Quinny's First Movie Date!

Saturday was a dreary, gross day. The island got hit by such a bad wind storm that power was knocked out all over the place, and camp was a mess! Chemainus, being the lovely little piece of paradise that it is, wasn't really hit by the wind at all. All we knew was that it was cold and rainy outside. So we huddled inside and did a bunch of cleaning after being gone all summer. 

Quinny played with her babies (we now have so many babies in our house! They are everywhere! And she plays with every single one of them). This is the one from Mary that comes with bathstuff and can get wet, so she gave it a "bath" and then put it "nigh night" in the sink with a cloth over it for its blanket haha!

 And the rest of them she also put "nigh night" and stuffed them all in the cat carrier along with a blanket. Pretty hilarious to watch her play with them

Being silly and playing with her kitchen. She was so good all morning, playing by herself

Quinny had some birthday money, and we were unsure what to spend it on for her because she doesn't really need anything, so we were just going to save it for her. Then I pitched the idea that we should do something special with her, a date with the three of us that totally revolved about her and things she would like. I decided to look up what movies were planning in the Duncan theatre, and found out that one of the two movies was Shaun the Sheep, a kids movie. My british friend Ellen used to talk about Shaun the Sheep and I would think she was nuts, because I have never heard of it before. She even has a little stuffed sheep named Shaun! It was a cartoon that she would watch in England all the time (or something like that). So when I saw that they had made a movie, it made me laugh and we decided to try and take Q to her first movie in a theatre! It was cheap movie day (a back to school special) so that was even better, because we then wouldn't feel so bad leaving early if Q got bored or wouldn't sit still. She was allowed to bring one special baby along with to the movie, since she gets really sad when she has to leave them behind

We got our snacks and found some seats. She was really excited, even though I don't think she really knew what was happening. She sat in the middle and had to hold the popcorn and her drink. She was enthralled with the big screen and had her eyes glued from the first second that previews started

Popcorn for her and Daddy, Milk Duds for Mommy. Yum!

Happily eating her popcorn and watching the movie. The funny thing is that I didn't watch a preview for the movie before we went - I saw the ratings, read some reviews, and knew that it was for small children based on what I had heard from Ellen and had read. So we get in there, and I was SO SURPRISED to find out that there was NO talking in the movie! They made an entire hour and a half film with no talking. It was all animation, and had a great story line that was easy to follow, but no words. Crazy! I have never seen a movie with no words. I got bored and antsy after about 45 min, but both Jon and Quinny were right into it, both laughing along and intently watching. She sat there the entire time and watched the whole movie!!! I did NOT expect that! She never sits still at home for an entire movie, we always have to watch movies in chunks. But it was pretty funny, and super cute (even if there was no words). The countryside was set in England, so it made me miss Ellen and my trip out there! Such a beautiful place

Then we went to McD's for dinner so that she could eat french fries and ice cream (yep, real healthy dinner!) and play on the play structure in there

She was so happy about everything and squealing with delight and talking non-stop! So cute. I did make fun of Jon at one point, because they had a wall with rules listed on it. We were the only ones in there, and Q was a bit scared of the really big slide that had lots of turns in it, because it was dark. I told him to just take her on his lap, and he refused, because he said he read the rules and it was against them to take kids on your lap. I thought he was joking. He was not! He also then informed me that he already was going sock-less and that was also breaking a rule and he felt bad about it, and didn't want to break any more rules. I reminded him that no on was there enforcing the rules, but he was adamant that he would NOT break them. That made me laugh. I would not have even noticed the wall of rules, never mind follow each and every one of them when theres no one else even around, but of course he noticed them and read them all before he went up there. So typical of us! One is a rule follower, and one of us is not... we might get older, but some things never change! haha! (I used to keep us out until really late at night because I had a car and he didn't, and he would get so stressed out because we were breaking dorm curfew, and I barely even knew what the curfew was, never mind cared about making it back to dorms on time for it haha!! )

We got home and played with her kitchen as she "cooked" for us, and we played with her babies and just had a lot of fun being together. It was a good use of her birthday money, and a really great day together.

