31-for-21: Tuesdays

Our morning began in contrast:

Me:  "Looks like it's going to be coldie out there!"

Ariel: "No it does NOT look like it's going to be coldie out there."

Me:  "I'm sure it's pretty cold."

Ariel:  "I'm sure it's NOT pretty cold."

No arguing with her there.  This game of "NOs" and "NOTs" puts a smile on my face.  She deliberately opposes me in jest, as Dan and I do to her when we want her to eat something healthy.  "Do NOT eat that broccoli!  DON'T you do it!"  Down the hatch it goes.  I'm sure this kind of reverse-psychology may be frowned upon in some circles, but hey - it works!  Ariel is in on the joke, which I think makes it okay.

After breakfast, it was fort building time.  Ariel carefully arranged all of the toys in the room into an intricate pile that only she can decipher.  No, no, no, no - don't you dare touch it.  She INSISTED that Elyse be a part of her fort.  In an effort to show me that nothing bad would happen to her sister (i.e. falling off the couch), she put cushions all around Elyse.  While I let the dogs out and did the dishes, those two chit-chatted on the couch forever in their secret sister language, like only sisters can do.  Ariel kept up her end of the bargain, and sat in front of her sister the whole time keeping her safe and sound.

We ease into our Tuesdays, then race full speed ahead in the afternoon, and finish our day off with a bang.
After our slow-paced morning, followed by lunch and a shortened nap, every Tuesday afternoon we attend the Halton Down Syndrome Association's (HDSA) Parent Networking Group, where we meet up with families who have children with Down syndrome at the Ontario Early Years Centre in Milton.  I run the group with my partner in crime - Jen, and I love seeing new families join us each week, and familiar faces return.
Today was a lot of fun; I even got in some baby cuddles!:

After Parent Networking Group, we head straight to Ariel's dance class back in Georgetown.  I've become buddies with another mom, and we often head out for a tea during the awkward-length 30-minute-long class.  Most shops in Georgetown basically close at 5 pm; except, lucky for us, this one yummy bakery called Heather's that's open until 6 pm.  We sometimes indulge in cheesecake and other such delicacies during our half-hour reprieve.  Today, with Elyse in tow, we settled for Starbucks that I grabbed on the way from Milton, which, as it turns out, happens to be not settling at all, but a great treat as there are NO Starbucks in Georgetown!  There must be a Starbucks in Georgetown?!  There must NOT be a Starbucks in Georgetown.

After dance, it's home for dinner, get the kids to bed, then off to yoga for me:)  That's the bang.  Don't get so excited.

Bodyflow, or yoga as I often lazily refer to it as, has become one of my favourite times to myself of the week.  The best part is truly the last 10 minutes where you lay down and do ab-so-lute-ly nothing.  It's the best!  Everybody deserves some time to be awake, but still; mindful, yet clear-headed.  This class indulges my senses, and I always come home in some sort of weird wistful mood, but in a good way.  Sometimes afterwards, the class provokes me to bring up some seriously deep issues and meaning-of-life type questions with Dan.  

Take this scenario that happened a few weeks ago:  "Babe, when I was getting in my car after class it struck me how sad it is, how seriously sad and unfair it is, that one day you aren't going to be here anymore.  We're going to grow old together, and then one of us is just going to die, and the other one has to carry on alone.  When I need you the most (assuming Dan dies first, because he's older -obviously!), you aren't going to be here.  I can't take that - it's so unfair and sad."  Dan just nods his head, and brings me in for a hug, and then I run off to write about it.  One day I came home after class, and Dan was looking for me and couldn't find me.  I was sitting at the top of the hill beside our house, pen in hand, exploring how the trees stand like guardians, silent sentinels, watching over our street.  This is how our Tuesdays go.  Now, that brings me to Wednesdays...Wednesdays are a different story.  You'll have to read on tomorrow to find out, as the 31-for-21 Blogging Challenge continues!:)