Well, we left you last on Saturday and here it is Tuesday afternoon! How time flies when one is having fun! The weather greatly improved on Sunday and we spent almost the entire day at the beach and all got the necessary sunburns (though not too bad, considering we were out there from 10am to 4pm!). The water temperature was great and the waves just right. Everyone was very happy.

We picknicked at the beach for lunch and in the evening had a very mediocre dinner at a Mexican restaurant. After that, Christine took the older kids to the mirror maze and Kai got another dragon tattoo on his arm. The girls chose hair wraps, which can stay in for 3 to 6 months!! Right there were some really nice street performers, singing 20's and 30's songs, very fun!

When we got back to the room, we read that there would be fireworks over the ocean at 10pm and we had a great view of them, right from our balcony! It's fun that the city of Virginia Beach puts all that entertainment on. Every month they have a different theme.

Yesterday was another fine, sunny day, but we were so burned from Sunday, that we decided to spend a little less time out on the beach. So, after breakfast, we went to the Virginia Marine Science Museum. There, we petted sting rays, saw penguins being fed and heard a talk about shark and their teeth, they have a huge aquarium with sharks and other big fish. We touched a seastar and a sea urchin and watched the seals play. Lots of fun!

Then we went off the strip to finally find a decent restaurant for lunch and we did find one, the Cobalt Grille!! The moods had turned down again, as everyone was hungry, but the service was great and the food wonderful and those of us who came in grumbling literally left giggling. I have to admit to having had to dig deep into my patience reserves this trip. Especially Saskia can be, um, challenging.

But, happy after a good lunch, we got ready for the beach again and jumped and boogie boarded (Katja and Kai had about an hour's worth of giggling one night, as they were calling them "booger boards") and built sand castles until about 5 pm.

After our showers, we returned to Giovanni's, the restaurant we visited the first night and had another relatively nice dinner there. The kids weren't too hungry and we brought their left over mozzarella sticks and bread to feed to the seagulls on the beach. Those birds are cool! They'll hover and catch bites and some will even fly over and take a piece from our hands.

The tattoo man was there again and this time all of us got a tattoo, I have a pretty little fairy. These "tattoos" are done with henna and supposedly last several weeks, we'll see.

Christine and I stayed up talking till well after midnight, so we got up a little later this morning.

We decided to first go and feed the seagulls our leftovers from last night and then go shopping. BAD decision! That's when the hermit crab adventure started and it ended with 4 hermit crabs in 4 little cages as our travel companions. My kids had been asking about getting one even before we came here, but I tried and tried to bring up excuses: we have 5 pets already, Daddy will get mad at me (he never wants any extra animals) etc. Then, this morning, Kai said he would pay for one with his own money. But I felt badly about that, as he is the one who hasn't been whining for stuff here. So we struck a compromise before going out this morning (or so I thought): we would get 3 hermit crabs, but only one cage. Once at the store though, the question arose: where will it stand so all 3 of us can enjoy them. Visions of stinky hermit crabs in my family room or worse yet, living room, made me decide to get 3 cages anyway (hermit crabs were free with each cage).

Then, of course, Mallory wanted one too, so poor Christine gave in as well. I felt badly about that, as I know she *really* didn't want one. But it is awfully cute how the kids are playing and giggling with their crabs. A lady warned us not to leave them in the hot car, so I guess they'll come and visit Yorktown with us tomorrow.

Next we wiggled the car loose from the very narrow parking lot, where an Aerostar van was parked in a non-spot and therefore I had to maneuver and bent and turn to get out. But I'm proud to say, we departed without a scratch on any vehicle. And that was a true feat!!

After a KFC lunch (coveted by the kids since yesterday afternoon), we went to the beach for about 1 1/2 hours, when the wind sent sand like needles against our skin and the sky became ominously dark. After some deliberation in the room, we decided to get an ice cream at Dairy Queen and then rent one of the family bikes again. This time the six person one was available.

We went the whole length of the boardwalk with it, about 3 miles each way, or so. Very cool! And we scoped out a restaurant for tonight's dinner. Then it's packing for tomorrow. This beach adventure has gone way too quickly! But it sure helped pass the time that Rick's away on his trip. We'll only have about 24 hours before we see him again after we get home. Virginia Beach is close to my favorite beach town on the East Coast. As a matter of fact, at this point, I can't think of a town I like better: the beach is wide and clean, the surf is gentle enough for the kids, the boardwalk is nice and wide and the shopping strip is fun. That and the free nightly entertainment everywhere, makes this a great place to spend a beach week!

Christine and I took off for Virginia Beach with the kids yesterday, after working out and having lunch. We quickly ran into traffic on the interstate, so we decided to take a very direct scenic route, taking slightly longer, but much calmer and very pretty. We stopped in Tappahannock, Virginia, a very cute and quaint town and drove by the Whitley Peanut Factory, where we'll be stopping on the return, as the Virginia peanuts sold there are out of this world.

And then we had to take a detour through old town Portsmouth, because the traffic before the tunnel from Norfolk to Virginia Beach was so bad, that there was a 30 plus minute delay there. It turned out to be ok, and the drive that would normally take about 4 hours, took us 5.

It was so exciting to drive into Virginia Beach! We knew that our hotel would be just about where the road ended into the ocean ;). Our hotel is nice, no extra amenities, really, but the suite is roomy, we all have our own bed (with an inflatable mattress and rollaway thrown in the mix), so it's working well. Plus we're right in the middle of the busiest area of the boardwalk, so we just have to cross the street for excitement, restaurants, shops and haunted houses, much coveted by the older kids (Saskia shields her eyes passing them).

We ate dinner at an Italian restaurant, Giovanni's, really great spinach ravioli there! And then the wine ;)!

This morning, we didn't have anything for breakfast, so walked to the nearest beach side cafe, where we all had a quick breakfast. We had brought our beach stuff, Christine rented some chairs and an umbrella. We had a grand time in the water and in the sand! Kai and Katja were digging for sandcrabs and Kai found one, who's now living in a bottle here in the room. But then a storm blew in and at the first thunder we got off the beach and into the (very tiny and hot) pool. But that didn't bother the kids, they still had a good time there as well (the good time didn't last long, as tempers flared soon after.).

Once back at the room, we took showers and cleaned up and Christine and I left the others with Katja, so we could go grocery shopping. The good news: the shopping was done in at least half the time it would have taken with all 6 of us along, the bad news: one child was crying and everyone crabby when we got back.

So, we decided to go out and walk along the boardwalk, first we tried to rent a family bike, one that seats 4 and has space for 2 non-peddlers (which we thought Mallory and Saskia to be). But the kids decided to keep being grumpy, which led Christine and me to a meltdown of our, which then had us pacing along the boardwalk, until we reached an ice shaving stand and all kids got their colors of ice shaving and everyone was happy once again (until the next breakdown, ah, but we're keeping our heads up!).

Now that all moods were turned south, we decided to get one of those bikes anyway, so rented a 4 person one with Saskia and Mallory in the middle, pretend peddling. Perfect! And, I tell you what, that is *serious* exercise!!! So, after a mile or so, we turned around and parked the vehicle and ate some fries, great fries, with cheese and bacon, and Christine and I had some Chardonnay, so we were ready for the return trip.

Once back, the gift shop was literally attacked, t-shirts, frisbees, key chains etc. made it to the counter and happy kids (wow, they can be!) went up to the room.

Now.we're getting ready for our second dinner. More of our adventures with 4 kids and 2 ladies tomorrow (or later of course, this all depends on my mood ;)).

I haven't been keeping up with the things that made me happy category, but I haven't forgotten and I certainly have had plenty of happy things happening. Today's were:
1. Watching a cardinal pick seeds out of the sunflowers in our backyard. When I got my camera, he flew away, unfortunately! The yellow and red was a gorgeous combination!
2. Equally gorgeous was an Eastern Tiger Swallow Tail (Yellow) butterfly feasting on our lavender bush in the backyard.
3. Watching Snickers chase a fly and seriously jumping at least a foot in the air for that! And Snickers and Meike perfectly happily snuggled together on the chair.
4. The anticipation of 5 days at the beach enjoying the kids and my best friend and daughter (too bad the guys won't be there!).
5. Living in a climate where a beach vacation is practically guaranteed to be warm and enjoyable!

I guess this is turning out to be not a daily journal, but a bi-daily journal, I always seem to skip a day. Yesterday was kind of a non-eventful day (yay!). I worked out and then spent the entire afternoon on the phone, first with my sister, then with my uncle who called from the Netherlands (we talked for 2 hours and had a great conversation. He's my mom's brother and wasn't really aware of her recent problems yet) and finally with my brother in the Netherlands. It felt good to talk to all of them. Made me feel connected to family and realize just how important extended family is as well.

Then Lauren came to take the kids to the pool for pizza and Rick and I went out to eat Afghan. We had a great meal! First some dumplings with yogurt and hot sauce and then a dish with raisins, carrots, lamb and tomato sauce over rice. And of course Bakhlava for dessert.

Then we ran some errands to buy stuff for our respective trips (Rick is leaving for business to New Orleans and I am going to Virginia Beach with Christine and all the kids).

Today I had a workout with Christine and then spent the afternoon packing. I can't wait to go, if all goes right, this trip will be very relaxing. Who knows I may just get to read a book!

Yesterday we could hardly wake up, we were so tired! I did make it to the gym and actually had a good workout, cardio, then lower body weight, then upper body weight and repeat that 6 times, for a total of an hour.

After a quick stop at the grocery store, as we had run out of milk and lunch items, I finally after weeks of not having, got a very much needed massage. It hasn't taken all the pain away, but it certainly made a difference.

