Highest Honours

Simone's second eldest called her up. "I've decided to attend my graduation," he informed her. "Ugh," she said. He went on, oblivious. "Yeah, the university contacted me and told me that I've earned Highest Honours on my degree." "Ugh," repeated Simone. This time, Simone's reaction registered with the 21 year old. "You can't make it?" "I signed up for a motorcycle training course." "You can't change it?" "Not three days before the course starts. Not without losing the cost of the course." "Oh. I would have let you know earlier but I didn't know myself until now." "Ugh," said Simone. Because she really, really would have loved to be there. Ugh.

Tu t'es amusé?

Simone voulait tout savoir. "Et alors, ce camp? Tu t'es amusé?" B hocha la tête. Oui, il s'était amusé. "Tu t'es fait des amis?" Cette fois-ci, B haussa les épaules. "Pas encore," admit-il. Cette réponse fut suivie d'un énorme sourire, "Mais il y avait de TRÈS jolies filles!"

Progress Report

"You know," B remarked casually, "The next time I'm bad, you should really text the Halloween guy, not Santa Claus." He stared at Simone meaningfully. "Halloween is gonna be here before Christmas."

Ça pue ici!

B, console en main, s'approcha de son père pour lui dire bonne nuit. Malheureusement, papa souffrait d'indigestion et une odeur quelque peu nauséabonde trônait autour de lui. B fit une grimace. "Papa. S'il-te-plaît. Eteint cette odeur."

Planting a flag

"What are you doing?" B asked his Mom. "It's called the Tree Pose," Simone replied. "It's a yoga move." "Stay there," B ordered. "I'll be back in a minute." He raced into his room and returned, waving a small Canadian flag and holding two drum sticks. Slowly, very carefully, he inserted the flag into the crook of Simone's knee and a drum stick at the fold in each of her elbows. He stood back to admire his work. "There! Now you look like a real tree."

Le grand amour

B aimait beaucoup une des animatrices de Camp Carnival, la garderie du bateau de croisière. Celle-ci avait un joli sourire et, de plus, elle était canadienne. "Tu vas l'épouser un jour?" Lui demanda un de ses petits copains. "Non. Elle est trop grosse." ... "Tu veux dire qu'elle est trop grande? Trop vieille?" "Ah. Oui. C'est ça. Mais je l'aime bien quand même."

Could that be a broken toe?

"I think I'll cancel our excursion today," Hubby told Simone. Simone nodded dejectedly. She'd looked forward to swimming with stingrays but B's limp had gotten worse and some definite bruising showed around the knuckle of his toe. "I'll take him to the ship's infirmary," said Simone. A cruise ship staff member kindly brought a wheelchair for B and together, they travelled down to the lowest level of the ship where a doctor examined the little guy. "It's unlikely but there could be a fracture," the doctor declared. He ordered a couple of x-rays of the foot to make sure and prescribed an analgesic cream and painkiller. B walked out of the infirmary with a verdict of bad bruising but by then, they'd most definitely missed their excursion. So what could they do with their time in Grand Cayman? "Beach!" Cried Simone and B in unison (but only after the requisite Pina Colada please!).

.

Une journée bien chargée

Le premier arrêt fut à Ocho Rios. Il faisait beau. Il faisait chaud. Et, déjà, malgré l'heure matinale, B se plaignait de la chaleur. "T'inquiète," fit Simone. "Tu vas te sentir mieux d'ici peu." En effet, l'autobus qui les amena à Dunn River Falls avait la clim, ce qui n'empêcha pas B d'annoncer qu'il faisait trop clair. Et puis quoi encore? Enfile tes lunettes de soleil, fiston et on verra mieux. Ce ne fut qu'arrivés à Dunn River Falls que B se mit à apprécier cette belle journée à sa juste valeur. Entrainé par l'enthousiasme de leurs guides, ils grimpèrent les chutes le sourire aux lèvres et la bonne humeur dans le coeur. La chute, vers le bas, d'une touriste un peu... forte... ne les retarda à peine. Ils arrivèrent à l'autobus affamés et très fatigués. "On rentre au bateau maintenant?" Demanda B. Bah non. Il y avait une deuxième, après les chutes, surprise de prévue: après un pique-nique jamaïcain, B enfila un harnais plein de crochet. "Je vais où?" Demanda-t-il. "Faire de la tyrolienne," dit Simone. B fronça les sourcil. "C'est QUOI ça???" Suffira-t-il de dire que B aima tellement faire de la tyrolienne qu'à peine arrivé de son périple, il voulait y retourner immédiatement? (Et plus un mot au sujet du soleil et de la chaleur!)

A Canadian???

"You're Canadian?" The camp counsellor asked B after Simone had signed him in for an afternoon of play

. He nodded. "I'm Canadian too!" She shouted exultantly. B grinned and gave the camp counsellor a big hug then, before kissing Simone goodbye, he whispered to his mother: I'm going to marry her!

