Having successfully managed to make some kind of carriage/stroller whatever you wish to call it for their baby. Blake and Isla had made their way through the castle out onto the grounds. Fresh air would do them all good right??? Maybe it would help both of them to feel a little less ..... blah... about finishing this assignment. They couldn't give up now ... they both needed the grade after all. "Do you want to walk around the lake .. or just set up a pick nick here? I brought some snacks for us." Blake added pulling out some chips and couple pumpkin pasties.

As she walked out onto the groups of the castle, Isla began to feel somewhat better. The weather was really nice, and for once, Ellie wasn't screaming at the top of her lungs or releasing an extremely smelly diaper. The baby actually seemed content for a while. Good. Maybe 'Mom and Dad' could enjoy their day out!

"You brought along snacks? That was so nice of you," she said, giving her 'husband' a smile. "Thanks, Blake! Maybe we can do both. We can take a picnic and then a little walk. Whatever we're doing right now, we're doing the right thing." She gestured toward Ellie. "She's perfectly quiet!" For once.

The newly-turned twelve year old came to a stop beside a nice little shaded area. "What about here?" she asked. Ohh, pumpkin pasties! Yumm!

It was obvious that he didn't know what she was talking about, how could he not see Titanic? It was like one of the best romace movies ever! Although he probably wasn't much into romance and chicks flicks as her brothers called them. At least Phoenix did, Leo didn't seem to mind it at all, but Leo wasn't like other guys.

"That line comes from a muggle movie called Titanic. " she explained simply. That was the only thing she could say without going into too much detail about the movie. "Honestly one of my favorite muggle movies. " Although maybe she was just a girl who loved movies like that.

Laughing Stella shook her head. " Don't worry this will be so good the portraits will be jealous of it!"

Titanic, right. "Guess I'll have to watch it, then," Józef said with a nod, although it was unlikely that he would remember the name of the film, let alone get around to actually finding it and watching it. Besides, the Muggle films he liked had adventure and plenty of action, so he wasn't all that sure he'd enjoy a movie about drawing people.

He was, however, going to enjoy being drawn by Stella.

"Fabulous. Maybe I can replace the Fat Lady this time."

Smiling and shaking her head, she doubted that Józef would really watch a movie like that. After all, it was more of a chick flick as her brothers called it. Although Stella loved actions movies as well, she loved the fast and furious series. Believe it or not she also loved alot of Marvel movies as well, but those were old movies as well.

Stella was having fun drawing him, he was a nice model and sure be a nice picture to send to her twin sister.

"It wasn't bad being in the painting, although after awhile it got boring."

Blake smiled at her and sat down ... well .. maybe sitting down wasn't a good idea ... whenever they weren't moving baby Ellie seemed to start crying again ... was that normal for babies to? It was hard to tell what was normal sometimes and what was different with a pretend plastic baby. None the less Blake wanted to sit and enjoy the lake ... and he pasties. "Okay .. if she starts crying I'll take her." Blake added pushing the stroller back and forth with his hands as they sat. Maybe if they kept up just a little movement it wouldn't be so bad!

"Besides this." He added gesturing toward their 'baby' "How's your first year been?" He asked Isla.

Isla watched as Blake pushed the stroller back and forth. He was going to be a super awesome daddy one day! One day a long, long, long time from now! "Do you have younger brothers and sisters?" she asked. "You might not want to hear this, but you're a natural." He always seemed to know just what to do with Ellie. "I have two younger siblings, but I still feel like I don't know anything. Guess that's normal for a twelve-year-old." She laughed on that last note.

"First year's been good," she answered. It was nice to start talking about something else other than 'their' baby. "It's a lot different than muggle primary school." A LOT. "It's been pretty weird seeing all those founders walking around, too." THAT was a whooooole lot different than anything that had ever happened at muggle school.

Blake smiled at her compliment, it felt good to be good at something, thought slightly defeating that it was being good as a 'muggle' parent. Though he didn't have any experiencing being a wizard one either. "Nope no siblings, just me." He added, he had asked him mom once why his dad and her didn't have any more children, but really his parents got divorced when he was only 3 so maybe things were already bad enough to not want more kids.

"yeah that founder this is crazy!! I got sucked into the portrait .. it's been a heck of a year." Blake added thinking that things needed to settle down ... but did things ever really settle down at Hogwarts? Probably not! "At least your first year was at Hogwarts though, I had to spend last year in France ... and I don't speak French." Blake chuckled okay the year in France wasn't that bad really.

Blake took a quick bite of his pastie and when the movement of the stroller stopped even for one second ... it began .... "WAAAHHHHHHHHHH" came the screech from the stroller....

In a way, Blake was lucky to not have any siblings. There were times when Isla felt like trading hers to the circus. But then she couldn't imagine her life without them either, and if anything ever happened to them, life would never be the same.

All thoughts of siblings left her mind, though, when Blake mentioned being sucked into a portrait. "What a second, you...did what?" she asked. "I'd heard about the others, but not about yours! Where did this happen? What did it feel like?" She had so many questions, but she thought it was best to throw out one or two to start off with.

She had heard him say something about his first year being in France, but by now, the portraits were all Isla could focus on. That is, until their own personal banshee decided to interrupt the conversation. "Oh, come on," she mumbled, "I thought she was fast asleep!" She instinctively started fumbling for the diaper bag, but maybe if Blake rocked the stroller again, she'd go back to sleep. "Want me to try moving the stroller?" She began rocking the stroller back and forth to give Blake a break.