Then Christine came for some support, as her dad is in the hospital and had emergency surgery yesterday and did thankfully survive.

Today, after the gym, Katja, Kai and I went to the mall, where we met Christine and the 3 ladies got their nails done, while Kai patiently waited. Then we had lunch and went bathing suit shopping for Katja and Christine. Again, Kai waited patiently. Katja tried on 15 or so suits and chose a few, as they were all half price and her old bathing suits are threadbare, after her visit at her grandpa's. Katja definitely takes "shop till you drop" seriously these days! She also dragged us into Express, because one of her shorts had ripped and everything there was 75% off. We were at the mall from 12 to 5!!

Then Kai got his just reward for being so patient, a few packs of Yu-gi-yoh cards, something he's totally into.

When we got home, Peapod was waiting with the groceries, I love that service!!!

I put pictures of our Chicago/Michigan trip online (album names: Sunsets, Sunsets 2, Chicago, Chicago 2, Chicago 3 and RPKKS6)

I'm hoping to get some time to

After checking out of the Intercontinental and a nice breakfast, we got on the road to Michigan. This time we saw the nice Chicago skyline well. The weather was and is beautiful!

We did have a mishap with our alarm system at home, which sent everyone there scrambling to figure out what had happened. Thankfully, it looked like a malfunction and not a case where someone actually tried to break in.

Our trip from Chicago to Muskegon was uneventful and took us through Holland, Michigan, where we came right by the Dutch Village, which is ever expanding and has an authentic windmill.

What is always immediately obvious to me are the Dutch names everywhere. Van Woerkom, Kuipers, Zijlstra (there are especially quite a few Frysian names). And the placenames too: Zeeland, Graafschap, just to name a few. The landscape also really corresponds with the Dutch landscape: flat with lots of water.

Once in Muskegon we were thrilled to see Katja and Kai again, as well as Rick’s dad and my nephew Zack. Katja especially had really missed us, Kai probably too, but he was getting along quite well with Zack, so it wasn’t as obvious.

We spent our days lounging at the beach of Lake Michigan. How great to have that practically in your backyard! I’ve taken some great pictures of sunsets! I can’t wait to place them in a Webshots album.

Last night we said our goodbyes to Rick´s dad and Zack and all spent the night at the Holiday Inn in Muskegon. I had serious neck pain and a corresponding headache, suddenly, so we first went on a wild goose chase for some mineral ice to calm my muscle spasming.

Katja sweetly massaged it in and I slept ok. But I did wake up with the same pain and it´s quite torturous to have to sit in the car for 12 hours now. Oh well, I´ll have a massage tomorrow, very highly needed!!

So now we´re driving through the flat land of Central Michigan, on our way to Detroit, where we´ll turn south into Ohio. We´re planning on taking a different route back than we came, just to break the monotony and have as little turnpike as possible.

The speed limit in Michigan is 70 mph, which is great for making fast time. The farms here are mostly dairy, judging by the shiny blue silos.

3:00pm

Yikes, it’s 3 and we’re still in Ohio! I was so engrossed in my Sims Hot Date game, that I forget to tell him to take his turn to Columbus. This made us go too far west and south.
And we had to take a smaller road to Columbus. Heaven knows how much time we lost there .

On a positive note, we went through a pretty part of Ohio with quite a few lakes, I didn’t even know there were that many lakes in this state! Katja kept saying “photo opportunity” to me, but we wanted to keep going.

Now we’re about an hour out of Wheeling, West Virginia. The good thing about WV is that the speed limit is once again 70, so hopefully we’ll be able to make up some time.

Oh, how I dread these long, long drives!

We just had lunch at Burger King (at 3:30pm!) and I had a very soggy veggie burger. I did notice though, that their coffee is Douwe Egberts, a big Dutch coffee supplier. Cool!

At 6:40pm, we just crossed the Eastern Continental Divide, near Cumberland, Maryland. The weather has also much deteriorated, going from 85 degrees to 69 and it’s raining. Surely a sight we haven’t seen in almost a week.

We’re debating on whether to brave the doubtless tough traffic in Washington or bypassing by taking a slightly longer route through West-Virginia and Virginia. The longer route won out, so at Hagerstown, we’ll take I-81 and then I-66.

I don’t see us home before 9pm . Oh well, it’s the last really long drive for a while (the trip to Virginia Beach next week will feel like nothing!

Well, we got home at 8:45pm and I’m beat. Off to eat some pizza

After a workout and breakfast this morning, we decided to walk along the Magnificent Mile. We literally shopped till we dropped. Didn't buy much, but window shopping is just as much fun!

We ate lunch at a nice bistro and then went to the Observatory at the Hancock Building. Gorgeous views from there! I like it better than from the Sears Tower. We'll be back there tonight for dinner, hopefully I'll be able to take some great pictures of Chicago by dark.

Now we're just resting, as our dinner reservations are fairly late and Saskia needs a little rest (though maybe Rick does, as he is napping ;)).

As I'm sitting here in the hotel room, listening to fireworks in the distance, but missing them, as a supertired 6 year old is asleep right behind me, I thought I'd update some more.

This is an *exciting* city! Much to both Rick and my surprise to be honest. When we arrived last night, all buildings were shrouded in clouds and we had no idea just how many skyscrapers this city holds. Thankfully, the fog soon lifted and today was quite sunny for most of the time (it clouded over and sprinkled some later in the afternoon).

We arrived around 7pm last night (we didn't realize it is 1 hour earlier here until this morning, when we got the times for the trolley tours). First we checked in to the hotel, which was an adventure in itself. We are staying at the Intercontinental, they're having a promotion of half off room prices including breakfast for 2. Now, this is a 4 star hotel (and our room rate is the same as the one we'll have to pay in Muskegon at the Holiday Inn this weekend!!!!), so you'd expect everything to go tip-top. So we get our room key, go to the room and, errr, the bed has been used, the trash bins are full, it's clearly not a clean room.

After a call to the front desk, it's quickly corrected and we're getting a new room, so, down for the new keys we go. Long line at the front desk, tired and hungry little girl, hm, trying not to be annoyed. But this can happen anywhere, right? Ok, so up to new room. Open door. Hey, there is a toilet bag in the bathroom. And a plate of half eaten fruit on the desk. Clearly lived in.

The bellcaptain arrives with the bags and we tell him of our new find. He's already aware of the first mishap and mutters this is not right. Down we go again. Well, three's a charm and now we have a nice room. But not much of an apology and frankly, despite the low room rate, for a hotel this class, I would expect something more. I know, I know, having been a travel agent does not help, I know what a manager (who was present) can do to make it up to a client.

Anyway, we have a king size bed and Saskia sleeps royally on the red velvet cushions of the built in couch. And there is a robe (the sign of a luxury hotel for me) and a wonderful fitness center. So we're most definitely not complaining.

After a nice workout this morning, we went down to the very nice buffet at the restaurant. Saskia had cereal and Rick and I an omelet.

Then we placated Saskia by taking her to the huge Disney store on Michigan Avenue. We walked some of the "Magnificent Mile", saw the Water Tower and the Hancock building and bought a tour ticket on the Chicago Trolley. We took the trolley to the Sears Tower.

An imposing building, the accounts differ on whether it is or is not the tallest building in the world. I guess it depends on how you measure. It is definitely the tallest "structure" in the world. We decided to go up to the skydeck, which took about an hour to get to, including a movie about Chicago from the air. I was a bit nervous about going, as Rick kept talking about the height and how it stuck out above and wasn't I nervous? I finally told him he sure was getting there making me nervous with his talk!

The view from the Skydeck was magnificent. We were very lucky as we still had clear skies, it clouded over soon after. Once down again, we ate pizza at Giordano's, according to many the most authentic deep dish Chicago style pizzeria. Delicious!

Then we had to wait a bit for the Chicago Trolley double decker bus and laid in the grass next to the Sears Tower. Got some interesting pictures lying down! Those buildings are so high!!

We took the double decker to the Navy Pier, where we walked around and went through the maze (Saskia was scared the whole time and there was no way out, once in. She was the one wanting to do it, but changed her mind too late :() and took a ride on the Carousel.

Then back to the hotel for an hour of relaxing and finally we had a wonderful dinner at Russian Tea Time. Especially Rick, as he remembers his days in Russia with fondness and found many foods he liked there. And now I'm off to bed, I'm beat!

At the very early time of 6:15am, my alarm went off. I always have it set on a radio station and I have no idea which one it was, but the first word I heard was: “Hallelujah”.
One can’t start the day better, though I did immediately hit the snooze button.

At 6:30, we had to get up and packed up the rest of the car. It still took longer than expected and Rick forgot something so we had to go back, but finally at 7:30, we left our street behind.

Traffic wasn’t too bad and in Frederick, Maryland, we stopped for a quick breakfast at Burger King. I was happy to see they have a similar muffin with egg, Canadian bacon and cheese like McDonald’s, as everything else on their menu is terribly artery clogging!

I’ll be updating this blog every so often during the trip, it will be a long entry. As I’m writing this, it’s 9:14 and we driving on I-70, just north of Frederick, on our way to the most heinous crossroads I’ve seen in the United States: Breezewood, Pennsylvania.

I’m going to take pictures there, it’s such a sea of signs, neon and ugliness, that it’s special. Every conceivable drive-thru, cheap hotel chain and gas station is represented in just about a one mile stretch of road.

There, we’ll take the Pennsylvania Turnpike, a terribly boring road!

