It was great to see the kids when we were home. It’s a huge bonus to come home and they have missed you and are so excited to see you!
Because of jet lag, I was up really early. Because of all the pasta I ate, I needed to desperately go for run. Zach (who is an early bird) decided to join me. We took a new route today. One thing I love so much about Zach is his enthusiasm about everything. “Wow! I’ve never been over this bridge on foot before!”, “Cool – I’ve never seen this park before!”. He is a great little traveller for that reason and has caught my travel bug – so I fully expect he will always be “wowing” himself with adventure. We ran and chatted – about my trip,about his life while I was gone and in general. Great time to catch up!
Later in the morning, the kids all sported their new soccer shirts and headed to the park with Rob for a big soccer game. I stayed back to continue unpacking.
The kids then decided to work on Rob’s 40th Birthday present. They did a really nice job – with only one fight! They decided to make him a huge collage with pictures of him and all of us, then pictures and words of everything that he loves: skiing and cars were dominant (I tried to encourage them to add some other stuff but their attention span for getting it done was limited:).
We tried to go out on the boat – and by tried I mean we got out there, sucked something up, then had to go back to the dock:(
Then came dinner… we created an Italian feast. Zach and Zandra were my sous chefs – and wore the aprons I bought in Italy! We made bruschetta and Spaghetti Carbonara. Both things I have made previously but we used the Italian spices I bought at Campo Di Fiori in Rome – and boy did they make a difference! All the kids loved the Bruschetta (except Josh!) which is a real victory because they all hate tomatoes!!
After dinner the kids wanted to have a party in Gabe and Zach’s room. Now this is not unusual – they often throw dance parties at “Club Zach” and invite us up to dance and listen to the DJ of the night (they had a blast when Cousin/Auntie Jenn came with her boyfriend Bus in the spring…he is a real DJ and so he did the DJing while Auntie Jenn taught them some neck breaking moves that freaked me out!). Tonight, they said was “Parent Spa Night”. For real. Amazing kids.
We were brought upstairs and DJ Josh asked for song requests. We started with “Lulla-Lullabye” (Latvian lullabye song that I always played then sung for the boys so it is a staple in our home) and then had some Genesis, Coldplay and then random songs! We sat in chairs and soaked our feet in some hot (read LAVA) water (I love it – Robbie is learning). Zach added bubbles, while Zandra did some foot rubs, along with Sam. Well, Sam sort of foot/leg bathed Rob’s legs up to the knee! Josh, Sam and Gabe were ticklers and massagers – although Zach and Zandra joined in as well rotating turns. Zach and Zandra then filed my nails. After a few attempts, we decided to go with clear, with little stickers! It was Zach’s first time, but Zandra is a pro! Josh decided he also wanted his nails painted blue…not sure why – but they look a little crazy. I also noted off to the side that Gabe was attempting for file Rob’s toes…didn’t last long though. Sam was busy massaging Rob and playing around with the water!
We were then instructed to lie on the beds and received massages and more tickles. Quite heavenly actually – but I could feel the jet lag creeping in! What a amazing, cute bunch of kids. I love them so much:)
After the spa, we all went and watched a movie – of course I crashed – and so did Josh. I told the kids they had to put themselves to bed. Zandra later asked if I was joking (she was worried!). But I dragged myself round to their rooms for our nighttime ritual before zonking out…until 3 am again – which is when I am writing this blog.
Hopefully my sleep will get back to normal!
