BilikFamily.com

It's been a busy few days so I haven't had much time or energy to write. Now that things are returning to some semblance of normality, it's time to catch back up.

Trampoline - The "honey-do" that took most of my time this past week was working on the trampoline. Last fall the safety enclosure was damaged when we had the "scathingly brilliant idea" to turn the trampoline on its side for the winter to avoid a buildup of snow on its mat. Within a day or two a gust of wind pushed the trampoline over and bent it's poles. A couple of weeks ago we did some research on trampolines and found that JumpSport had a nice safety enclosure. I liked that there were eight poles instead of four and that the netting went around the outside of the poles. Eight poles is more work, but an octagon approximates a circle far better than a square. That, combined with netting going around the outside of the poles, made it feel more roomy inside. You don't feel as claustrophobic. I spent most of Saturday assembling and installing the poles and most of Sunday securing the netting. Claire was an enthusiastic helper where she could and Michelle was needed to hold the poles steady while I bolted them to the trampoline frame. By 3 p.m. on Sunday the kids were "chomping at the bit" to do some jumping!

Easter - About fifteen minutes after I finished our guests started to arrive. We had the Nix and Martinez families over, each with their two kids. Nine kids and six adults -- we're forever outnumbered. Things were busy but went along pretty smoothly without any fighting or arguments from the kids. Whereas this table was used 3 years ago for Claire and Kelly, this time it was used to hold the twins. They thought it pretty cool to have a table just their size. There was plenty of good food and tasty desserts. By the time we had cleaned up, Michelle and I just crashed and braced ourselves for Monday morning and the start of a new week. I didn't take any pictures over the Easter weekend. It's almost just as well because Timothy is looking like a bruiser from the occasional spills he takes as a new walker.

Saturday morning - Because Abby's 1st grade registration coincided with her gymnastics class, she had a makeup class on Saturday morning -- an hour before Claire's class. Rather than going back and forth, I took Claire with me to drop Abby off. We then went to J. Beaners for a while to have drink (a carmel mocha) and read. She read a couple of chapters to me from her latest project: "Because of Winn Dixie". From what I can gather, it's kind of a girl version of "My Dog Skip". Perhaps Cassidy would like it. Afterwards I picked Abby up and dropped Claire off. Claire and Abby had started off their Saturday a bit on the grumpy side but after Claire had her drink and Abby her class, their dispositions turned around for he remainder of the day.

The Darling Buds of May - One of the nice things about using Netflix has been that they have such a vast collection of DVDs. If you're looking for something a bit outside the mainstream, they're likely to have it. I recently got a recommendation to see the television series "The Darling Buds of May" from my friends Russell and Helen. Russell knew that I found Catherine Zeta-Jones easy on the eyes and this was the series that brought her name into the limelight back in her early career in England where it was hugely popular in the early 1990's. It's based on the novels and short stories by H.E. Bates about his creation, the Larkin family. The show is set in the 1950's and was shot mainly on location in Kent. Sidney "Pop" Larkin is a farmer, husband, and father who has managed to avoid paying taxes throughout his working life. His entire family leads a pretty nice albeit wild lifestyle in the 'quiet' English countryside. My favorite little bit is the way Pop Larkin says "perfect" -- "perfick" -- as in "what a perfick supper". The word became a tagline for the series. It's a shame the series had no presence here in the US, probably not sensational enough. I loved their depictions of family life -- the kids, the meals, the comeraderie, etc. Michelle and I have seen the first DVD from the five disc set. We'll likely rent another.

I could write more, but alas, it's 6:30 a.m. and the kids are all awake now. Diapers to change, clothes to change, etc. It was a fun weekend -- perfick!