Here in Northern Maryland, the landscape is beautiful, lush green hills and farm fields in between. It always amazes how persistent the ivy and vines are, that grow around the trees and make the woods look like jungles. Looking at it, I can’t imagine how people traveled through it before there were roads! People who live out here (an occasional house stands in the hills) live super far removed from anything.

After passing through Breezewood, we entered the Pennsylvania Turnpike and, as is so often the case in Pennsylvania, it started pouring down rain. A serious deluge!

We ate a (not) delicious lunch at McDonald’s around 12:30 and then Rick had to go on a conference call, so I drove for 2 hours through the pouring rain.

Meanwhile, we entered Ohio and as I’m writing this (4:15pm), we are about 30 miles from the Indiana border. The rain has been off and on, but when on, it’s been really hard.

There are few things more boring than the turnpikes. There are plazas along them, every 30 or 40 miles or so, with boring restaurants like Pizza Hut and Burger King and McDonald’s.

Ohio’s landscape here is flat. Large cornfields and other crops and very nice looking dairy farms, with big shiny blue silo’s. I always love the red “Grandma Duck” barns, that dot the landscape. It’s such an American sight.
If not driving, I’ve been killing time playing the Sims Hot Date. I finally got the chance, after the kids have been “borrowing” it from me for months. Saskia is being a little angel. She gets to choose all the videos to watch, no brother or sister nixing her choices!

My guess is, we’re about 3.5 hours out of Chicago, meaning we’ll arrive there around 7:30, just in time for dinner!

At 6:30, we’re driving through northern Indiana, through a downright ugly area! It doesn’t help, that the weather is overcast and the factories smell. There are more electricity, phone and other kinds of towers than I can count here.

Just 25 miles to Chicago!

Yesterday, Saskia and I went swimming. I swam 60 laps (1500 meters), pretty much nonstop, so not bad. The weather was strange, as the flow was northerly, which pushed the smoke of fires in Quebec this way. Amazing! It was hazy from something happens 1000+ miles up north!

After swimming, we rushed home to get ready to go to the movies with Christine, Mallory and Chuck. Chuck and Rick went to Men in Black II and Christine, the girls and I saw Lilo and Stitch for the second time. It was even more fun the second time around. I truly love that movie! The premise, the colors, the songs (with the exception of some of the Elvis songs, as I'm no Elvis fan at all!).

Lauren came to babysit the girls and Chuck, Christine, Rick and I went out to dinner at the same restaurant we went to for the 4th of July. We were received like old friends. I've seldom frequented a restaurant that's more hospitable! We ordered liquors after dinner and got a complimentary plate with different desserts to accompany it. We had a wonderful dinner!!!

Then today, Saskia and I had a downright lazy day. She could barely wake up this morning and didn't want to go to camp, so I took her to the gym with me. Afterwards, we went home and lazed on the couch, watching tv and reading email (for me). It was something we both needed after the constant going of the past weeks.

Around 4, we went out to Blockbuster's to get the necessary videos for the road trip to Chicago we're going on tomorrow. And some crafts for her to do in the car.

I am mostly packed and she's doing Blopens in the basement with her little friend Parker. I do not want to go and see what damage they're inflicting ;). But they're having fun.

Happy moments:
1. It sounds strange, but the colors and music of Lilo and Stitch made me feel happy, especially since we were watching it with such great friends.
2. Just spending a quiet afternoon with Saskia, it was really enjoyable
3. Feeling much better after my workout, than before, exercise still helps a lot
4. Eating dinner together with friends and having such a great time, last night
5. The beautiful sunflowers in the backyard

Oh, I keep forgetting my happy moments and admittedly, when talking to my mom tonight, who was so terribly down, it's hard to focus on happiness, but of course there is plenty:

1. Picking Saskia up from the gym childcare and seeing her excitement at conquering her initial apprehension
2. The very many kisses I received from her while carrying her through the mall this afternoon.
3. The support I'm receiving in regards to my mom from my friends and my siblings
4. The exciting life I lead, I mean, there isn't a day where nothing happens!
5. Having so many friends just outside our door. We really live in a wonderful neighborhood!

Last night I noticed the rear tire on the van had a screw in it and it was awfully low. So off to Merchant's Tire first thing this morning to get it fixed. The guy there had a whole jar of screws, nails, shards of glass and other stuff that had punctured tires. Pretty impressive!

After that, Saskia and I went off to the gym, where she really enjoys herself with Backyard Baseball. She has definitely entered the 6 year old stage though, begging to go to the gym with me and begging to take her home the moment we get there. And without failing she won't want to leave when I'm done. I feel like I have a 2 year old all over again!

We had a talk on the way back though, that saying "I hate you" to either Rick or me was really not something to continue. We brainstormed and came up with "I'm really mad at you" as an alternative. Also, she herself chose a book yesterday at Borders called "Sometimes I'm Bombaloo", about a girl, who mostly is a sweet little girl, but sometimes loses it and hates everything and everyone and stamps her feet and throws things etc. Very much what we're going through right now. We were able to fend off another tantrum tonight by asking her is she was going "Bombaloo". Hurray for children's book writers!!!

This afternoon we all went bathing suit shopping. Mine were all falling apart and Rick's is faded from blue to some totally unknown color. I was amazed, as I was feeling bloated and all, that I walked away with 3 tankini's (the one shown is the one I bought with a cute matching skirt, all under $50!)! All less than half price as in this crazy country one can not find a bathing suit after the weekend of the 4th of July!
Rick found 2 suits and Saskia too. So all were happy. And all in a relatively short time span.

Then quickly home, as we were going to go out to dinner with my mom and Saskia still wanted to go to the pool. We quickly changed in our bathing suits and went swimming, Rick came later. He told me my mom had called and unfortunately, she didn't feel up to going out to dinner with us.

So the 3 of us went to the Japanese restaurant anyway and had a very nice dinner together. Saskia forgot her coloring stuff, so we first went to Staples to get her some paper and markers, guaranteeing us a quiet dinner.

After dinner, the neighbors put on a post July 4th fireworks show and I just got in from socializing with a bunch of them. Our neighborhood is a lot of fun, as all of us are within about 5 years of age from each other and we alle have kids similar ages. We were discussing how no one would be allowed to sell their house in the foreseeable future, for fear a less fun person would enter ;).

Last night I noticed the rear tire on the van had a screw in it and it was awfully low. So off to Merchant's Tire first thing this morning to get it fixed. The guy there had a whole jar of screws, nails, shards of glass and other stuff that had punctured tires. Pretty impressive!

After that, Saskia and I went off to the gym, where she really enjoys herself with Backyard Baseball. She has definitely entered the 6 year old stage though, begging to go to the gym with me and begging to take her home the moment we get there. And without failing she won't want to leave when I'm done. I feel like I have a 2 year old all over again!

We had a talk on the way back though, that saying "I hate you" to either Rick or me was really not something to continue. We brainstormed and came up with "I'm really mad at you" as an alternative. Also, she herself chose a book yesterday at Borders called "Sometimes I'm Bombaloo", about a girl, who mostly is a sweet little girl, but sometimes loses it and hates everything and everyone and stamps her feet and throws things etc. Very much what we're going through right now. We were able to fend off another tantrum tonight by asking her is she was going "Bombaloo". Hurray for children's book writers!!!

This afternoon we all went bathing suit shopping. Mine were all falling apart and Rick's is faded from blue to some totally unknown color. I was amazed, as I was feeling bloated and all, that I walked away with 3 tankini's (the one shown is the one I bought with a cute matching skirt, all under $50!)! All less than half price as in this crazy country one can not find a bathing suit after the weekend of the 4th of July!
Rick found 2 suits and Saskia too. So all were happy. And all in a relatively short time span.

Then quickly home, as we were going to go out to dinner with my mom and Saskia still wanted to go to the pool. We quickly changed in our bathing suits and went swimming, Rick came later. He told me my mom had called and unfortunately, she didn't feel up to going out to dinner with us.

So the 3 of us went to the Japanese restaurant anyway and had a very nice dinner together. Saskia forgot her coloring stuff, so we first went to Staples to get her some paper and markers, guaranteeing us a quiet dinner.

After dinner, the neighbors put on a post July 4th fireworks show and I just got in from socializing with a bunch of them. Our neighborhood is a lot of fun, as all of us are within about 5 years of age from each other and we alle have kids similar ages. We were discussing how no one would be allowed to sell their house in the foreseeable future, for fear a less fun person would enter ;).

Well, yesterday afternoon, we did end up going to a waterpark, it was crowded, hot, the water was hot etc. But we did enjoy ourselves, trying the different things out. Especially the river was a lot of fun. There is something about floating around on an inner tube.

Around 4, we made our way back home and swam some more at our own pool, so I could swim laps (30 total) and feel I had some exercise at least. Saskia had a fit when we left the waterpark, but all was better when she was back in our own pool.

At 7:30 we went to eat dinner at a French/Italian restaurant and watched the fireworks from their back porch. They were so hospitable! Saskia was allowed to do anything she liked, they wined and dined us and the food was delicious. Definitely a place we'll return to.

The fireworks were beautiful. As soon as I get around to it, I'll put the pictures on my Webshots page.

This morning we were awakened at 5:50am by a call from Katja. At first I was quite scared, but thankfully, nothing serious. She had been awake since 2 with an itchy, burning rash and she didn't know what to do. I told her to wait till her grandpa woke up and then we called and advised to use Benadryl. They called later to say she felt much better. No idea what that could have been.

After a workout, I went and ran some errands with Christine and had lunch with her. Then Rick picked up his new car and we went for a ride in it tonight. Super-exciting!

