The Heron

  
We sat on the beach watching the muppets play light sabre fighting yesterday. The three of them were completely consumed by their game. My husband pointed out a heron on the walk way of the dock he was just sitting there as people passed by. Both of us thought that this was strange behaviour for a wild bird, so he called the boys in and we decided to investigate.

The five of us walked slowly up on to the dock and stood a few feet from the great bird. We could see quite clearly that he had a broken leg. He limped around nervously and the kids backed away a little bit. I suggested we call the fish and wildlife office in the area and see if there was anything that they could do to help. As I looked up the phone number a few more people gathered on the dock. One of the girls was a vet and said that there was really nothing that we could do and that the bird would probably die in the wild. The middle muppet looked up at me with his big brown eyes “There has to be something that we can do to help” I looked at my husband and both of us knew that the vet was most likely right. More people gathered on the dock and a few of them wanted to pass by to get down to their boats. As people passed by the heron moved closer to the edge of the dock. Suddenly he spread his wings and took off and made his way over to the marshy waters near the opening of the river. The middle muppet smiled at me “It looks like he might be ok mummy” he said. My husband and I both shrugged and hoped that the middle guy was right.

This morning as we sat on the deck having coffee and visiting with a friend the heron flew by. I could see his little leg flapping below him and pointed it out to my husband. We proceeded to tell our friend about the experience the day before. She told us that the heron was at her place a couple lake communities down from ours a few days ago and that they had also tried to call the fish and wildlife people to rescue it. By the time they arrived the bird had flown away, they also had said the heron would not likely survive in the wild. I told the muppets after dinner last night that we spotted the heron that morning flying. The middle muppet had a big smile on his face. “That is one strong bird Mummy, I think that he might survive and heal all on his own!” I smiled and said “You never know animals learn to adapt to their environment all the time!” We are out here for a few more weeks and we will keep our eyes watching for our heron friend and hope that the middle guy is right. 

The Lake

     

Our morning did not start off well, the muppets had been up late the night before and up early because they were excited to go to the lake. With in 20 minutes of being awake the fights started. I dragged the bags out to my parents garage and called a family meeting. I explained to the three of them how the day was going to go. We had a six hour drive ahead of us and that was if traffic was in our favour. I told them that I did not want to hear them ask if we were their yet and that there would be no whining or fighting today. We would eat when we stopped and pee when there was a place to pee. The three of them who are used to my long trip speeches  nodded and agreed to my terms. We all piled in to our little rental car as the rain completely soaked us and the wind howled. The four of us were all shivering as we pulled out of the drive way. Our Alberta Summer had changes from a balmy 25 degrees to a dreadful 5 degrees, needless to say our bodies were in shock. 
The drive out was uneventful and long, for  the most part the muppets followed my rules. However the last few hours of travel the excitement kicked in and as we turned on to the road to the lake they were uncontrollable. We pulled up to our trailer and the boys piled out of the car. The youngest muppet went straight to the trailer wanting to check inside and make sure his bed was still there. The three of them joined my parents down at the beach and started a game of frisbee. A few minutes later the youngest and middle muppet came in to the trailer. “We want to go to the park, and ride our bikes and go for a boat ride” the youngest said as he grabbed his light sabre. I told him that he would have time to do all of those things but we needed to unpack first. Him and his brother decided to play at the park and I went back to unpacking. 
I joined the family down on the beach a short time later.  The oldest muppet was playing with his aunt and uncle and the other two joined them in a game of catch. The youngest and the middle guy soon got bored of the game and decided to play in the sand. Buckets and shovels were brought down and soon the oldest joined in the fun. It didn’t take them long to be knee deep in the water and when the oldest got the ok from me that they could get wet the started filling buckets with water to soak each other. Completely drenched the three of them lost their shirts and swam out to the dock, diving and swimming to shore and then back again. They were joined by other kids and old lake friendships were formed again. The oldest joined in a game of soccer with some older boys and the other two muppets found a hole in the sand to play in. We had only been at the lake for a few hours but the three of them had done almost everything they loved to do here. 
After dinner, a boat ride, and a few games of air hockey the three muppets settled in to their beds in the trailer. I tucked them in giving each hugs and kisses. The youngest muppet gave me a squeeze and said “I love the lake mummy, and our trailer, I want to stay here forever!” I giggled and told him that it was one of my favourite places to be as well. The next few weeks will be filled with water, sand and fun for the Wilson boys. I just hope that I have the energy to keep up with them this year! 

