As I contemplate my day with sighs of satisfaction, I reflect on one of those perfect family days.
Starting with a very slow coffee and breakfast, Trinity is hankering to pull out all her animals, the dinasours and mythical figures to make a circle. After a handful of photos in the animals circle, the tea set is setup and mummy is served a cup of tea.
As the novelty wears off with the cubs spinning on the lazy susan, the wooden blocks come out. So we put the animals back in the cupboard and tea set away. The floor puzzle foam play mat is slotted together to provide seating on the floor (marble tiles look great, but they are hard and cold) and a castle is being built. Unfortunately at this stage, Trini is threatened within an inch of her life if she crashes the castle (a tendency she has acquired). Of course once the castle has been built and admired, along with some piccies, Trini is allowed to crash it and then repacked.
Lunch, juices and more coffee follow suit. Of course Trini is not interested in an afternoon nap (too much fun playing), so we choose to head out to the tennis courts. Trini was a fabulous ball girl, whilst John and I ran around rallying and dripping with sweat. We were literally drenched within 45 min and were desperate for a dip in the pool. So back upstairs we go, get changed and in no time find ourselves cooled off in the pool, a couple of Heinekens, juice for Trini and a pizza.
Trini's patience is relative to mine. Meaning ZERO. We asked her to wait before she gets back in the pool so we can finish lunch. As I keep my eyes on her, she's told not to get in without her floaties. So it went something like this: "Trini don't get in the pool, you haven't got your floaties on...", "TRINI!!! Please put your floaties on". I watch as she inches herself to the edge of the pool, knowing full well that she will jump in without her floaties. She is super confident that she can swim without the floaties. Annnnddddd off she goes into the pool without her floaties. It was surprising to note that as she was sinking, she was furiously kicking her legs to bring herself to the surface (the knowledge of treading is definitely kicking in). John, faster than Superman jumps in and lifts her out. No harm would have come to her we were too close but the lesson was learnt. "Trini can I put your floaties on now?" and the nod comes my way.
She is learning at a phenomenal rate. Last weekend she learned to tread water in 2 days and jump in the diving pool from the lowest diving board. This weekend she jumped from the highest diving board, swam the width of a 50m pool by herself and dipped underwater and through the middle of John's legs to bob up behind him. She loved it so much we kept having to practice and take turns.
After having several goes on the water slide in the toddler pool, the tropical rain arrives fast and furious and lasts barely 5 minutes. It was long enough though for us to bunk up in the cafe and indulge on ice cream. As expected with so much activity, Trini fell asleep whilst sitting but not before she finished her ice cream. And so it is 6pm and the day is over. Time for a shower and dinner.
This could be seen as a simple day but the satisfaction is in knowing that Trini had our undivided attention. No laptops, no mobiles. We had a lot of fun doing lots of things and just simply being together.
On a final note my daughter is eating the house out. So I think I am expecting a growth spurt. It is certainly long overdue. It also explains the unusual behaviours we have encountered in the last 2 days. Shortly I will be packing up all the size 2 and fishing out the size 3 clothes from under her bed storage.
So whilst I sit back enjoying a glass of white wine, I will continue sighing with satisfaction and look forwards to Sunday and whatever it brings our way.