I'm beat after the early morning wake up call, so I'm off to bed early tonight.

July 4th! Happy birthday, America!

We only have Saskia today. For a brief moment we considered going to Baltimore, but there is an excessive heat warning for both DC and Baltimore and it is unpleasantly hot outside, so we decided to stay in the area.

Yesterday, I got my nails painted in patriotic colors, together with Christine and Mallory. It was much fun! I have a flag on my big toe and red, white and blue flowers on my hand nails. I doubt it will last long, but it looks good today at least.

This morning, we went to the 4th of July parade in Fairfax. I brought an umbrella for some shade, as at 10am it was already 95 degrees! It was a nice parade, though we probably didn't even see half of it, it was simply too hot! One girl fainted from the heat, so the paramedics had to make their way through the crowds.

Then we had brunch and came home to be in some airconditioning. We're thinking of going to a water park this afternoon, though for me it needs to be one with lots of shade!!

The first day of July! I can't believe it! Time is definitely flying this year. I have to admit it, I'm starting to get spooked by the media reports of a possible terrorist attack on the 4th. I know, nothing I can do about it, but still...

We said goodbye to Marie Anne and Thomas this afternoon, though she just called to say they hadn't left yet, as their flight to New York got canceled. She was worried about going straight to London from here, so she was going to go from Washington to New York to Frankfurt to London. Fate had it, though, that she is now rerouted on a nonstop to London. I told her the chances of something going wrong are so much greater on 3 flights, than on one. She seemed ok with it anyway.

We had such a good time with them, I'm always really sad to say goodbye. Marie Anne came back Sunday afternoon around 1pm and we went shopping for the kids in the afternoon. Then we had dinner at the Melting Pot . It was a nice dinner, but both Saskia and Thomas were exhausted and Saskia got such a headache she cried all the way home :(. Then last night, she wanted to go back, as she hadn't enjoyed her dinner there the night before :). The kids love fonduing.

After we got home, the kids went straight to bed and Marie Anne and I went outside to join the neighborhood party belatedly. It was much fun, with fireworks by one of them. Too bad the kids didn't get to see them, as fireworks are prohibited in Singapore.

We stayed up chatting till well past midnight and decided to have no hurry for the next morning. Well, the kids had had such good sleeps, that they were up at 7! Oh well, so much for sleeping in!

After Marie Anne finished her conference call (I have to admire her, she's *always* working), we went off to the gym, putting Saskia and Thomas in the childcare. They both loved it!! They wouldn't come with us when we went to pick them up.

After a quick grocery store run and shower, our babysitter came and Marie Anne and I went shopping for the afternoon. It was fun! And I got a gorgeous Swatch watch from her! Too much of a gift, but much appreciated. I also used my Express coupons and got a bunch more shirts and some jewelry from them.

For dinner, we decided on Japanese, one of Saskia's favorite restaurants (more because of the candies at the entrance than the food ;)). Then, for dessert, we went to the mall to get some Dippin' Dots, as Marie Anne had read about them in my blog and Saskia loves them too. Thomas decided to get a regular ice cream, however.

We put the kids to bed in Kai's room, I read them a chapter of Mrs. Piggle Wiggle and they slept in seconds. Marie Anne and I chatted a bit more and I showed her how to play the Sims. But we were both very tired, so went off to bed soon as well.

This morning at 8, Saskia came to wake me and Thomas was still asleep (Saskia didn't let him for long ;)). After we all ate breakfast, we were off to the gym again, as Marie Anne had another day on her guest pass. The kids certainly loved it (as did we!) and again they wouldn't come with us in the end.

But the promise of Zany Brainy got them moving. Marie Anne especially liked their arts and crafts section, she told me they don't have anything like that in Singapore. Then Saskia and Thomas had lunch at Subway, Saskia boggled them there, because she just wanted a plain roll, none of their cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, etc. etc. etc. ;)

Marie Anne and I wanted a more sophisticated lunch and went to Manhattan Bagel.

Then it was rushing to get ready to go to the airport! I wanted to make sure they'd be there on time, but now I wish I hadn't been in such a hurry. They ended up having to stay at Dulles for hours!

After dropping them off, Saskia and I went to Dairy Queen and she had a strawberry sundae there. Then I decided her bangs were too long and took her to the nearby Hair Cuttery. Ok, sorry, small rant here. This is a salon, where people go to get a decent haircut. This woman cut Saskia's hair in 10 minutes and she did an *awful* job! It's uneven, not straight, just terrible!!! I wish I had the gall to say something about it. But then, she probably wouldn't have been capable of fixing it anyway :(.

When we got home, I quickly cleaned out the car and started a laundry and straightened up the house (yes, the mundane things still need doing) and then Saskia and I set off for the pool. She had a grand time! Her best friend was there and they played and played. I was bored, but that's ok, it's fun to be bored sometimes!

At 7:15, Rick got back from Michigan, we had dinner and here we are vegging in front of Frazier (no doubt a re-run, but not one I've seen).

Happiness is:

1. Watching 2 six year olds playing in the pool and just loving it
2. Feeling the heat of the car after coming from an airconditioned store
3. Summer! It is hot, but boy, is it nice to walk out and be warm
4. Living in the United States. Sure, there is much wrong with it, but overall, it's a great country to live in!
5. Seeing hubby walk back in the door after being away for 5 days!

While the kids are watching Airbud number however many, I thought I'd update my blog. Phew, I tell you, alone with 2 six year olds is no picnic, however fun! They're still so constant and they're like brother and sister, playing wonderfully one minute, arguing the next.

So I've kept them really busy. Yesterday, after Rick and the kids left, Lauren came to babysit and I went off to the gym. My friend had called the night before to ask if I could be of moral support to her at the courthouse around noon, when she would have her child support and custody hearing, her soon to be ex-husband has turned into a veritable monster!

So I rushed through my workout, but then she called to say that the hearing likely wouldn't start till one and at 12:30, she called to say, it wouldn't be worth it for me to come, because the hearing would likely be over by the time I got there. Today I heard from her that, thankfully, the judge awarded her more money, than the state of Virginia schedule dictates. But her husband had been so spiteful and hateful, that she was quite distraught from the whole affair. I was sorry I couldn't be of more support than to lend a sympathetic ear.

Since my afternoon had opened up and the kids didn't want to go to Saskia's camp, I decided to allow them to do arts and crafts in the basement (they've been quite creative so far and are coloring again now) and meanwhile vacuum and clean the kitchen and bathrooms.

At around 4:30pm I took them to the mall, to the Disney Store, where they both selected a toy. And then we went to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. I had the Leaping Lizzard appetizer: lettuce leaves for wraps and chicken, salad and noodles to put in them. It's really quite delicious and plenty for a dinner.

For dessert, the kids got an ice cream from Dairy Queen. At Blockbuster's they selected the Airbud movie they're watching now and a Scooby Doo one.

During the Scooby Doo, Thomas kept falling asleep, but refused to go to bed. Saskia was quite tired too, but equally fighting sleep. Finally, at 10:30, I had both in bed and asleep.

This morning they were up bright and early at 7am, but thankfully quietly watched tv until 8. Then they had breakfast and we watched some replay soccer of the Turkey-Korea match. Then they played cops and robbers and Sims on the computer, while I exercised (and watched National Lampoon's European Vacation).

Around noon, we had lunch and got ready for the pool. We went swimming until 3:45. This was the first time this season the pool was warm enough for me to swim! It felt great!

After my shower, we went to the Hey Arnold movie. The kids loved it. I have to say, this was the type of movie, that parents go to purely for their kids' enjoyment. I looked at my watch numerous times.

Last but not least, we ate dinner at Chevy's, where the kids got tortilla dough to play with. All in all a successful day. I'll be glad to get some adult company tomorrow though!!

I'll have to write my happy moments tomorrow, I'm too tired now, though there were plenty. Spending the day with kids never fails to supply a good amount :).

I could barely get myself out of bed this morning! I'm so tired from everything going on lately! And tomorrow won't be any better, as Rick has decided to leave at 7am for Michigan. Of course, I'll want to get up to wave them goodbye -- yawn!! But I can understand his desire to get going early, so that they get there at a decent time.

Today, Marie Anne left at 9:45 to go to Wheeling, WV for her meeting and Lauren, our babysitter arrived around that time to entertain the kids. The kids had a blast with her, first they did crafts and then they went to the pool for an hour.

Meanwhile, Katja slept and I went to the gym. I worked out with my mom for a change and we had a nice conversation. She told me she didn't want to do anything for July 4th, so our plans are still way up in the air for that day. It seems so far off anyway.

After the gym, I quickly got some groceries and my medicine from CVS and then rushed home. Quickly ate lunch and when the kids came home from the pool, all of us (except Lauren, who had to leave) went to Borders, as Katja had lamented that she had no books for her stay at her grandfather's house.

Memo to self: never take 4 kids interested in reading to Borders! I spent $150!!! But somehow, I can't feel badly about spending money on books and about seeing kids enthused about reading.

After Borders, we went to Michael's, because some of our craft supplies were running low (I have a big craft supplies closet in the basement, I like to keep it stocked with things like pompoms, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, beads, felt etc.). Again, not a smart thing to do with 4 kids in tow! Again, I can't feel badly about spending on materials for creative development, as I keep comparing 4 happy kids around the art table (as they still are now at 10:30 at night!!!) to 4 kids zonked out in front of the tv. Gee, tough choice to make, which would I rather have?

Anyway, we came away with a basket full of craft stuff and for the rest of the afternoon, they painted, cut, pasted and beaded.

