...and then the night fell upon the three unicorns

Yesterday Oliver brought home a story he had authored whilst at school. Here it is:

One unicorn was up and out of his home. Then two other unicorns came. And then the night fell upon the three unicorns. The unicorns went back to their homes. The two unicorns that came to the one unicorn got to live with him.

This gem came on the heels of a particularly interesting session of textual exegesis that Oliver and I had performed together that morning on the way to school. "Mama," he said, "what does 'bruised limbs' mean?" It turns out that this relatively easy to exegete phrase was buried within a sentence that went something like this: "When he came to himself he found himself lying in a firelit room, aware of his bruised limbs and suffering from a bad headache." Yep, we had to exegete every phrase in the sentence. Gotta love it!

The Red Knight

He waited and waited for the day and it finally came: OP turned 4 & 1/2 on the 18th of August. He was very particular about this day; he wouldn't let us tell anyone that he was 4 & 1/2 until he actually was. He would say, "I WILL be 4 & 1/2 in 11 days." Anything to teach them math!
It so happened that on this momentous day we had arranged to go to Medieval Times (kids free until Sept. 1!) with the CA grandparents. We spent much time perusing the website, learning about the story and the different knights. By profile (knight & poet), and possibly crest (horse), Oliver set his sights on the yellow knight. Alas, we were assigned to the red knight. But, he turned out to be the best of all! He was brave, strong, responsive to the crowd, and he had a great smile. He's our new friend.

New Nephew!

I'm bursting with pride, happiness, relief, and airplane ticket anxiety: my sister and her husband have a baby boy! Hurrah!

Ick factor

Warning! This post may rate pretty high on your ick factor. I'm including this photo and story for several reasons: Oliver took it, some of you occasionally complain that I am never in the photos, it gives me a chance to challenge your ick factor.
So here it is--or rather, here I am...in a guarderobe in Castle Hedingham. Just to be a little clearer, I'm sitting over a whole in a wooden board that opens onto a long shaft down to the castle basement. Oliver thought it would be really cool to have a photo of me on a castle toilet, so he took one. On the castle tour we saw where the shaft emptied into the basement--right next to the place for food storage. Ick!
My own personal ick factor was increased with the help of a book called "Castle Diary," which Krista checked out for us in Hamburg. The book tells the goings on of knights and castles from a page's point of view; it's really neat. Reading through the book, Oliver and I were pleased to find a drawing of the castle toilet. We learned all about the Gong Farmer, whose job it was to muck out castle toilets when they clogged. Descriptions of the GF's cart and clothing were very detailed--flies his constant companions, smells that never wash clean, castle residents begging for rain. Suffice it to say that by the end of the description I was queasy just from the thought of it.
Subsequently, my boys have enjoyed taunting me with my visceral reaction to the portrayal of GF. Whatever it takes for a giggle, I guess.
How's your ick factor?

happy boy

Yes, yes, yes, I know: I should be posting the first of many installments that recount our adventures abroad. But, like my four year old son, the happiness about his most recent achievement is foremost in my mind, so you'll have to wait to hear about visits to castles, swordplay with grandad, and climbing Cat Bells with grandad guitar.
17 hours after our plane touched down we were in the doctor's office--no worries; it was a pre-planned visit to the audiologist to check out OP's hearing. He passed without any doubts and was advised that, with both ear tubes out of his eardrums, he could now swim! We made a pilgrimage to Target yesterday to purchase a very cool pool; photos to follow. In the meantime, OP very much enjoyed his first shower!

How do you do?

Oliver's class got to visit the nearby horse stables this morning. What good fun! They held onto a tether with colored circles and ambled merrily through the parking lot to the white fence, where they waited patiently and in great anticipation of a how-do-you-do? with a horse. Before they met the horse they got to see chickens and goats. When the big moment finally came, Lauren showed her grooming tools to the children and then groomed her horse in front of them. They also got to feel a horseshoe, knock on a helmet, guess the different parts of a saddle, and see the horse's teeth. Each child who wanted to got to come forward for a brief personal encounter with Jackie O., the horse. A fun time was had by all!

belly photo

We enjoyed a great visit with Claire last weekend. OP anxiously waited her arrival. When we heard her approach he went cautiously to the door, then burst from it, proclaiming, "I love your fat belly!" Immediately he went to her to take her hand and bring her in. He was ready to bestow the gift our family had brought for their family: _Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?_. It was meant for the shower the following day, but who could deny him in his enthusiasm? He gave Auntie Claire the book and proceeded to read the whole book to his new cousin, who currently resides in Claire's belly.
The next morning OP ate a huge breakfast in anticipation of the belly photo shown here. All weekend he enjoyed loving on his Auntie and her Baby Bear. It was fab!