Encounter

You know you have been away from your schedule too long, when your four-year-old announces, “I’m going to stay up late tonight!” and your two-year-old immediately pipes in, “me too!” This week was our transition from vacation to reality. The first half of the week was all play: sleeping in, fancy breakfasts, children’s museum, zoo, aquarium, movie parties, snow days and pizza dinners. The second half was back to reality: early mornings, cleaning day, schedules, shoveling, play dates, missing dad, church callings, and gymnastics. It’s not all bad to be back to business, but it is undoubtedly an adjustment.

Kate made a new friend this week.

Great picture, eh? Our last day of play with Joshua before he started back into class we ventured to the aquarium. Fortunately no one else got the memo. It was not crowded at all, atypical for any place in Philadelphia, and the animals gave us quite the show. Kate and Jane both got to interact with the seals at the seal show (because they were 2 out of the 3 children there). We all got to feed African birds out of our hands and touch star fish, sea anemones, and jelly fish. The highlight, however, was the hippo! As you can see, it was not your typical hippo viewing experience. We had a super fun day.

Josh is assuring me this semester is not going to be bad. As the wife and mother, I exercising the right to reserve judgement for a few weeks. I’m trying to manage my expectations and rid that idea from my head for now. The good news is Josh is excited about the classes he is taking. The even better news is that he got an A+ in his negotiations class last semester. Even I never received an A+ in college. He walked in and said, “Guess what grade I got in negotiations.” Being a smart alec I came back with, “an A plus plus plus.” He said, “yep” and walked out of the room, smiling over his shoulder.

The girls and I had our friends the Mortensens over to play this week. Lucy is Kate’s age. Sarah is Jane’s age. And Lori is a kindred spirit. They were here for almost four hours. Kate and Lucy were playing pirate ship on the bunk beds upstairs. Jane and Sarah were playing grocery store and polly pockets downstairs. Lori and I were talking about sewing and cooking and “horse and toad” movies(Jane Austin type). There wasn’t a glitch, an argument, or a catastrophe the whole day. We named ourselves the Ladybug Club and we are looking forward to many adventures, projects, and play sessions throughout the semester.

We will survive!