It’s a sad thing really, how fast two free days get filled up and disappear in a puff of smoke, like someone in a souped up hot rod laying rubber through an intersection.

Don’t get me wrong- I had a great weekend, it just never seems quite long enough. I get all these great plans, and it always feels like I’ve got so much time- TWO WHOLE DAYS!- and then I’m left confused, wondering where it went and why it never calls like it said it would.

We spent the weekend basically housecleaning. We had to get our house clean so that we could leave it overnight, and then when we got up to the lake, we spent the next 24 hours cleaning that one too.

The kids of course had a blast and no idea that work was happening. They just rode their bikes up and down the deserted road in front while I watched them, keeping them out of their Dads (shaved) hair while he built their bed.

I enjoyed watching them, even though I made them go inside in half hour intervals. They likely could have stayed out forever, but I was freezing. Plus one Celsius isn’t exactly my idea of outside fun time weather.  But they are kids, with more brown fat than their mommy has. (Mommy has the useless white fat now that makes her want to sleep and read books)

I still remember playing outside in minus thirty for hours, wrapped up in a red staypuff snowsuit and home made mitts and scarf and toque. As long as you wore two pairs of mitts you stayed toasty, but woe to the kid who forgot the second pair.

My almost six year old has finally mastered her bike, as we could tell by her glee spinning tires in water that she wasn’t really stuck. The four year old is still cautious but doing ok, singing her bike song tunelessly over and over and over…

But my favourite, that cracked me up endlessly, was my little dude motoring around on his Harley plastic tricycle. He can’t reach the pedals yet so he pushes with his feet. He gets going so fast he will sometimes run them into a tire, which frustrates him. I don’t think it hurts though because he never cried, just yelled at the tires. He started to get the timing right and would lift them so he glided. He was so pleased when that happened, it was like he’d invented a new form of travel.

By the time lunch rolled around on Sunday, I was done. The kids were getting hungry, the little one hadn’t napped so was getting grouchy, and the four year wanted a new family but didn’t know how to drive so was stuck with us- in her own words.

It was time to go home. And so the weekend vanished and I am left with some good family memories, wishing that I could have more time for that. I’ll add it to my memory bank, and keep looking for more time to make others.