Last night Dan said, "let's take tomorrow as a down day, let Julia get a good nap, and take it easy."
I agreed. (No arm twisting necessary.)
My socked feet hit the gray floor at 6:13 AM this morning. How did I get the job of getting up with Julia? I love her, but sleep is nice too. When I was in the hall Sara said, "isn't she asleep yet?" I guess Sara didn't realize it was morning. Can't say I blame her - it was still dark outside! I told Sara to go back to bed. Then I got Julia.
I got her dressed then we went to the kitchen together. I put a pot on the stove to make oatmeal. A while later I wondered why the water wasn't boiling yet. Oh. Even when you are very sleepy you still have to turn the stove "on" to make water boil.
Sara joined us. We did our normal morning routine. Dan joined us at 8:02. I went back to bed at 8:03 and slept 'till 10:02. I was shocked I slept that long. My body must have needed it.
At 10:30 Julia was down for a nap. She slept 'till 12:30! All that time Sara and I played outside in the back yard. It is a French Country Backyard (not due to any garden theme, but because it is really French!). It is circled by lavender, a sunflower plant that is taller than I am, rose buses, and has deep green grass surrounding the patio stones. Sara made up games for us to play - the most notable included getting ready for an imaginary party, complete with invitations, guests (some of whom arrived via unicycle and got lost), food, and drink. Sara loves when we use our imaginations. She has such a spark of happiness as she uses my ideas as spring-boards for her much better ideas. I sometimes marvel that we made the little human being that is growing up to have so many ideas of her own.
Our backyard playtime lasted 2 hours. If you've ever played non-stop with a four year old (and I mean no breaks) you know that it is wonderful -- and makes you want a cup of coffee. We colored on rocks with crayons. We had an imaginary camp fire and let some flowers roast marshmallows. We helped guests get to our party. And for quite a while we sat near the sun flower on a bed of smooth stones just talking.
Dan left to return the car to Orange, France. There is no Avis car rental in this town. Orange is 1/2 hour a way. He drove there and took the bus back.
I took Sara and Julia out for a walk after having lunch here. Sara asked for ice cream "over there Mom, turn left, right there!" so I decided to go up to the "old town" (from the middle ages I think) where ice cream is 1 Euro per scoop. It is usually 2 Euro (or more!) per scoop so it is worth the walk.
To get there we had to walk through town, over a roman bridge (2,000 years old), and up a steep, steep, steep hill. Five different groups of people made comments to me in French seeing me push our two kids up that hill in our double stroller. I was at a 45 degree angle, just taking one step at a time. I didn't know what any one said, but I assume they were trying to be funny - each of the exchanges ended with a smile, though I didn't understand a single word.
We got to the 1 Euro per scoop place, took a seat, and relaxed. Sara ordered her usual (chocolate / strawberry) noting to the server that the chocolate had to be on the bottom, with the strawberry on top. The server threw a curve-ball - she said the flavors would be side by side! Sara agreed -- that was okay.
I ordered a 3 scoop "coupe" (dish) for Julia and I to share. Sara and Julia share nicely, but each girl *really* likes to hold their own ice cream, so I knew it would be wise to get the cone and the dish.
Sara's arrived first and Julia cried. Poor kid. Moment later the dish arrived and Julia latched on to it - holding it in her hands *so* tightly! She held it until it was empty - using a tiny pink spoon I had in my backpack (I've learned to carry ice cream spoons in my back pack) to eat the ice cream. I used the long spoon that came with the dish. It was yummy. I had loads of fun watching my girls eat their ice cream -- they are so content, so focused, and so happy!
I had Julia in her rain pants for the day so I learned that rain pants can double as ice-cream eating pants since you can just wipe them off!
After that we walked around the old town. It was all stone, all up-hill, all cute, all full of arches, stone steps, flowers, bell-towers, and tourists. There is a castle on top, but Sara wanted to head back down so we'll go there another time.
Back across the river we saw a man making crepes so we stopped. I planned to bring it back to Dan, but the girls got their hands on it. Dan did get some of it - after it was well taste-tested by his daughters.
I made dinner (chicken and ravioli) while Sara and Julia played nicely in the back yard. I gave them some water, cups, and a spinning toy - which was enough to occupy them for 20 minutes. "Mom, we are having so much fun!" Sara said to me as she continued playing. By the time they were done, both Sara and Julia were in bare feet, were soaked, and had happy-bright faces.
After dinner we played Lego (as usual), did bathtime, and then bedtime. Sara asked for "Sara stories" so I read some stories from my laptop that I've sent out via email over the years. She likes hearing about when she was a toddler - so when I look at those files I think they are so sweet - seeing Sara so little! Sara doesn't move when I show her the Sara Stories - she is glued to my side - just looking at the pictures and listening to the words. She figured out that I write them, and asked "are you working on one now?" which is interesting since I'm doing this blog and not really stories right now. Maybe I'll translate this long-winded stuff into some stories when we are back home.
Sara didn't go to sleep right away so I went to check on her. She was in a fort (she makes it every night) with a book on her pillow. The book had a hair band wrapped around it. "Are you reading?" I asked. [She often 'reads' books in bed.] "No Mom, I'm practicing. I'm having a music show tomorrow and I'm getting ready." She said. When I asked for a sample she snapped the hair band to make a sound, then she twanged the hair band to make a different sound. She was making music with an instrument she made herself! I said, "good night" and left the room smiling.
It was a good day. We didn't go anywhere, I had a lot of playtime with Sara and Julia, and Dan returned the rental car & telecommuted.
Quotes of the day:
Sara: "I don't want the world to change anymore. I like it the way it is." [a comment brought on by some videos we've watched about how the continents have shifted over time.]
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Sara: "Let's get home quick before Julia gobbles it all!" [a comment Sara had when we were trying to bring a crepe home to Dan -- and Julia was eating it!]
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Sara: "Mom, that was a French sneeze." [after Sara sneezed.]
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Sara: "Holly will be born on March 18th. Molly will be born on September 20th." [announcing the dates her children will be born]
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Sara: "Dad had his last birthday in Belgium" [Wow, out of no where Sara remembered we were in Belgium for Dan's birthday last year.]
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Sara: "I didn't have a favorite number until Miss Alexia's wedding. Then my favorite number was 1,000." [Wow again, Sara remembers that the first time she saw the number 1,000 was in a book of hymns in church. That was 2 years ago.]
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Me: "Time to close your eyes and go to sleep."
Sara: "How about open your eyes and go to sleep?"
End of Post.
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