February a blur

This has been an intense, exciting few weeks. Emily's now been back for more than a week, and is back on US time. She's been writing well.

New Year worked out impressively well. The weather held and so we were able to spend some time outside. I took the kids to the palace musuem the first day. The second day we visited our friend about 50 minutes a way for a meal (I made spaghetti casserole, which they liked). Saturday we did a park and Emily came back that night. Sunday was church (which was very mellow since the English service was cancelled--we just played in the baby room). Monday and Tuesday were fun days with Emily back and we logged some good playground time. She'd also carried back Randy's baseball mit, so we practiced chasing and scopping baseballs. The rules are still a bit of a mystery to Sam, but he enjoys it and plays well with others (we have a practice tonight). He has his dads propensity for staring off into space or playing with the grass. On the other hand, he's getting started really early. The rumor is that the baseball season starts next month, so I'm hoping we can get some tickets and see a game at the local stadium.

In terms of books/media/music, they are pretty into all things superhero, but love their books. From the neighors we've borrowed the idea of a quiet time, just ten or fifteen minutes after dinner and before bath. Everyone is to go to their beds and look at books or play with a toy. It's continuing to be a highlight of the evening (for us), and the kids even ask for it. I know they love each other, and they play well together, but they also need some solo time and some one on one time with us.

Tonight I plan to take Sam to baseball and then to the movie. It will be a rush to get there, and I hope I don't miss too much of it. Still, it's a rainy day and it will be a nice treat for him. I hope it's fun.

We're also starting to plan the summer. I feel like I'm always a little behind on things. We're still not sure how to do this. Fly to a major airport near family? Fly out of a major airport? When in June do we return? How many church events should I plan? I'm hoping to fill this in during the months ahead.

Not too much else to report. Everyone is healthy and energetic. We watched some of the Olympics, which encouraged a number of gymanstic performances around the house, on the couch, etc. Fun times!