Rick came home early and we went to have quick dinner at Chili's . They have the best crab quesadilla's!!

And then Lilo and Stitch. I have never heard Saskia laugh so hard in any other movie!! It was a really cute movie, I can't see how any child could be scared at all. Unlike the usual Disney movies, there is no definite villain and the general message is a good one: family is important, no one gets left behind. Very cute!

And now we work on getting everyone to bed, not an easy feat!

Things that made me happy:
1. Saskia's belly laughs at the movie
2. Having 4 happy kids in the car after they each got at least one book at Borders. For some reason, happiness about books makes me feel really good.
3. When Katja helped Saskia and Thomas with their art projects, how I'll miss her and Kai in the coming weeks!
4. Kai sitting next to me at the theatre
5. Rick telling Katja to keep a tally of how often I'll call to see if they're still ok tomorrow on their big trip :)

At 5:45 this morning, my wonderful husband got up and got ready to go get my friend Marie Anne and her son Thomas at the airport. I need to take medicine each night to sleep through and it makes me feel dizzy and groggy in the early morning. I felt badly not being able to go get my best friend, since I rarely get to see her, so Rick offered to go. I really appreciated that and Marie Anne too.

At 7:30, they were here and it was great to see them again! I had last seen Thomas when he was about 9 months old, so needless to say, he had changed dramatically, LOL! He is a fun little boy. Both Kai and Saskia are wanting his attention and they got along quite well. Starting Friday, it'll just be Thomas, Saskia and I for a few days, so I'm sure we'll have lots of fun, the 3 of us.

After breakfast and a quick workout and shower upstairs for me, the kids had become very busy. They were cooped up, because it was just too hot for them to play outside. So we decided to go downtown.

We took Metro to the Smithsonian stop and got out to see the Silk Road exhibit on the Mall. Every 4th of July week, there is such an exhibit. Very interesting! But hot!

The kids got an ice cream and drinks and we walked on to the Carousel. Of course we couldn't pass that by without a ride!

Then on to the National Air and Space Museum, a fantastic museum, always! Security at the entrance of the Smithsonian museums has become much tighter than before September 11th. Good, I think. Walking in, the first view is of several airplanes hanging from the top. Amazing how huge this building is, it houses several full size planes!
We walked through the "How to Fly" exhibit, with much hands on stuff for the kids. Then the universe area. And upstairs, the Skylab and the Apollo exhibit.

By then, jet lag started to bother Marie Anne and Thomas and Saskia was downright exhausted. So we went to the store, which is absolutely great!

Then outside again, back to the Carousel for one last ride. The skies were getting ominously dark, so we quickly took Metro back. The storm was much less than what it looked to be, fortunately.

Once home, Saskia, Thomas and Marie Anne basically collapsed and Rick, the older kids and I ate dinner. Saskia is back up now, after a good nap. Another fun day under our belts!

Happy moments:
1. Seeing Marie Anne after more than a year.
2. Seeing the Mall in DC again, it's like a mini vacation every time we go there
3. The feeling of the airconditioning when we entered the Air and Space Museum. Heaven!
4. The first sip of cold water after standing in the sun to watch the kids on the carousel (can you tell it was a hot day?? ;))
5. The prospect of going to bed early tonight and reading my Enid Blyton series book

Wow, what an adventurous and emotional weekend we had! It all started around 1pm on Friday, when I picked Rick up from his work and we went on our way up to Massachusetts to visit my sister and her family for my sister's 30th birthday.

I drove the first part of the way and traffic was in a word horrendous!!! And all the tolls on I-95 slowed us down by at least 15 minutes each. Grrr!! We thought the Garden State Parkway would be a good alternative to 95 around New York, but we'll never know, as we had quite a few backups there too. Finally, when we crossed the Tappan Zee Bridge, traffic got back, but we were still 4 hours away from our destination.

So, at a stop at McDonald's for dinner (they now have a great chicken wrap, yum!), I called my brother-in-law to give an update. Thursday night, my sister and her three months old baby had made a nasty fall and she had been to the doctor earlier in the day to make sure the baby was ok. She had called me to say the doctor gave the green light, so when my brother-in-law told me she had taken the baby to the hospital, a cold hand gripped my heart.

My brother-in-law said he was fairly certain the baby was ok, but he was not really using one of his legs and my sister was concerned about that.

We drove and drove and finally arrived at their house at 11pm with 3 exhausted kids. My brother-in-law meanwhile, was in a frenzy, as my sister had called and my nephew's femur was fractured. So they were going to Children's Hospital by ambulance for a cast and my brother in law wanted to of course go and help her out.

So we stayed behind with our 3 kids and my 12 year old stepnephew. The kids were playing a little more, but at 12:30, we all went to bed.

At 1:30, my sister called to say they were at Children's, the orthopedist was about to come and tell them what needed to happen.

The next thing I know, it's 8am and my brother is calling to wish my sister a happy birthday. At that point, I didn't know if they had made it home from the hospital or not. But 10 minutes later, there was my sister with her little boy and a bright red cast on his leg.

It was so hard on them, you want your little baby to be totally unblemished and of course it's easy to blame yourself for a fall. But I hope they can see, that this can happen to anyone and that he will heal and be fine.

They only came home at 5:15 am, so none of us got much sleep. We kind of hung around and ate a delicious breakfast my BIL cooked and then all had a nap. Meanwhile, it started raining, scratching our plans for a walk on the beach.

At 7pm we made our way to Woodman's, where we had great lobster and fried scallops. Yum!!

On Sunday morning, we had breakfast at the local hangout and then at 11am took off for home.

We made good time and had good weather, until we got to New York City, where traffic came to a halt. As we were waiting, Rick longingly said how much fun it would be, to just go into the city, book a hotel and stay the night.

As we were thinking about it, we couldn't find a reason why not. So we called our pet care person and made sure she could take care of them for one more day and then called to make a reservation at the Grand Hyatt at Grand Central Station.

And less than a half hour later, we were in the Lincoln Tunnel making our way into New York City. After checking into the hotel, we took a cab to our restaurant, a fun Asian place, Ruby Foo's. They had the most wonderful sushi rolls! We could have eaten many more, but like everything in New York, the bill was high enough already!

After dinner, we walked to Times Square and shopped at the Virgin Mega Store, where I found the DVD of a Dutch movie "Soldier of Orange" and we almost lost Saskia, thankfully, security found her. That was a scary moment!! I carried her the rest of the night, as I was too worried I'd lose her again!

Walking through a dark and nicely lit New York City, we made our way back to the hotel. There we had dessert and then it was off to bed. We were all asleep in no time.

In the morning we were awakened by the knock of the room service steward. We had ordered a continental breakfast between the 5 of us, as each breakfast was $17 and up and way too expensive for a family of five to afford! So we shared the 3 rolls and the tea and coffee and Rick took the kids to McDonald's across the street later, where he fed all of them for $14.

I, in the meantime, made my way to the exercise room of the hotel, state of the art, on the 35th floor. After an hour of exercise I went back to the room, got showered and took the kids on a walk to the Empire State Building, while Rick worked.

We didn't go up this time, but just looking up and not being able to see the top was worth the walk to the kids (and me). Even Saskia didn't complain about walking the 8 numbered blocks and 2 avenues.

Back at the hotel, we checked out and got tickets to the Gray Line downtown loop tour. This is the hop on-hop off double decker, that takes you through Greenwich Village, SoHo, Financial District to Battery Park, from where the Statue of Liberty can be seen.

We first had lunch at the Judson Grill, a nice place with good soft shell crabs for me.

Then off to the Toys R Us Superstore at Times Square. That's an impressive store!! It has a 4 story ferris wheel in the store and the Legos Empire State Building, Chrysler Building and Statue of Liberty are fun too.

After looking around that store, we went to the Gray Line stop on Times Square and boarded the bus to Battery Park. It took about an hour and 15 minutes to make our way to Battery Park.

Our plan was to walk to the edge of the water and look at the Statue of Liberty in the distance (no time for the ferry this time) and then walk up to see Ground Zero.

I have to admit to being slightly nervous to go there. We had previously wondered when we would have the nerve to go there and here it was.

The site of the WTC buildings is mostly characterized by light, where there was none before. Space, where there was none before. Two gaping holes where the buildings once stood. A fence around it all and a wooden walkway to walk around and see.

What were my impressions? I had to swallow back tears when I saw it all. Here stood the two most magnificent buildings I'd ever seen in my life and now... nothing. Not a trace of a building. But the surrounding buildings are still standing and some are badly damaged. One is wrapped in a black tarp and it's quite high and a flag and a banner are displayed high up. Another is wrapped in burlap, or something similar. The scene is grim.

On a red door we pass, hundreds of fire company badges are displayed. A sign read "no pictures please". I couldn't tell if it meant no pictures of the badges, or if it was from earlier days, when so much wreckage and carnage was still visible.

Across the street, the Trinity church stood. An old church, surviving the collapse of those 2 huge buildings so close by. The graveyard is covered in thick, gray dust. Some tombstones are covered in plastic. The entire fence around the church is covered with pictures of victims, letters by mourners, signs from all around the world, very touching.

In a recent article, a journalist wrote the site didn't affect him much, it was "just" a construction site. I can't imagine feeling that way at the sight of it all, even if it is cleaned up. I felt anger, sadness, awe and much more. May the victims rest in peace and may nothing like this happen again.

The kids had many questions. Saskia was again most concerned about any children involved. All 3 were solemn and impressed.

As we were there, lots of fire trucks pulled up and today we heard they're still looking for remains in the buildings surrounding the WTC.

