This Little Clan Mac

Today we celebrated, a little, the wonder of being a father. Mummy ensured that all the boys gave daddy a card that included a Father's Day button to be pinned to his shirt. And there was no avoiding wearing them. So I ended up wearing three brightly coloured buttons on existing button holes on my shirt. Didn't look too bad, if I do say. They, funnily enough, earned the odd comment, certainly a few smiles, from a few observers.

Although today threatened to be an unsettled day as far as rain was concerned, we decided to risk the weather remaining clear and headed to Ware after lunch. Once all the bikes were loaded up in the cavernous cabin of the car, it was off to a car park near the tow path in Ware. Ewen has been riding his bicycle quite well of late, and he was particularly interested in going for a bike ride like last weekend. Ware to Hertford seemed a fair distance that we could carry a bicycle in case Ewen became too tired to cycle.

He proved us wrong! He not only rode to Hertford, played in the playground, and cycled back to the car in Ware -- a round trip of around four miles; but he continued to cycle all the way to Stanstead Abbotts, another 2 or so miles. And to top that, he cycled all through the village and along the main road leaving the village ultimately arriving at the bottom of the drive to the college, about another two miles.

Most of the latter distance was, however, done on the pavement. I don't think I'm quite confident enough to have him ride on the road with me, more because of how inconsiderate a good number of drivers are on these narrow roads.

Looking back on the day, it's a real reminder of how time is marching and there is nothing we can do to change that. Just enjoy the ride, and take pleasure in seeing the joy written on the faces of young ones as they achieve new heights. What a wonder God has given us.

Posted by Keith at 09:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We approached the exercise with some trepidation truth be known as this would be first for Michael and one never knows how little people will react. To what? Their first haircut.

It started while he was in his bath. He didn't seem to perturbed. Rather more interested in what Mummy was holding in her hands, which meant more of an effort not to make a mess with him turning his head this way and that. With his hair looking a tad skew whiff, we decided the clippers would be the best approach to achieve some semblance of a reasonable cut.

Reflecting now, he was remarkably calm even with the clippers. Observing his older brothers having their hair cut recently obviously comforted him somewhat. His interest seemed to focus on the tickling experience he felt. That suited us fine. Although, the longer the exercise progressed, the more he began to become unsettled, if not bored with our efforts.

The shock of the change came a little later when he was moving around his room. The thought was, "Where's our cute little Michael?" He looks so different. A quick glance of the boys and one could be forgiven for thinking he is a smaller Iain. Nevertheless, he is still cute.

Posted by Keith at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)