Happy Weekend!

We had a lovely weekend. The time is flying by so quickly and it's often hard to grasp how quickly the kids are growing up. I must say though, I am truly enjoying every second of it.  What an honor and privilege and responsibility it is to love these little ones.  I hope no matter what they do or don't remember from their childhood, they are left with an indelible sense of the love and delight that we all take in each other.

Saturday recap:

Lola and I worked on a school assignment to make a fruit platter.  She kept saying she didn't know who she would give it to, but then when it was done she promptly bequeathed it to me with a big teasing smile.  She had to write her remarks of gratitude in Chinese - what did she decide?  "Mom, thank you for earning money for us."  Well that is putting it rather baldly.  But I was very, very touched.

The boys built some really fun and colorful, creative Lego pieces.  We located tons of dismembered heads and various body parts and put them altogether. 

In the afternoon Lola and the boys got ready for her kuromi party, where she got to dress up and play with a couple of her school friends.  The boys decided to dress up like Romans.  Lola had been planning this party for ages and was super excited.  She really likes to perform and spends a lot of time thinking about how she wants things to go.  It can be a delicate balance because things easily go off plan, leading to searing disappointment - but over the years she has generally gotten better at handling these small setbacks.  The situation is still highly volatile sometimes and this party at one point was no different, but she can bounce back better.  I think Lola really has the ability and vision to be a director.  She loves recording on her ipad and, after learning a little about how movies are made, has been very focused on set design, direction and musical accompaniment.  One of the sweetest family playtime productions has been our performance troupe, where Lola and Al and Teo act out various roles that Lola has assigned them - and she "cues" me on piano with clicks of her tongue so I know when to play a quick musical riff, whether sad, happy, loud or soft, depending on what is happening in the play.  It is actually pretty sophisticated, if I say so myself!

After the party, the kids enjoyed a nice dinner at home and then movie night followed by bed.

Sunday recap:

The kids have been enjoying the first floor of our building more and more now, particularly during this period when the weather hasn't been too hot.  We have a bunch of cars down there, and a big open space for the kids to scooter, ride bikes, jump and run around.

We followed up the afternoon with a trip out to Stanley, where both Al and Teo got on a bike (without training wheels) for the first time, and both were pretty much off and pedaling quickly on their own on their first tries.  It was a huge moment in their childhood - they are really big kids now!  They still prefer their balance bikes for now - they are so comfortable on them they are speed demons and can run circles weaving around people and objects.  After Stanley, we headed to the American Club where we got to enjoy one of our last times in the (very dated, very old, and very much in need of repair) Eagle's Nest before it undergoes massive renovations for the next 3 months.

We enjoyed dinner al fresco next to another family friend and their young son.  We also bumped into and met one of Al and Teo's classmates - a very sweet and gentle boy!  After eating very well, the kids got to pick their dessert and they all opted for various forms of popsicles/ice cream.  Al enjoyed his so much he needed to close his eyes to savor it.  Dramatic much?? Cracked me up.  Then once home the kids all piled in the front seat and headed toward the garage with their dad.  They loved getting a whirl in the front!