Leaving on a sea cruise

"Can I go to Camp Carnival yet?" B asked for the umpteenth time. Simone checked the time. "Not yet. Not until 8 pm. They don't open for another fifteen minutes. But if you want, we can go there and wait for them to open." B did, indeed want to do this, so they headed up to Deck 11 and waited. "They don't open until 8:30, apparently," said the mother ahead of Simone in line. Ah. Great. Still, there they were there and more children, accompanied by their parents, were arriving so they kept their spot in line. Shortly after 8:30 pm, the line thinned and, as Simone drew closer, she discovered why: children in B's age group were being sent to another deck at the other end of the ship. Ah. Great. Of course, once they reached the other end of the ship, on the appropriate deck, another line of hopefuls waited to be admitted into the free daycare section. Simone had been up since 4 am and she was beginning to sway with fatigue. "Please pick up your child by 9:45 pm," said the daycare provider when Simone finally reached the front of the line. That would be, oh, 30 minutes from now. Just the right amount of time to make it back to the room, at the other end of the ship, get into pjs and return.

On passe d'une chanson à la réalité

Pour son cours de danse, B et sa partenaire avaient dansé au rythme de "Partons en croisière!" Et, le lendemain matin, c'est précisément ce que B s'apprêtait de faire: vol en direction vers Miami, billets de croisière en main et quelques heures de loisir avant de pouvoir aborder. Que faire? Du shopping à South Beach, bien sur! Il faisait beau. Il faisait chaud. Et tous les restaurants avaient ouvert leur terrasse. Bon, d'accord. À Miami, ce n'est pas exceptionnel. Mais venu du Canada où, la semaine précédente, il avait neigé, ça faisait beaucoup de bien. Surtout le mojito. Rien de tel pour se sentir franchement en vacance...

Dancing Star

Simone watched as the beat of the music started up. B, in his costume looked ready. His partner, in her costume, appeared ready. And then they started dancing...

Comment ça, je vais manquer la fête de mon meilleur ami?

B n'en revenait pas. Sa mère venait de lui dire qu'il ne pourrait pas aller fêter l'anniversaire de son meilleur ami. Il faut dire que les parents de l'ami de B organisent toute une fête à chaque année, avec plein de bonnes choses à manger, des jeux, un magicien - le gros lot, quoi. "Mais pourquoi?" "C'est une surprise!" fit Simone. "Mais tu ne seras pas ici pour fêter les 6 ans de C." Vu la mine dépitée de son fils, Simone s'empressa d'ajouter, "Et si on organisait une petite fête entre nous à InPlay?" Aussitôt dit, aussitôt fait. Les deux garçons se rencontrèrent à InPlay où ils passèrent une excellente matinée. Simone a pris un tas de photos, a offert un album à chaque garçon ainsi qu'un tas d'autocollants et ils purent se faire un album-souvenir de cette belle journée passée ensemble. Bon, d'accord, il n'y avait pas de magicien. C'était bien quand même. Et puis il reste la surprise...

You know you're in trouble when...

Irritated with B's persistent interruptions while Simone tried to have a conversation with her 15 year old daughter, Simone, reverting to her native tongue, told her youngest, in no uncertain terms, that his behaviour was poor and that no, she would not answer his question now - certainly not until AFTER her conversation with the teen had ended. "You're in big trouble now," the young woman whispered to her brother. "Mom just went French on you!"

On n'écoute qu'à moitié...

"B, dans cinq minutes, il faudra aller au lit," fit Simone. B n'avait pas du tout l'air de prêter attention à sa mère, surtout avec le regard scotché à son jeu électronique. "B, qu'est-ce que je t'ai dit?" S'énerva Simone. Sans ciller, l'enfant répondit, "Il faut aller au lit dans dix minutes."

CN Tower - Up Up and Away!

B stared out the windows of the observation deck of the CN Tower, thoroughly fascinated by the view. "Which way is North?" He asked. Simone duly pointed out all the cardinal directions, feeling pleased with herself that, after all these years, she could finally manage to differentiate between them. "Would you like to go up to the highest part of the tower?" Simone asked. B nodded enthusiastically and up they went. Together, they leaned against the guard rail and looked down the angled glass at the people gathering for the baseball game in the open stadium below. They watched planes take off and land from and at the island airport, an entirely different experience when viewed from above! Finally, they took the elevator down to the glass floor level. Simone led B onto the glass and he followed willingly. "Look down," she told him. As soon as his gaze went down, B's face blanched. Cautiously, ever so slowly, he retreated from the glass floor to stand on the relative safety of the carpeted area. "Come here, Mom," he begged, extending his hand. "Wait! I'm going to take some pictures," Simone said. B threw the stuffed Mario doll he had with him at his mother each time she took a picture. Finally, Simone left the glass and B gingerly pulled her into his arms. "You're safe now," he whispered into his mother's belly. "I love you."