Potter Party + Tanglewood Adventures

Part 1: Potter Party!

There comes a time in everyone’s lives when people burst into your home, assume control of your kids, and lock you out for two hours with stern instructions to go on a date. This happened just today to our good friends, Seth and Rebekah Potter. The invaders were none other than yours truly, the Vance fam. While Seth and Rebekah were out, we were determined to have ourselves a “Potter Party!”

Practically, this meant that we Vance parents would be looking after five kids for the next two hours, four of whom were under three. Good training, I thought to myself, for our third addition, due in November. As it turned out, it was a pretty fun two hours.

Allow me to introduce you to the characters of this epic showdown:

The Potter Family

Baby Potter, also known as Gideon: 

This is one cute kid. At about four months, Gideon weighs a little more than Janna, our seventeen-month old! Needless to say, he will be one powerful guy. He has a great personality, and loves to give big smiles. 

Jonah Potter

At eighteen months, Jonah is following steadily in his father’s footsteps. He greatly enjoys reading, and he may have the biggest smile I have ever seen on a toddler! Despite occasional time-outs from over-zealous pats on the back, head, etc., he has a great heart and a huge love for fun.

Naomi Potter:

Almost three years old, Naomi is an incredibly cute kid. She basically organized us for the whole time we were there, instructing us all to pick up rocks around the back yard and put them in buckets (which actually kept the kids occupied for about twenty minutes!). All of this with a huge smile on her face. 

When she heard that her parents would be home soon, she threw herself on the ground sobbing. When I asked her what she was doing, she stopped, looked at me, and with a huge grin said, “I’m crying!” before resuming her activities.

The Vance Family:

Janna Vance:

At seventeen months, Janna was nevertheless the smallest person in the house, possibly including the cats. She’s our sweety-pie, and greatly enjoyed playing with Jonah and Naomi.... until she became tired. Then things got a little messy.

Jesse Vance:

Jesse’s my main man, and he loves hanging out with Naomi, Jonah, and Gideon. Usually, he’s a pretty independent guy, but all it took were a few directions from Naomi, and he was working with her to excavate the yard of all pebbles. They seem like a good team.... hmmmm......

Momma Vance:

The arbiter of all peace and calm in our family. She is at least twice as sympathetic as me, but still holds an almost mystical authority over the kids. Respect! 

Jesse actually took a particular liking to Gideon during this visit as well, which was reassuring to me since he’s going to have a new addition of his own to watch out for in the next few months. 

Surveying the grounds for rocks. The boys didn’t want to disappoint Naomi!

Command central – Naomi kept the boys in check from here. She was a pretty gracious task master but was quick to lay down the law on Jonah when he tried to make off with some of the rocks!

Well, two hours FLEW by! I couldn’t believe it! And when we left with only our two kids, it felt eerily quiet for the rest of the way home. I think the Potters enjoyed themselves at Cora’s too. Mission accomplished!

Part 2: Tanglewood Adventures

After naptime, we decided to blow off some steam at Tanglewood Park, a nicely shaded area with incredibly comfortable benches! Ah, benches.

Janna Vance, sporting one of her cute-but-indefinable clothing items. 

Momma Vance!

Jesse, with his favourite hat. He explained its importance to me in the van as he was putting it on: it protects him from "summer and the sun."

Here, Jesse is waving and saying goodbye to the bubbles that Momma had just blown for him and Janna.

Ah, benches. 

"I can do it!"

The joy of going down the slide as a toddler. Man, the slide hasn't seemed so fun in decades!

A rare natural smile from Jesse. He's hard to catch unaware!

Jesse loves the swing! He keeps asking me to push him higher... higher... higher...
NO! NOT THAT HIGH, DADDY!

I would be remiss if I didn't include some kind of apocalyptic commentary on our continued lack of precipitation. Here it is: All the grass in the park was yellow! Clearly, the world is ending.

Sorry for the extra long post! Hope you all have a wonderful day.

Until next time...