It was raining a little when we got there. I told him that didn't matter - it was good for sand castles! We blew some bubbles until he was ready to try the water. He spent most of the afternoon in the water, or eating. When my Mom arrived (it was raining much harder and we were hiding under a tree), I asked him if he recognized the truck pulling into the parking lot. He said yes. I told him that was my mom, and he took off in her direction to tell her where we were sitting. About half way to Mom he chickened out, stopped and stood still. He did however tell her that we were over here! He was (of course) really well behaved. Although he has essentially taken over the bag of chips I brought out with us, he offered me one for his 2 (which was enough for me). I had found a little boat on the shore line that he was playing with but when a toddler came up to the water, he gave the boat to him to play with instead. When he wanted to go into deeper water, he agreed to come out of the water and hang out with Mom until I got changed into my
bathing suit. When I said he had five more minutes, he came out of the water and brought up all the sand toys. Of course, he was also a five year old throughout the day. The people next to us had 3 young boys, and he kept following them, especially when they were in the water, but I could tell he just wanted to play with them. They also had a dingy, and I knew he wanted to play in it with them, but I told him to come back towards me. He did. When they got out of the water to head home, they let him play with the boat until they were ready to go home. But there were not many people at the beach today, so I did my best to play with him. I was with him in the water, I built a sand castle with him (ok, I built, he got the sand wet). He then protected this with a five year old fury when that same toddler he had given the boat to came near the castle!). We packed up and went to the car (with Nathaniel carrying most of the stuff) just before a massive storm hit. I could barely see the road while I was driving. In an attempt to keep fresh air coming into the hot car, I had the sun roof cracked. I learned my lesson there.... no sun roof in the rain! I slowed down for a stop sign and got POURED on! Silly Girl.When Nathaniel was getting dressed, we somehow got him tipped over - I think maybe he got stuck in his wet shorts - and he ended up sitting on my lap while we found his dry clothes. It felt so normal.
I dropped a very sleepy boy off with his Step-Father when we got back into town, and he gave me a big hug, and sleepily said "I love you Jen". Those words could still make me cry. I hugged him back, said I love you buddy, and promised to see him again soon.
His situation makes me so sad. Natasha (his mother) gave me the heads up that he has started referring to his step-father as "Dad" and I definitely saw that in our afternoon. We were deciding who's hair was longer - Nathaniel's or mine - and he answered "Dad's". I know I haven't seen Travis in almost 2 months, but I can guarantee that he was talking about Shane's dreadlocks. There was not a doubt in my mind when he said that. It makes me sad for Travis,
but I know that it is the reality that he faces. Shane is more of a dad to Nathaniel than Travis has been in a love time. A part of me says, well that's what Travis deserves. Another part of me hurts for him - I don't know what I would do if my child replaced me in their mind. Of course, it does make me happy that Nathaniel has someone real that he can refer to as his Father. Someone who is there for him everyday, someone who will probably help him learn all those boy skills. That part makes me happy, but for Travis (who I had half an urge to text today and tell him that I was hanging out with his son, just to be provocative...), it makes me sad. I guess it's just my good old bleeding heart.In non-Nathaniel news... I am house sitting. There are three cats. I rarely see most of them. When Robert the cat is inside, he tends to be very loving, and all he wants is attention. He followed me around as I water the million house plants this evening, but since I have sat down here, I am not sure where he is. He slept with my first night out here, so that was nice too - it is so nice to have body heat somewhere near! he was curled in my legs that day. Last night, only one cat was inside, and I didn't hear or feel her until 5:50 this morning, when she was either hungry or wanted to go outside. My note left by the house owners says that she likes cream in the morning. I found buttermilk and 1% milk in the fridge. I tried butter milk and she has had nothing to do with it. Tomorrow we will try the 1% and I guess if that doesn't suit her fancy, I will have to buy her some cream... The best part about these cats is that they are indoor and outdoor cats - and they do not use their litter boxes in the summertime, but rather go outside! And, they are fine if you leave them out overnight as well. I tried last night to get them all inside, but only one came anywhere near the house. I even checked outside until a little after 11 pm, checking about every 20 minutes.
Tomorrow, I was hoping to float the Nechako River, but I have not heard any details, so maybe they didn't get it organized, or maybe there is no room for me... either way, I can make use of the day! Living out in Beaverly, the lake is literally on my way into town.. (plus 13 kms out of my way....) then it is back to work for another 4 days... then, unless Walmart has other plans for me, 2 weeks off again....
I am going to go watch a movie and hope I sleep better tonight! THere is a bird feeder on my window sill in the bedroom - it is really cool to lay in bed and watch birds eat from it, but it comes with a whole bunch of bizarre noises as well - wings flapping, board pecking etc!
i love you, my followers! I hope you are enjoying your long weekend!
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