the blog has been delayed for several reasons -- lack of good internet connection, kids, illness, and fatigue -- but the desire has been there. i wonderful if it has become as pleasurable for me as it is for others. mostly for lack of internet i must add as i can't seem to get a signal unless i am in a corner of the bed but not even then.
On sunday morning, K woke up and her first word was "ocean." She repeated it several times very excitedly. It was 7:45, Eastern time. So much for sleeping in. We were the first ones up. Ruskin made pancakes, the kids ran around to take inventory of the sleeping vs awake grown-ups, and generally there was a lot of activity. the benefit of being awake that early was that we could go to the beach, right outside our door, by 10 AM. R and K dug up the sand something fierce. K in her very wily ways convinced her Rocky Mama to fetch her a pail of water. well there were several dozens pails of water. There was much discussion about the cities we were building that were connected by a river. hmm sounds familiar. our very own waterworks with an extra overflow reservoir. Unsurprisingly, R was in the water with his dad, deep in the waves bouncing up and down. k, on the other hand, had to be convinced that the waves tickling her toes her ok. once i told her that the waves tickled her and she felt safe, she was delighted and was laughing out loud. soon everyone was outside. nani and nana went for a walk. k and i went for a walk. everyone else was swimming. there was a second round of beach after lunch (bhel courtesy of nani), nap and afternoon time. one was a guppy and the other sand crab. it was a pleasant time in the sun and surf. this was the beach house experience i had imagined. just a few steps to the ocean, people coming and going when they need, nice gentle day. seema and rakesh made dinner. tomato pesto with pine nuts, garlic bread, and salad. very yummy. since K had napped and R had not, ruskin put him down for bed. we kept K up long enough to get him to sleep and then the sandman came back for her. finally we had two kids asleep. ruskin and i had videos of the kid and a captive audience for a half hour. unfortunately, we can't post any of them here. the two favorites, however, were one of K deciding to deliver r's shoes to him, and then inexplicably dropping them and running back and forth over the same 10 feet while vocalizing very loudly like an airplane. the other favorite was one of her playing hide and go seek after she pulled her pants and diaper down.
monday morning actually brought us much more sleep (slept in til 9:30). after a good breakfast of soy sausage and english muffins or toast for most everyone, the kids went off to play with grandma sue and uncle tom while the desai's had a family meeting. ruskin generously participated and much was accomplished. the afternoon brought some more surf and sand time. k had had a short nap with uncle tom pushing her in the stroller, but she was clearly off beside her lack of nap. she clung to me pretty much for about 3 hours. R had a wonderful time building new aqua-architecture. grandma sue and Rakesh brought many buckets of water. my girl and I walked up the beach for a while. and then we got to sit in the sun and relax while catching up grandma sue. it was nice to see R playing with his two uncles, his dad bobbing freely in the water, and grandma sue hanging out with her sleepy granddaughter catching up on family updates. i have to admit that i am really enjoying doing the blog so that i can help family feel more connected and get these updates more continuously. after a bit, dad took k for a walk to rest, and i built a volcano with R. rocky mama brought magma from the center of the earth which he poured it into the volcano and became lava when he erupted. at the same time, the magic school bus was trying to escape from the center of the earth through volcano eruption so since R could hear the bus beeping and drilling, we had to ensure that the lava kept flowing and rocky mama continued his deliveries. if rocky mama ever needs a weight loss regime (and he does not), he can offer his assistance to the kids.
K had a fever and so did her masee. masee's was a lot worse and despite her not feeling well, she was quite a trooper about dinner. she and tom grilled some delicious veggies, tofu, and mushrooms for dinner. unfortunately, k and seema were both feeling poorly and had to take meds. we hope they both feel better soon. r ate veggie lasagna with zuke, spinach, and some broccoli in it without even blinking. how great is that! so i was very happy getting in those veggies. i think his aversion to green and vegetables is changing. k had ice cream and smoothie for dinner after 3 bites of several different items. i let it go because of her not feeling well and grandma sue assured me that she had had a good lunch. at dinner, we read some of the books that they had picked up at the library today. after dinner, there was "game time." this period entailed R and K going through each of the games we have (goodnight moon, dominoes, checkers, etc.) and playing them. which basically meant setting them up in some fashion and then knocking the pieces over.
Tuesday, nana had plans to look at condos and the rest of us were on our own. we ddid the usual with beach time, lunch, and naps. today r's waterworks plan became more elaborate and his sister enjoyed digging as well. she has still not grown to like being outside on the sand and beach. much of our time is spent walking up and down the beach. she does enjoy walking on the sand and in the water luckily. and another favorite is the sea gulls. we had burned english muffins from breakfast and she shrieked with delight quite like a gull when they flocked to her to tussle over the scraps.
We had dinner at Carraba's (italian) with friends of the family. but with a table of 13, it was difficult to have a conversation. the restaurant was not remarkable but my pasta was special order and quite tasty. there was an hour wait for dinner despite the call-ahead. most exciting for the kids was that it was next to the mini-golf place with the volcano. last year, R had been frightened by the rumble. this year, he and his sister were enthralled. they loved the waterfalls (boomshallah), the "eruptions" (fire spouting out), and the rumbles. both ate well, including zucchini "french fries" for K and R. one more veggie, albeit deep-fried. still it had a green skin and it went in. K wanted "happy to you" cake. we got one piece of chocolate cake to go and had candles at home. ms. k could not get enough of the singing and candles. luckily, everyone was happy to oblige the empress. as we left the restaurant, k pointed to the moon and said "moon, sleeping, sshhhh!' and held her finger to her lips.
Wednesday, beach in the morning, followed by an afternoon with grandma sue. ruskin's cousin belinda, aunt doris, and aunt bette were due in for lunch. though they did not make it until much later in the day, the kids went over to say hi and have dinner there. the rest of us barbecued and had some desai family time (with tom sullivan honorary desai if he wants to be).
R came back very excited about building robots with recycled parts. little did we know that this passion would extend to an obsession in gathering every spare piece of recycling and garbage that he could get his hands on. i opted to not go visiting as i had a migraine. my body is not used to the sleep. hydrotherapy was the best remedy i decided and spent some nice quality time with my brother rakesh in the ocean. we promised each other to keep an eye on the other. we survived and were joined by tom later. the highlight of the evening was everyone out on the back porch watching the lightening show after dinner. it was amazing and beautiful to watch the
Thursday, hooray. today we have been able to get K into the water. our success resulted from her participation in the waterworks project. she began to enjoy the waves entering the pool and worked up to wanting to be in them standing on her own. this was our longest and most enjoyable venture. at one point, she and he were in the water laughing at the waves. we now know she is a desai-hunt. the others also obliged us and let ruskin and i sneak into the water by ourselves for a good 15 minutes or so. it was quite nice to see each other and play.
dinner at the mexican restaurant was less successful. it took a while for everyone to arrive, order, and the food to be served. by then the children were past their peak. R was especially tired and ruskin was a little short on patience. we all survived and headed home for more lightening shows.
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