained in the van. We did a large jigsaw puzzle of Canada. Who knew there were so many provinces? I know I am revealing my total geographical ignorance here, but I have long been under the impression that there were like six or seven. A misconception we are correcting this week as we attempt to learn them all, and their capitals. Mary Polly is learning to cross stitch, with the same little pattern books from which I learned. I knew I saved those for a reason. She worked a good bit of the evening yesterday on a little koala bear. She keeps calling it “her patchwork,” because that is what Anne and Diana call their sewing. She loves to say, I must get back to my patchwork. She worked on it while I read Anne last night to her and three sleepy brothers. She is still sleeping late, but the boys are getting up much earlier without the cold and the rain to keep them snuggled into their bags. We have also pulled out the art supplies and lots more books. We are all spread and sprawled over this great house, and we are still in no danger of overcrowding it. Such luxury.

Still with all things pretty nearly perfect, we must have a few bumps in the road, ours currently being that Cole and I have spent the better part of the last week or so getting crossways with one another, culminating last night in my having to walk out of the room mid-sentence, leaving him alone on his bed for fear of boxing his ears or worse. When I came downstairs and told Taido that I was in danger of losing it with him, Mary Polly, seemingly enraptured with “her patchwork,” spouted from her corner, You knooooow, it’s kind of against the LAW to hit your kids, Mom!

Of course, I know that darling, that’s why I left the room. To avoid breaking the law.

Among other things. I went and spent a few minutes being quiet and breathing before going back upstairs to apologize to the little creton. We both decided to take a lesson from Anne and begin anew today. We had just read Anne’s words, Marilla, isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet? Marilla responds to Anne much like I’m afraid I would. She tells her that she’s certain she’ll fill it up with mistakes soon enough. But thank goodness that the Lord’s mercies are new every morning.

And they are. It is cloudy and colder today, which makes our presence in this house all the more a treasure. It’s wonderful to sit in a chair by the window that separates me from the elements. And we had some wonderful scones for breakfast with raspberry preserves, at Ben’s suggestion.