Post vacation activity

I am sure many of you would agree with me, after a vacation with kids, we adults would love to have just a few days away from them, agree?

So we dump Niuniu back to his daycare and Zhuzhu to a summer camp run by our university and call it's done.  It's Zhuzhu's first summer camping experience and she has not complained so far.  Quite the opposite, she has been enjoying it immensely because she suddenly finds out all her preschool friends are coming back to her life.

To us, however, this summer camping means our work day has become short.  So we decided to make her summer and our baby sitting life less boring by introducing the kids a bit of ice skating.

One lesson later, the kids could stand, walk, and slide on ice comfortably.  Three lessons later, the kids can now "skate" on ice rink.  According to Zhuzhu, she likes ice skating better than skiing.

I signed up ice skating lessons myself and I have been learning it side-by-side with Zhuzhu and Niuniu, which amused them quite a bit, although I had had only few minor and well-controlled falls in the first 2 lessons.

Last lesson however, I was quite confident on getting my balance under control, yet just at the moment that I felt quite good about myself, I had a terrible fall on the back, resulting a big bump on my old skull.  So I am living in a fear of getting a brain tumor!  

All I am trying to say here is that it's not surprising that I am still in a vacation mood.  What's strange is that Fabrice, the workaholic, seems to be still in his vacation mood also. 

Last night at 9 pm, I came home from my dance practice and found the garage door open, bedroom lights on, yet but no kids nor Fabrice.  At the beginning, I thought the kids were playing hide-and-seek with me like they often do, so I started to search inside the house.  When I failed to locate the daddy, I knew something went wrong.  So I started to shout out loud their names, but no one answered.  From the look of it, I knew the house was not robbed and the kids were not kidnapped.  Where could they be then, it was too late for them to be at our neighbors' as their kids'  bedtime is 7 pm.  

So I dialed Fabrice's cell phone and immediately I heard, "Heeeeeeelloooooo?"  He sounded mysterious and mischievous!  "Where are you and why the garage door is wide open?  And where are the kids?"  He said, "Ah ha?!"  Then I heard the kids laughing and talking excitingly on the background.   

"Oh, here I come!" I regretted immediately for all my questions, because I could hear the kids' real voices, which did not seem to be far.  I looked out the backdoor and there they were, flashing lights at me and towards all 4 directions!  They were inside a tent at the backyard!

So IN I went and the OUT I got as soon as I gave each of them few kisses.  

I did not want to stay inside the tend because the cushion was too thin to support my old bones.  

However, when I finished eating dinner and getting ready for the bed, it was too cold and too empty!  So I invaded the tent again but this time, no one was awake to welcome me.  I had to squeeze Fabrice to Niuniu's side.  But no matter how I tried, I just could not sleep!  

The dirt floor hurt, the air was too wet, the sky was too bright, the night was too quiet...

So I got out one more time to take my iPad so that I did not have to stay inside with my eyes wide open staring at the sky.  Then I spent next few hours watching the dance video against few warn bodies.  At 4 am, I got up to use the toilet in the house.  When I was done on my way back to the tent, I met Zhuzhu inside the house at the backdoor.   Why?  I asked and she said, "Daddy asked me to come in because it rained."  I wondered what had happened, we both had checked the weather report before we committed ourselves to a tent-camping out and confirmed the night would be free of rains.  Then I went outside and felt nothing was falling to my hand.  

I knew then the man was looking for excuses to come back to his comfortable bed.  There is no way the "rain" could become any bigger than few isolated drops!    

Anyway, it would be good for me.  I am too old to sleep in a tent!  Immediately, I helped the man to take everything back to the house.  And finally, I dosed off at 5 am or so.  

A romantic and unpredictable camping night ended up with 4 hours iPad watching in a tent for me.  But it implanted some ideas to the kids head and they went back inside the tent as soon as they got up this morning.  They have made the Daddy promise them to take them out for a real camping so that they could sleep in a tent for real next time because they enjoy it so much!

Yea kiddos, if only I could ask you to stay inside, like forever...