Happy, happy weekend

Well, except for the excruiating sinus infection. But once the drugs kicked in (azithromycin plus sudafed), I was much, much better. Saturday, we had Lilli, Sarah, Glennys, plus my two for the day. Marc took the three older girls to Hebrew School and I kept the other two home here. Then we had all five of them in the afternoon, and it was delightful. We went down the street to Cricket Park (which is really Elm Park Community School, with a big football field outback, lots of asphalt for drawing with chalk and riding bikes) and spent a couple of hours just hanging out. The girls colored this elaborate art museum, with paths thru the pictures that you could walk along and admire their drawings. Marc and Sam made up a new game (there’s nothing better than naming an activity – my kids play Chicken Feet (standing up on Daddy while he’s lying in bed and then tumbling off) and Sudafed (I’m not entirely sure what this is – I think it’s just jumping on Sam’s bed into each other and screaming “SUDAFED” as loud as they can). The new game is called “Super Cool Kick” and basically just involved Sam and Marc running and kicking a soccer ball up and down the field.

Saturday night, I had Marc drop the girls off early at home, and then Annie watched Jess and Sam while we went out to dinner and then we rode the Ferris Wheel at the carnival down at the Greendale Mall. Ferris Wheels terrify me, and I adore them. Since normally when we go to a carnival or amusement park, we’ve got lots of kids with us, I always have to go with cherubs and pretend not to be terrified so they, in turn, don’t panic and try to jump out. With no children there, I was free to be as girly as I wanted to be and cuddled up next to him and hid my face when we got too high. It was perfect.

Today – what did we do??? Oh yeah, big Cohen family party for Marc’s aunt at the Tower Hill Botanical Gardens. It was very nice, although I was chagrined to realize again that I have the most antisocial children in the place. At one point, Sam literally pushed his nose against mine and just held it there to make sure that people would stop trying to make eye contact with him. Jessie made Marc hold her and refused to talk to anyone who spoke to her. After the first hour or so, they loosened up, Jessie got her face painted and Sam started running all over the place. I got some great pictures of all four kids. They normally break up into two groups, and we, of course, named them. Jessie and Lilli have formed Team Pretty Pretty Princesses, and Sam and Sarah are Team Bum Bum. For some reason, Sam’s fascinated with the phrase “bum bum”, don’t know why, but I’ve stopped fighting it.

Then Sarah went home with her mom, and Marc and I took the three other kids down to my mother’s house for the afternoon. The kids played outside all afternoon, my brother came over with his three kids and my sister’s daughter, and it was just a great day. Weather was perfect, Sam napped on the couch and it was just one of those afternoons when it’s perfect to hang out on the porch and talk.

Marc and Sam are in the living room, watching Animal Planet, or something like that. Marc has turned off the light and I’m avoiding going in there, in the hopes that Sam will fall asleep on his lap.