Family Time

This weekend was filled with lots of quality time with extended family. Saturday was Yom Kippur, which is a day of mourning (and fasting- although only for Daddy this year, since Mommy is pregnant and Alex and Ari are too young to fast!) While it is typically a very somber day, we tried to keep it somewhat light for Alex and Ari's benefit, as they clearly don't understand the significance of the day. Daddy was a real trouper despite the fact that he was running low on energy because he was fasting, going along with Mommy to take the kids to a playground so that they didn't have to be cooped up in the house all day. Alex and Ari appreciated his effort and enjoyed the "new" playground that was a short drive away from the house.

Aunt Betty and Cousins Alan and Nicole were in town to visit for the weekend, so Alex and Ari enjoyed a lot of special attention from their extended family. Alan and Nicole came by to visit yesterday, bearing special gifts for Alex and Ari- a doctor's kit (hint, hint!) and a neat building set. Alex and Ari are fascinated with the tools in the doctor's kit. Ari has been wearing the plastic band-aid around the house, with the stethoscope around her neck, and Alex likes to pump the blood pressure cuff. Nana and Poppy stopped by on their way home from services, too, so there were a lot of people to play with Alex and Ari.

Today we had quite a busy day. After Daddy coached a (winning) soccer game, we all headed out to Miri and Opa's house for a lunch with Aunt Betty and family friends Marie and Roberto, who had not seen the kids in over a year. Alex and Ari enjoyed a lunch of whitefish salad (go figure!), cheese, cold cuts, croissants, fruit and, of course, cookies. They also had fun playing with their grandparents and getting to know Marie and Roberto.

After we got home from Miri and Opa's house, Nana and Poppy came over to help Daddy move furniture out of the future nursery and down into the basement. He also "fixed" our lawn mower, which we thought was broken but in fact was not. Luckily Poppy is a lot more handy than Mommy and Daddy when it comes to anything remotely mechanical. While he was here, Poppy also inflated Alex and Ari's new toy- a Jumpolene ball pit. Alex and Ari were skeptical of the new toy at first, but as soon as Mommy threw in some balls (300 to be exact, which didn't even make a dent in the Jumpolene...looks like we're going to have to buy about 3000 additional balls) the kids jumped in and we couldn't get them out. Looks like we have a new favorite toy in the house!

So even though the weekend started on a somber note, we had some special times with family and had a pleasant weekend, anyway. We're all rested and ready for another busy week!