We tried to get a cab back to the hotel, but they were all full. Thankfully a limo driver pulled up and took us instead.

After a quick and light dinner at the hotel, we got our car and started making our way home. We drove through 2 serious thunderstorms, exciting, but slowing us down. Still, it took us only 3 1/2 hours to get home, making New York City a lot closer than it always seemed.

A truly exciting weekend for sure! Today was spent cleaning up, getting the older kids a haircut and getting Rick's car back from the shop.

Tomorrow, very early morning, my friend Marie Anne and her little boy, Thomas are arriving from Singapore.

Never came back here yesterday, we got home too late from a wonderful dinner at Chuck and Christine's. They were showing us their new grill and boy, did it turn out some wonderful steaks!

This morning we had to get up "early" (ok, before 8, bummer!) because the airconditioning guy came. Rick stayed home to work here and I went off to the gym.

It was kind of an uneventful day (yay!), though I still felt I was on the go all the time. I got snacks for tomorrow's drive at Shopper's Food Warehouse. I'm one day going to take my camera and take a picture of just the cereal aisle there. I can't believe how many different kinds of cereal exist in this world!! I'll bet one could eat a different cereal for two months and still not have run out of choices.

I got in touch with my massage therapist and the reason she didn't come yesterday *was* a scary one, strange, I had a feeling that it would be. Her mother tried to commit suicide and is in Intensive Care now. Yuck! That's so scary!

After I got home, Rick and I took his car to Maaco, since he wants it repainted before he sells it. Then we went on a wild goose chase for Kai, to find Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, which are so popular, they're sold out everywhere. We went to 3 CVS's and one Seven Eleven. Then to Blockbuster's to get video's for the trip to Massachusetts tomorrow. We got 12 videos! That should keep everyone entertained. I myself can't wait to watch "The Gods Must Be Crazy" again.

In the times that I was home today, I created 4 new photo albums on Webshots. One about Washington DC, and another about Washington DC, a third about other US and Canadian cities and one with nature pictures, all these pictures were taken by me (just in case anyone doubts that ;)).

Finally, we went to the swimming pool with the Fitzpatricks and ordered pizza there. A fun end to a relatively quiet day.

For a chance, things that made Kai happy today (he's sitting next to me while I'm writing this blog):
1. I got a pack of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards
2. Playing with my friend Martin almost the entire day

He can't think of any more, so I'll fill up the other 3:
1. Having a nice warm boy body sitting here next to me (well, it's warm outside too, but still, nice)
2. Feeling the hot sun on me this morning when I first stepped outside and looking at the colors that were so clear and crisp
3. All the smiles, friendly hi's and have a nice day wishes I heard today

I have to make a mid day entry today, as I'm sure I'll forget what I wanted to write later.

I'm starting with my very bizarre dream (nightmare, really). It was one of those dreams that kept continuing, even after going to the bathroom and waking up for a short time. I had spent most of last night reading up on email messages and read several about people who were having trouble with their moms (like me!). So I think partly this dream was caused by that, as I'm having a really difficult time accepting that my mom has just simply decided to leave us all and move back to Holland. And I'm also still feeling resentment about giving up my Dutch citizenship to make sure my parents could stay here and not 2 years later, she's leaving.

Anyway, the dream started with us living in a war. I have no idea with whom we were at war, it never became clear. But all non-US citizens were being called up to be put to death by lethal injection. The dream started on Tuesday and my mom was scheduled to die on Thursday. All very weird. I kept on wondering why my parents and not me. And then it came to me, I was a US citizen en they weren't. I dreamed all the way through Thursday, so my mom was put to death, or so I assumed in my dream. But I didn't want to go look (for some weird reason, the bodies were kept in kind of locker rooms). I kept telling myself I'd be fine without my parents, because what could I do to prevent all this? Nothing. I had the same powerless feeling I have now sometimes, when I think of her spending the rest of her life that far away from us. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well last night.

On to a more cheerful topic: my conversation with Kai this morning. Kai sometimes doesn't like to talk, especially not in the morning. So I was trying to talk to him about going to the gym or staying home (he doesn't like either, really). He got annoyed at my insistence to talk, but then answered my questions.
I asked him why he was so ornery. He had a sleepover with his friend Martin last night and he gloomily told me, that Martin had awakened at 7am this morning and had started chatting with Kai. Kai told me, very disgruntled, that Martin was born with talking genes and that Kai just wasn't going to have another sleepover with him, as Kai was not ready for talking genes at 7am. I had to do everything to keep from bursting out with laughter. The way he said that!

One last thing I want to write about this afternoon. I have some time as for some reason my massage therapist didn't show up, she was supposed to be here at 12n. I worry now as last week she was complaining of chest pains and it's so not like her to just not show. I worry something serious is wrong with her and I wouldn't even know who to contact to find out, as she lives alone. Hopefully she'll call later and she'll just have misscheduled or something.

Ok, to the topic: I have started re-reading "Giving the Love that Heals" by Harville Hendrix. Since things have deteriorated with my mom, I need the reassurance of the "intentional dialogue" described in the book, to communicate well with the kids. I *do not* want to communicate like my mom and I know there is always a real risk of that.

The book's description of intentional dialogue is very appealing to me and it gives many good examples. Intentional dialogue (what the authors call conscious parenting) requires 3 actions on the part of the parent (and later also the child).

1. Mirroring: listening well and periodically checking if the message is understood
2. Validating: showing respect for the other's feelings, showing them you understand why they might feel this way (note: this does not mean agreeing with them, but it does mean showing they're allowed to have their feelings and thoughts, even if they differ drastically from yours)
3. Empathizing: showing you understand their feelings

Having these 3 elements in my discussions with the kids has really helped me. Sometimes I slack off and then I have to re-read as I'm doing now. The reason I'm writing it down here is so I can quickly grab back to it when needed.

This method, by the way, is also good to use with partners and others in our lives. The therapy is called Imago Therapy.

More later.

It is really nice to not have to rush out of bed to get kids off to school! We lounged until 8am this morning (except for poor Rick, who did need to go to work). Katja and Leah had a sleepover and they stayed in bed longer. Kai did get up with us, but refused to go to the gym with me, choosing instead to stay with the girls.

I took Saskia to camp, which she loves so much, she went back yesterday after the doctor's! It is really fun, she is in a group called the "Lions" and they play all day, but with themes. They also still practice their numbers and letters in playful ways, so they won't have forgotten much after the summer.

Then I went to the gym, of course. I'm missing Christine this week, as her daughter has swimming lessons. So I brought some reading material and then Ann and Meghan came and we had a nice chat, which always makes the time go by faster.

After a quick shower, I went home and picked up Katja and Kai to take them to lunch at Subway. They have a great low fat menu! (Sorry, Emily, for talking about food again ;), it's a major part of our lives though and I'm not a good cook, unfortunately).

At 2pm, Katja was picked up by my friend Jaimie to go babysit for her little boy. I took the cue and started cleaning the house. I confess, until last week, I had a guy come to clean the house every week. He didn't do a great job, but still, it was better than me having to do it!!! It took me 3 hours to just clean the bathrooms, kitchen and vacuum only the high traffic areas. Of course, when I clean, I do it well, but it was exhausting!

When I was done, I picked up Saskia and we did facepainting in the driveway. Half the neighborhood is walking around with my creations on their faces and hands tonight. I should start charging for it ;).

Kai is having a sleepover with his friend Martin tonight, they're supercute together!

The car is still in the shop, but I'm liking the little Contour we have on loan.

And now it's thundering and lightning outside, yippee! I love thunderstorms!

And I'm happy, because:
1. The house is clean ;)
2. When I looked around the cul de sac this afternoon, I realized how many of our friends live so very close by!
3. I have one husband, 3 kids, 1 dog and 4 cats who are all the very best on the planet!
4. I saw the first Monarch butterfly today
5. The weather here! In Holland they had a short heat wave, but it's cooled off already. Here we're pretty much guaranteed temperatures of 80 and higher. Great!!!

Things that made me happy today:
1. Sitting on the sidewalk in the late afternoon sunshine with Katja, while waiting for Rick to pick us back up
2. Seeing the splinter *out* of Saskia's leg
3. Having Kai say that if he would be stranded on an uninhabited island, he would want me and his dad around most of all
4. Lifting 90 pounds on the leg extension machine and having it feel light!
5. Have Rick tell me I'm a delectable wife :)

Father's Day, yesterday. We're starting a new tradition (or rather, we started it last year) of going to a theme park on Father's Day. Rick is a total theme park fan, so this is a great way to give him a great day. This year, we chose to go to Six Flags America.

But first, we had breakfast in bed: Cinnabon cinnamon rolls and tea and coffee. Plus we gave his presents, which he loved.

At 10, we were in the car to Largo, Maryland. We got to the park at opening and the weather was great, part sunny, part overcast and in the low 80's. We immediately made our way to the back, to the big rollercoasters. Apparently, most people didn't come until after lunch and by 12noon, Kai, Katja and Rick had been in 3 of the 5 rollercoasters. Saskia and I entertained ourselves with some games (and she won a necklace, though she really wanted a stuffed animal, of course).

After a quick lunch, I took Saskia and Kai to a play house, where you could throw foamplastic balls all over and at each other, while Rick and Katja took in yet another roller coaster. I stayed away from the coasters, as I woke up with a painful neck and a headache and I didn't want to aggravate anything.

At 3pm, after the last roller coaster, we drove back home. There I noticed a splinter in Saskia's leg and spent about 1/2 hour to try and get it out. Unfortunately, I didn't succeed, but the nurse at the emergency medical center told me I could wait a day before seeking treatment.