A picnic with a baby couldn't be TOO hard to manage, could it? After all, she was FINALLY getting the hang of this mom thing and Keeper hardly cried at ALL anymore...except when he was hungry, or dirty, or sleepy. She'd gotten PRETTY good at anticipating how frequently these things were going to happen by now-her baby seemed to be one that just LOVED to stick to his schedule-so that helped minimize the crying a LOT. This meant MORE sleep for her, MORE energy to do things, and a MUCH more pleasant momming experience. Like today! TODAY the small blonde had packed herself a sandwich and some pumpkin juice, a nice blanket to sit on, and a few of the baby essentials JUST in case. Then she found a B-E-A-UTIFUL spot by the lake and set up camp.

"I knew some fresh air would do us good, Keeper." Moms were always saying that sort of thing, did he know? Probably because they were SUPER wise and stuff. After all the Momming SHE'D been doing lately, she felt wise enough to say such things, TOO. Cradling the doll in one arm, she pulled her sandwich out of her bag with the other and sort of wiggled it free from the napkin that had been wrapped around it. It was the perfect PB&J with EXTRA peanut butter and the grape jam she liked BEST. As she brought it to her lips for a bite, she couldn't help but smile because she KNEW it was going to be so g-

WAAAAAAH-WAAAAAAAAH!

But it wasn't time for HIM to eat yet!

Cecelia looked longingly at her sandwich for a second and then set it down, adjusting the baby in her arms. "Shhhh, it's okay. Shhhh." Well, he'd already taken a little snooze on the way to the lake, and he wasn't due for a bottle just yet, so THAT must mean he needed a nappy change. GREAT. Just what she wanted to do before eating. "Keeper, you're always keeping me on my toes." Seemed she really HAD picked a fitting name.

"Here you go." She set her doll down on its back, careful of his little head, and unfastened his onesie so she could remove the soiled nappy. She'd had enough practice with her little brother to handle it without being TOO disgusted, rolling it up and setting it aside. After using some wipes she'd packed, a new nappy was put on and Keeper was good as new! "There. Happy now?" She eyed the baby for a moment before snapping the onesie back into place and giving him a little tickle on his tiny fake baby belly. He WAS pretty cute for a doll.

"Okay, take two."

She used her wand to clean off her hands and dispose of the dirty nappy and then it was time to eat. She picked up the sandwich, bringing it to her mouth again when-

WAAAAAAH!

...

Maybe picnicking with a baby WASN'T going to be as easy as she thought.

"You didn't hear about that? Well it was only for a bit so I guess it wasn't too scary. Some portrait called Roberta traded places with me for a bit." Blake said moving to stand up. "I suppose though ... we should probably head inside .. it might rain." He added looking up that the darkening sky. "Plus the walk in side might quiet her again ...." He added.

Isla shook her head. "Maybe? I mean, there's been so much happening lately," she said. She had heard weird things always happened at Hogwarts, but she had always said she wouldn't believe it until she saw it. Well, let's just say she believed it now. "It's been a pretty unusual first year for me."

She started to ask Blake to tell her more about the whole portrait swap thing, but he suddenly stood up and announced that it might rain soon. "Yeah, let's go then," she said, standing up and gathering up some of the food they'd been eating. "I'll stroll her in." She steered the stroller around a clump of roots poking out the ground and then headed back toward the castle. The assignment would be ending soon, and she had a sinking feeling this might be one of their last outings together as a 'family'.

It was an especially nice day and Naya decided to bring Sierra for an outing. With the baby safe and secure in her Snugli and their picnic supplies in hand, Naya found a nice spot at the lake. She spread out her blanket and sat down. “Ok Sisi, we’re going to have your first picnic.” The fifth year mommy began to unload all of the items she had brought. There was food for her and a bottle for Sierra.

Naya took the baby out of her Snugli and held her in her lap. “Look at the pretty lake”, she said. “I love to come out here when the weather starts to get warmer.” The baby seemed content and gave a little coo. “You like it too? This is the best spot at Hogwarts on a pretty day.” Mama and baby sat quietly for a while just watching the lake and the people walking by.

“You must be hungry”, Naya said at last. “I know I’m starving. You can’t have a picnic without food.” Having mastered the task of eating and feeding at the same time, she got to work. Naya took out her sandwich and unwrapped it before giving Sierra her bottle. While the baby drank, she took intermittent bites of her sandwich.

“You know Sierra, I really am going to miss having you around.” It was almost time to turn the baby in and Naya had gotten used to having her around. Even though she was a lot of work and wasn’t a real baby, she would still be missed.

When they both had finished their lunch, Naya picked Sierra up and began to burp her. After having been a mother for several weeks now, she should have known better than to burp the baby without using a burp cloth. Of course, Sierra used this moment to spit up on Naya’s shoulder. Wiping the baby’s mouth, she said, “Well that was totally my fault”. She laid Sierra down on the blanket and proceeded to clean off her shoulder.

Naya was tempted to call it a day, but it was just to nice too go inside already. With a full belly, Sierra drifted off to sleep. Naya continued to enjoy the scenery until she began to feel sleepy herself. She decided that it was time to leave now, before Sierra needed a diaper change. The Gryffindor began to pack up their things and then put the sleeping baby back in her Snugli. When everything was gathered, she folded the blanket, kissed Sierra on the forehead and headed back to the castle.