I Will Take Care Of You

Most of the nights since we have been in Canada the Muppets have crashed in to bed from exhaustion. Spending lot of time running around outdoors, swimming and visiting has made bed time as easy as can be this holiday.  The other night the three of them were crashed on the couch after a day of bouncing on trampolines and playing with friends. The youngest Muppet came up stairs and complained that his brain hurt and I told him that it was probably time for bed. There were moans from his brothers about not being tired as they both rubbed their eyes. When teeth were brushed and pjs were on I tucked the three of them in to bed and went back up stairs to visit with my mother in law. Twenty minutes later the youngest made his way back upstairs. He told me that the middle guy was having nightmares and that none of them could sleep.  I walked down stairs to find the middle one in hysterics. He couldn’t tell me what was wrong so I brought him over to the couch and cuddled him. I told the other two to try and get to sleep while I calmed the middle Muppet down. The two of us sat on the couch and watch some television and he finally calmed down.

The oldest Muppet came out of the room to get a drink of water. He told me that the youngest boy was feeling scared and sad and feeling scared. He told me not to worry and that he would bring the youngest in to bed with him and cuddle him until he fell asleep. I thanked him and continued to focus my attention on the middle guy.  About a half hour later the middle guy decided he felt like going to sleep. He kissed me good night and made his way off to his room. When I finally decided to call it a night I popped my head in to the bedroom to check on the muppets. The three of them were all fast asleep in the double bed, I thought about moving the youngest back in to his bed. I decided to leave them be and went to bed.

The next morning at the breakfast table the youngest Muppet told me that he had a great sleep. He told me that his older brother cuddled with him and told him funny stories to make him feel better and then he had good dreams. The oldest smiled at him and told me that he didn’t really sleep that well but he was glad the youngest Muppet slept through the night and didn’t bother me. I thanked him for making his brother feel better and assured him that tonight his youngest brother would be back in his own bed.  All three Muppet’s are growing up in different ways and it is nice to see the oldest taking care of his brothers the way he does. Not only does it make me a proud Mama but it is nice to know that they care so much about one another.

New and Old

  
It has been a few weeks now since the muppets and I made our way home to the Motherland. In Calgary we were greeted by unseasonably warm temperatures and the muppets were grateful not to have to put on pants to stay warm. We quickly fell in to a daily routine and both the muppets and I enjoyed the familiar sights of walking to the playground, the smell of the green grass and the sounds of the birds endlessly chirping. The muppets made requests to eat at their favourite restaurants, visit their favourite attractions and of course go in Nana and Papa’s hot tub. Our first week in Calgary was quickly booked up with trips to the zoo, movies with grandparents, dinner with family and friends and as many bike rides as we could fit in. 

The following week the muppets were excited to make their way up North to visit Grandma and Bampi. My in laws had moved in to a new house this past year and this was our first time seeing it. Everything was new and unfamiliar but the muppets greeted their grandparents with hugs and kisses and quickly made their way through the house checking out every room. They discovered the back garden which is shared with the other tenets and thought it was great that they had enough room for a full on soccer match. To top the evening off we were all pleasantly surprised when their father showed up just before dinner. He had tricked us all in to thinking he wouldn’t be making it to Canada this summer. When I put the boys to bed that night the three of them were wired thinking about all of the fun things we were going to do in the coming weeks. As I kissed the middle muppet goodnight he told me that he missed Grandma’s old house and wasn’t sure if he was going to be able to sleep in this new room. I hugged him and told him that soon we would be used to the new house and we would make some nice new memories with his grandparents here. He cuddled up with his teddy and muttered “I don’t like new things” and I kissed the all and left the room. 

The next few days were full of old & new things for the muppets. The three of them went to the West Edmonton Mall water park and were all brave enough to go on the big slides this year. We visited with friends and family and  they got to enjoy their first live hockey game in Edmonton.  The middle muppet thought the pop corn was the best part of the game (he takes after his mother) but he agreed with us all that it was a lot of fun. As I tucked them in to bed last night the middle muppet asked for extra hugs . I kissed him and pulled his covers up, “I really like the bed at Grandma’s house mummy” he said smiling “We have had a lot of fun at this new house” I smiled and told him that we still had time to have lots more fun and that just because something is new doesn’t make it bad. 
We have had a great few weeks back home, we have been blessed to see some of our wonderful friends and visit with our amazing family. The muppets have been able to enjoy some of the things that they long to do all year in Doha, and also experience some new and exciting things. I am sure that in the coming weeks there will be more adventures for the four frogs and this princess. 

It feels good to be home.