So, off to my parents we went. Gave my dad his gift (a six-in-one tool, which he clearly loved) and then drove to the Melting Pot where we had a great dinner. My mom and I shared the Pacific Rim dinner, with shrimp, steak, duck and potstickers. Very, very tasty. I truly like that restaurant, as it's a nice long, relaxed dinner and the food is great.
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This morning I had trouble waking up. My bed was just so nice! The weather has been less hot and that means cooler nights and more comfortable sleep. Well, too comfortable this morning! But at 8, I dragged myself out. I made an appointment for Saskia to be seen by the pediatrician at 11:30.

Then took her to school and went off to the gym. Since last summer, Katja and Kai have been staying home, while I went to the gym, but I still feel ambivalent about it. I call them at least 3 times, much to their dismay ;). Luckily, we live in a street where many people are home during the day, so they know where to go in case of emergency. Still, I always rush through it all and rush back home.

I spent 5 minutes home after working out and then had to pick Saskia up for her doctor's appointment. Unfortunately for her, the splinter was deeply embedded and she needed a numbing shot and then the doctor cut it out. She was a very courageous girl, it really hurt and she cried quite a bit :(, I had her think of something she really wanted, which was a Bratz doll. So, afterwards, I took her to Toys R Us.

Then, rush, rush, back home, feed Saskia and the others lunch (and myself) and then rush off to take Saskia back to summer camp at her own request and Rick and I had to go to a law office to sign the settlement papers for the sale of our first house to the renter we had. It feels good to just own one home, instead of being landlords as well. We hated that job! And she was so excited to own her first home! I feel we really did a good deed on that one!

Quickly back home, pick up Katja for her skating lesson. Rick dropped the two of us off and he went on to the car dealership to drop the van off for service and repair of the recall we recently received.

Then time to pick up Saskia again and phew, the day was over. And I wondered today, when I would experience a "boring" day again. You know, one of those days where you just stay in pajamas and hang around the house and don't have to go anywhere. When? Not in the next 2 weeks!

Here I am, mom of a 7th grader, 5th grader and first grader. Sniff!! They're growing up too fast! Yesterday, Rick, Saskia, my mom and I were at the school at 9am to witness the 6th grade commencement. It was an emotional 2 hours, several kids got awards, they all got special mentions (Katja got her award on Thursday, for being a member of the elementary/middle and high school coalition, that works to improve communication between the different schools and the community).

Then, after all the speeches by the teachers, a group of girls got up on the stage and sang the song "One Candle". Katja started it out in a duet with a classmate. They sang beautifully! Katja can sing really well and she now regrets not choosing choir for an elective in 7th grade. She chose band instead.

At 11:10am, school was dismissed for the summer. It was raining so I ran to get the kids with several umbrellas. We looked at the report cards, which were excellent for both kids. Katja suddenly got a little bit of a sad spell, as she was realizing, that she had just said goodbye to her familiar school and also to some of her schoolfriends, who are going to a different middle school.

So, we reminisced about her babyhood and I made her laugh, by recalling how she once had such an explosive poop, that she pooped on the lampshade across the room! And how her dad was once flying her over his head, singing "Babies in space" and he got the whole last feeding in his face!

That brightened our moods and she called her friend Meghan to go to the ice cream party at the pool (even though it was raining, the kids still loved going and there is something special about swimming in the rain (all according to them, of course, I chatted under the overhanging with my neighbor)).

After the ice cream party, we went home until Rick came home and then we went off to dinner at Chili's. They have the great boneless chicken wings!! Very spicy, but all the kids liked them, I was amazed!

Next on the agenda was the Scooby Doo movie. Wow, what a change, after watching the Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood the night before! This was definitely a kid's movie! I'm glad it lasted just an hour and a half, as it was super silly and couldn't exactly hold me interest. The kids loved it though, and that was the aim. Rowan Atkinson talks quite a lot in the movie, which was interesting to me, as I always watched him as the taciturn Mr. Bean.

Katja and Meghan had a sleepover last night, to end a wonderful day.

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This morning at 8am, Brynna started peeping to go out. I was so thankful to Rick for getting up! I really wanted to sleep in, selfishly. But at 8:15, I heard a little voice next to me ask "Mommy?". And as I groaned, she said: "Oh good, I wanted to see if you were still there" 5 minutes later "Mommy?" "" "Where is Daddy?" "He's downstairs". And off she went downstairs. The older kids didn't get up until 10!

After a very healthy (ahem) breakfast of Dunkin Donuts at the request of the graduates (yes, they're milking it for all it's worth!), Saskia and I went off to the gym. I did a HIT training again, 20 minutes high heart rate on the stair stepper, then lower body weights, then another 20 minutes high heart rate on the stairmaster, then upper body, 10 minutes high intensity on the cross trainer, abs and done.

We quickly ate lunch at home and then the kids and I took off for the mall, to shop for Father's Day and graduation gifts. Katja selected a pretty silver locket for her graduation gift. I like that, as it will remind her of when she got it for years to come. I also selected my sister's birthday gift, but I'm not writing here what it is, as she reads this blog ;). I'm excited about it though!

For my dad, I selected a 6 in 1 tool from Brookstone's. The same for Rick, hopefully he'll like it. The kids will give him an X-Box game and a Star Wars II audiobook, that they can all listen to on their way to Michigan in 2 weeks. For a treat for the kids, I got Dippin' Dots ice cream for them. It's really cool, little balls of ice cream in different flavors.

Three hours later, we came home with lots of bags. I also got Rick his favorite breakfast for tomorrow: Cinnabon cinnamon rolls. Yummy!!!

Things that made me (very) happy:

1. Without a doubt: When Katja said to me in the car "Mommy, don't tell Leah, but she's not my best friend", surprised I said "Oh? Then who is?" and she answered "You"!
2. The other two children chiming in, Saskia that not only I am her best friend, but also her Daddy :). And Kai saying, that I'm definitely his favorite female person :).
3. Giving Rick an afternoon without the kids for a change. He usually "takes" them, to give me some time alone and now he had it
4. Simply looking at the kids, as they were with me at the mall and marveling at their beautiful little faces and wonderful characters.
5. Feeling so connected, not just with the kids and Rick, but also with my sister and brother(s) and friends

Ok, as final deed of the night, the update of my blog. My eye still hurts, but the drops seem to be working, it's no longer red. Still I'm spooked by the thought a cornea eating bacteria lurks in there !

This morning, I talked to my dad about my mom and we had a good talk. Then I talked to Christine and then realized, that I still had a very quiet 6 year old sitting in the room, who had to go to school. So I got her to school way late, at 9:20! It was good though, as I got to talk to her teacher and found out she will not be in the same group as her best friend for summer camp :(. Initially, I was upset about that, but the teacher explained about the group dynamics and that she had placed Saskia with her other best friend. The other girl will still join them in the afternoons. Next year, they'll be in different schools, but they live close by, so I hope their friendship will last, just like Kai's and Austin's friendships lasted 5 years beyond Appletree already.

At 9:30, I checked into Katja and Kai's school for the awards assembly. This was the first time (I know, shame on me), that I attended an awards assembly. I was up for an award myself, for the art teaching I did this year and both kids had told me I should come to claim it. So I did. And boy, was I glad! My little boy got awarded a certificate because he won a math contest!!! And my big girl got awarded a certificate because of her participation in a coalition between the elementary, middle and high schools in the area. Their proud faces made my mother heart soar!

After the assembly, I went to the gym, where I met Christine and we did a HIT training (High Intensity Training) and some weights. My mom was there too and we discussed Katja's graduation. I'd better get my emotions in check, as I had some trouble today at the assembly already, containing my tears. Kids are so wonderful!

Christine and I treated ourselves to a nice lunch at Artie's after the workout (we ate at 2pm!). Today was the first rainy day in weeks, if not months. I hope it alleviated the drought somewhat, the torrential rains this afternoon certainly alluded to that!

I felt like a bad parent, when I had planned to pick Katja and Kai up from school to prevent them getting soaked in the rain. But time got away from me and they came home walking. Thank goodness it's a warm rain and actually pretty exciting to walk through, after weeks of sunshine, heat and drought.

At 6pm, my friend Jaimie came to pick me up for our girls night out. We first had some appetizers at the Blue Iguana and then made our way to the theatre, to watch "The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood". Wah, it's a tearjerker! But a very good movie. Now I still need to read the book.

My happiness moments today:
1. My son walking up proudly to accept his math award
2. Katja sticking up her thumb at me, when my name was called
3. Katja's name being called, my sweet girl standing there proudly
4. Reading Saskia's report card and the comments by her teacher, the teacher wrote "she makes my every day". It brings tears to my eyes!
5. Rick's smiling face when he opened the door when I came home tonight.

I feel blessed!

Ack, I really meant to post last night, but I've been so tired, I haven't had the energy. Yesterday, after my workout, I suddenly felt I wasn't paying enough attention to Kai (I get that way sometimes, as he's just so sweet and very quiet and the girls seem to take all the attention). So I made my way over to the school and joined him for lunch. We discussed things we wanted to do together this summer, like going to the Air and Space Museum, as Katja doesn't like that museum much.

After lunch (well, I snacked some of his chicken nuggets (which were great and not greasy, I was very surprised!)), I took down the art from the artshow last week and put it back in everyone's folders and handed the folders to the teachers, so the kids could take them home. Phew! All of Artsmart is done for the year.

I just had about a half hour to eat a real lunch, before I had to pick Saskia up from school to take her for her checkup at the pediatrician. I had found out beforehand, that she didn't need any shots, as she always wants to be prepared. We saw my favorite female doctor there (well, actually, she's a nurse practitioner, but absolutely great!).

