weekend recap (aka we miss daddy)

The kids and I ended our daddy-less streak with a two night stay at a friend's apartment (they are currently out of the country and we occasionally 'borrow' their home!).

We arrived on Friday afternoon and discovered a power outage over that section of the city.  The kids were so distracted by the “new” toys that they hardly even noticed, but it was HOT HOT HOT with no air con or fans to move the air around.  

Isaac woke up drenched in sweat from his nap and shortly after we headed outside for a picnic walk.  Picnic walks are one of my kids’ favorite meals – we lap blocks and loop neighborhoods, grazing as we go… yogurt here, dried fruit there, crackers down the road, street food across the way…. and big bottles of water to drink (and spill) as we wander.  Sometimes we walk while we eat and sometimes we find a little park or bench to rest.  I always have the stroller along and Isaac hops in and out depending on his personal whims and an occasional “you must get in the stroller now” from me!

Picnic walk is my #1 go-to-meal when the power is out and Matt has missed suppertime for (what seems like) weeks on end!   Well, we walked and walked, found some dessert, walked some more.  Bumped into some friends and visited a bit, then walked some more!  I kept thinking the power would be back ‘any minute’ but it just got darker and the power stayed out.  Finally, a little before 8 we bit the bullet and came inside.  Within minutes the kids’ stripped down to underwear (to beat the heat).  A friend from upstairs sat with me while the kids played and the house got darker and darker.  At one point I realized I better scrounge for some candles and matches before it got too dark to see anything :)

Power was back at 9 or so and we cranked the air conditioners, brushed teeth and hit the sack!  Whew!  The rest of our weekend passed uneventfully, we enjoyed being in an area with a few more friends/acquaintances around and I was especially grateful for the company!  

Matt was on the bus before we sat down to breakfast Sunday morning and a few hours later I got the dreaded text message: “Road blocked by landslides.  Nothing moving.  No idea when I’ll make it home.”   [I had been harboring a smidge of hope he’d be home by nightfall.]  

Grateful again for a small group of friends who gathered for Sunday morning fellowship (we hosted at our ‘borrowed’ home) and a slow afternoon and then the best news of the day: traffic was moving, buses were rolling and Matt would be here before dark!  Yay!

Julianna presented her Daddy with this handmade card

I slept til 8:15 this morning!  Woke up to a quiet home and realized Matt must be out taking the girls to school.  He's here through the end of the week (and only working part-time) then leaves for a final 12-day trip which is his last travel until late August.  We have, off and on, considered accompanying him on this final jaunt, but several factors have convinced us it's just not a good set up (landslides, water outages, unknowns (like location) too numerous to count).

So, here we are determined to enjoy this week-of-Daddy.  Temperatures have soared and we're heading to the pool for the afternoon!