The next morning we went to church all together for the first time in months! Jon had to leave the service early, but it was still nice to be there. We were warmly greeted by our church family, with lots of hugs and comments of "You're back! Yay!" Which was so nice! Afterwards, we chatted with people for a bit, and then made our way outside to the carport and Raed started talking to me, holding their newest little baby. I talked to him for about 20 seconds, and cooed over the baby, and then said my goodbyes and turned and Q was gone. No where in sight. I slowly turned in a circle, scanning the parking lot and the surrounding area, and didn't see her at anywhere. My head started to spin a little bit as I took in all the cars leaving the parking lot and the amount of people around. I called her name, and right away people started to realize that I couldn't find her, and they snapped into action. Within minutes, there was people all over the church and the property, scanning for her and calling her name. She was gone for about 10 minutes when all of a sudden someone yelled "I found her!". The best sentence I may have ever heard in my entire life. She had went into a side room and crawled under a chair. I grabbed her and headed right for my car, eager to get out of there, and into the safety of my home. Mary and Andrew were part of the crew that helped me look for her, and so Mary walked me to my car, not saying much. She knew that I couldn't really talk, with the fear just barely starting to subside, and she just hugged me and told me it was okay, and sent us off. I am grateful for a friend who can be steady and give me what I need in those kind of moments.

What I forgot to write about last week that was this happened at camp too during Wild 5. Her and I were inside the trailer and she got mad and stormed out, and I followed her. I had stopped to put on my shoes and to grab her shoes, and in those 20 seconds, she disappeared. I looked all over and couldn't find her, and Dave and Jon both heard me calling her name and came jogging down and joined in looking. They headed to the waterfront to start scanning down there, and I headed into the forest area, with Aimee looking around the Kitchen and Mess Hall. She was missing for about 10 minutes again, but Aimee found her coming around a corner, crying. I ran to her and hugged her and asked her where she was and she said "I hiding Mama", through her tears. So she went somewhere and hid, and could hear us calling her, and eventually got scared and came out. So now this is twice that she had hid somewhere on me, on purpose. It is terrifying. The horror of her going missing is something I can barely even think about. I pray that this is a stage that won't last long. We talked to her a lot about how she cannot hide on us, and it is never funny, and that she needs to come out when we call her. Who knows what sank in, but I really am praying that she does not do this again. I feel at such a loss at knowing how to handle this! I don't want to punish her, because she needs to know that I am sad when I can't find her, not angry. But she also needs to know that this is NOT OKAY, and maybe that means punishing her? She is just such a jokester, so I know that she is doing this to be silly, thinking that hiding on me is hilarious and that I will find her and start laughing. But that is not the case, and teaching her how to use her jokes and sense of humor appropriately is proving to be tough for me! Yikes. I am just so glad that we found her when we did, and that she was safe.

All week last week she was calling for Nannie and Papa and she would try to get into my car and say "Nannie Papa house!" And would cry and throw such a fit when I would tell her no. Going two weeks without seeing them is hard on her, after she spent so much time with them this summer! But she needs to get back to normal life, and normal life is that we only see them once a month or so. Her tears are so sad and she calls for them and walks around and says "Nannie, where are you?!" So on Sunday afternoon I facetimed Lois so that Q could talk to her, thinking that would help. She was happy to talk to her, and talked lot, but right as I was hanging up, she brought me her shoes and was really upset when she realized we were just talked to her and not actually going to Nannie's house. I hung up, and Q had her shoes on and was hitting the door, calling for her Nannie and Papa. When I told her no, she started to weep and was so devestated! Face timing did NOT help, it only made her sadder! The poor girl. I took a video of her calling for them and sent it to Lois. So sad! But I love that she loves her Nannie and Papa, I think that is so special. And it won't take long for her to get into our routine of being home and not seeing them very often. I look forward to no more crying for Nannie, because I feel like such a meanie when I tell her "no baby, not today". But it is pretty cute when she does it, even if its sad.