Saskia is doing great, her eyes and ears are fine, she has a large vocabulary for her age (according to the NP) and she is petite (44 1/3 inch, 15%), but dense (48 lbs, 55% for weight), which is all muscle as you'd judge her to be at least 10 lbs lighter by looking at her.

On the way home, I remembered I had signed up to make dinner for the family of one of Katja's classmates, whose mother is undergoing chemo for breast cancer. I decided to make my crockpot taco soup, with vegetarian beef and cheese and tortillas. So we stopped at Safeway for groceries.

The weather has been scorching hot, heat advisories for both yesterday and today and yesterday there was a Code Red ozone alert. Today it was orange.

But it was so hot and Saskia really wanted to swim, so we ignored the warning and she had a nice swim with some friends, while I was sweating on the side, as I didn't want to get wet. I had to go chaperone Katja's 6th grade party at 6pm and didn't have time to get wet and then get myself all dry again.

The 6th grade party was a beach party. Very fun! Lots of food for the kids, with pizza for the highlight. They played volleyball with a beach ball and basketball. One of the parents had filled a babybath with strong bubblesolution and a hula hoop and the kids could stand in it and have a big bubble pulled around them. And 2 older siblings played dj and did the Limbo. At 8:30, tired and sweaty kids (and parents!) went home.

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This morning, I woke up with pain in my eye, even before I opened my eyes. When I looked in the mirror, my eye was half shut and bloodshot. Uh oh, eye infection! Since I wear contacts and have had a bad infection before, this was a huge red flag. So I called the ophthalmologist and made an appointment for 1pm.

I had a good workout with Mimi, I'm finally feeling my strength return again, thank goodness! I hate aching and tiredness, as I never know if I should worry about them or not. So now that it's going better, I'm relaxing a bit.

At 12pm I had an appointment for a house cleaning service guy to come and tell me how much it would cost to have the house cleaned. I just can't keep up with it myself and so now they'll come every other week. What luxury! I can't wait!

The eye doctor did indeed diagnose a bacterial infection and I'm glad I pushed for an appointment today, as she told me just waiting 24 hours would have been dangerous to my eye sight. Yikes! So I have antibiotic drops and have to come back in a week. It's an annoying infection, because the pain makes me feel like I have a sinus infection. Hopefully the drops will help soon.

While waiting for the drops to be ready, I bought the kids and Rick cute "I love you" cards, it was fun to give them and they liked getting them.

When Katja and Kai got home, we set off to deliver the meal for the Katja's classmate's family and then off to the mall. Katja needed neat clothes for her graduation ceremony on Friday and Kai's shoes were literally falling apart. Katja ended up buying a pretty skirt and shirt at Express (we should buy stock in that company!!!) and we bought a bunch of shoes at Payless (also swimshoes, as I worry they'll be sold out when we need them for the beach). Then Katja was thirsty, so we got a drink and some (delicious!) cookies at Mrs. Fields and Kai found a pack of his favorite trading cards at Dapy
.

Then it was finally time to go home.
And now the things that made me happy:
1. Hearing that my sister's best friend is going to have identical twin boys. How exciting!
2. Knowing that we'll see my sister and her family twice this summer, as we've decided to go celebrate her 30th birthday with them and they're coming the end of July.
3. Walking in the mall with my two oldest kids and just enjoying them tremendously.
4. Talking to Christine on the phone and just feeling wonderful at having found such a great friend.
5. To be alive!!!

Oops, I forgot the things that made me happy (I'll add new one's tonight, so these are for yesterday):
1. Seeing Saskia and her friend giggling and having a wonderful time at the pool.
2. Seeing Katja's huge smile as I complimented her on how well she was able to brake while skating, it's something she's been working on.
3. Chatting with Kai about his new collector's card game and seeing how he's totally into it.
4. Having a super supportive and loving husband.
5. Watching an oriole fly across the street and being awed together with the kids about its beauty.

Oh my, before I know it, it's Tuesday! We had a very nice weekend, my brother and sister in law, my 5 year old nephew and 18 months old niece from Ottawa came to visit my parents. It was my mom's 62nd birthday on Saturday.

On Saturday I worked out with Katja. It's so much fun to have a daughter old enough to do such things with! I was proud of her, as she ran at a pace of 6.5 miles an hour for quite a few minutes. And we laugh a lot as we're tossing the weighted balls at each other. And then we were trying to hold a ball against the wall, while the other tried to pry it loose, great game and good for the quads!

Then off to pick up the ice cream cake I'd ordered for my mom's birthday. It turned out really nice and the flavor, multi-colored sherbet, was great! We had it for dessert, after a nice barbeque chicken dinner my dad cooked.

On Sunday, my nephew Sandy came over to play with Saskia and I took the kids to the pool. Sandy loved it and he and Kai built a sand castle in the volleyball sand as well.
Around 3 the whole family came over and it was our turn to cook dinner. Nice steaks and fruit pies for dessert from Pie Gourmet .

Yesterday was a scorching day and it actually felt really nice to go to the ice arena for Katja's skating lesson. She is doing really well and is enjoying herself clearly.
After I picked Saskia up from school, we took a friend of hers with us to the pool, where everyone played and giggled, until the whistle went off. Everyone had to leave the pool, as there was "fecal matter" found in the main pool (poop, in other words). This apparently was the second time in a week this happened, so now the research needs to start as to who might be doing this. Yuck!!! When this happens, the pool needs to close for 2 hours for sanitation and so it was effectively closed for the night.

At least I didn't have to fight to get the kids to go home ;).

Today was the big 40th birthday bash of Katja and Kai's school. The school is as old as I am! Almost exactly, as they opened September 1961 and that's when I was born. I feel lots of affinity with it now ;).

Seriously, it was a fun day. I just came home from 2 1/2 hours straight of face painting! I'll be dreaming of American flags, soccer balls, rainbows, spiders etc.! I must have painted at least 30 faces. But lots of happy kids, so it was fun and they were all so cute and polite. One boy thanked me in advance, just in case he might forget later :).

As a room parent for both Kai and Katja's class, I was supposed to help out in both classes at 2:30 this afternoon. I had to bring juice boxes for Kai's class and cupcakes for Katja's. Yesterday Safeway was sold out of cupcakes, so I called at 7:15 this morning to reserve 30 cupcakes. They were sold out already!!!! So I ended up ordering a birthday cake, which the kids loved, especially the blue icing roses on it.

I also saw part of their show, a really cute review with songs of the 40th years existence and a slide show. Katja was in one of the pictures.

Now we're home at 9:30pm and we haven't had dinner yet, thank heavens for Pizza Hut! ;)

Things that made me (especially) happy today:

1. The gorgeous weather! Crisp, clean weather, bright blue skies, every color was vibrant in nature!
2. All those kids that got their faces painted. They truly are the future and I have to say, at least 30 of the future are a-ok!
3. The realization of just how many friends I have in this world. I realized that this morning at the gym, where I talked to 4 people, whom I consider great friends.
4. My wonderful family, all 4 of them.
5. I survived this week, LOL!

Another night of violent weather, tornado's in the area. Thankfully not here! I like spectacular weather, but tornado's can stay far away, thank you!

A relatively quiet day today, nothing at the school. I had a nice workout with my friend Jeanne, 45 minutes of cardio and 45 minutes of weights. After the shower, I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond to get insect repellant bracelets. They have a Citronella smell and seem to be doing a good job in keeping the insects away from the kids.

Then to the Vitamin Shoppe, because Christine is taking this supplement, that's making her feel quite well, so of course I have to try it too. It better work, it wasn't cheap!!! (oh, the vitamins are called Maxine, for those interested)

At Borders and Hallmark, I got my mom's gift and card and Father's Day cards for everyone.

Today was one of those really fatigued feeling days I get occasionally (though less in the summer, so I'm contributing this one to last week's fever and all), so I was just dragging with everything.

I went home, much later than I had hoped, as I wanted to get a nap in, and ate lunch: wonderful Gazpacho from Fresh Fields and hunks of real Parmesan cheese, also from there.

Then it was time to get Kai from school to take him to the doctor for his itching ear. The skies were looking ominous, so I got Katja out too and took her with us, as I didn't want her to have to be at home in a severe thunderstorm or tornado.

The doctor was way delayed (what else is new ;)), but the three of us were enjoying the wait and chatted and played mad libs. What a difference from when they were toddlers! Now the 45 minute wait was actually a fun family time!

The doctor didn't find anything spectaculair wrong with Kai, so we have to try some Cortaid in his ear for a few days and see if that makes a difference.

On the way home, I remembered I have to bring cupcakes and drinks and all for the party tomorrow in the classrooms, so we stopped by Safeway. *Not* a good idea with 2 kids, we left with way more than just the drinks and cupcakes. But they did help me carry things and put things away.

Tonight I had a long, long talk with my sister in law in Canada. They're going to drive down tomorrow to be here for my mom's birthday. I can't wait to see them!

I've decided to add something to my Blog every time: what made me feel happy that day. So here's the first installment:
1. The feather kisses Saskia gave me, while I was carrying her home in the blazing heat this morning
2. Rick's huge smile this morning, when sticking his head out the bathroom door to talk to me
3. Kai's reluctant, but seriously huge hug before saying goodbye in front of his classmates at school
4. Katja's laughter this afternoon at the doctor's, a place she's usually quite afraid of
5. The raindrops on a leaf after the rainstorm tonight, the sun shone through them making them look like glass.