We're officially half-way through our break. I think today pulled us into the overall-positive range, after a rocky day yesterday. I feel like we've planned this year better and are having a good time and will carry some real memories from it. However, it is also just hard to stay positive going morning to night with all three. Coordinating naps and travel and feeding and sleep are not easy. I don't know how people do this plus one or two full-times jobs all at the same time!
Sunday we did the New Year's meal with some foreigners, a retired pastor who lives on campus, and a few other guests. Eli loved the stairs and spent a lot of time practicing moving up and down them (he did this today at a playground we visited). Sam hadn't slept and seemed under the weather. He was "ok," but not very friendly. At this age, if they want to be done and go home, it's hard to keep them from telling everyone. The meal itself was great. Eva is doing more across-the-room walking. She's really getting her legs. They both seem to be saying a little more.
Monday we stayed close to home. We saw coworker John in the morning and two Americans in the afternoon (husband is retired and was guest teaching this last semester). They were pretty interesting--I really wish we'd met them earlier.
Tuesday a rough day. We got out the door late and the place we went was packed. Everyone wanted to stop and say hello to the twins. I don't know what would have made it better, but we were all in a funk by the time we got home.
Today was really a good day. We saw our adoptive aunt here. We went to visit her at a set of gardens and a tea house. The drive was smooth (after we had the address inserted into gps). The tea house was remarkably child-friendly. We could sort of barricade the twins away from the food (important because of hot tea, etc.). There was an awesome indoor playground (helpful for a cold, rainy day), and the gardens were absolutely beautiful.
Sam got a DIY grasshopper, which made him very happy, and he napped all the way home. We had a good evening together. We did ten minutes of piano. I think he doesn't yet really hear tone differences. The "doh-doh-soh-soh" of twinkle-twinkle is hard for him to hear, so he's tempted to just bang on keys and sing. But he enjoys playing with it and I think in time he'll develop and ear. It's at least a fun hobby for dad.
Tomorrow the plan is to have international students over. Friday we are going to drive to a school about fifty miles away (a big drive for us). Sunday is church. That's our week.
Otherwise, things are coming along. I've had a little bit of the "things are harder cross-culturally than I would like them to be" feeling. It's helpful for me to remember that neither P-Town nor H-Town were super easy either. I'm probably idealizing our trip home a bit. I think I tend to overthink things, which is not always helpful. At the same time, overthinking has helped me stay sane in some kind of crazy situations and we have done a really good job with several big adjustments (geographic, occupational, kids).
That's our news! Just four more days of all-family fun...
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