Long Weekend

Today is Good Friday. Is it a holiday in the US? I don't remember ever getting the Friday before Easter off...but my mind is slipping. I think it's an observed Cameroonian holiday. Devin has the day off, and yesterday was treated as a Friday (which means he got out of work at 12:30). So, we went to our favorite place to eat: The Euro Marche. Mmmmm...real Italian food! We invited some friends with us because they had never been there. (Apparently, the reason they'd never gone is because someone else told them that the owner had told him that if he ever saw another American come into his store he'd cut off their foot...or something to that effect, and that the owner was very rude toward Americans in general. We've never felt any hostility from anyone...but we are pretty oblivious.) But, a nice time was had by all. We enjoyed getting to know a new family (they have 3 girls-one is Josh's age), and that's always nice. We discovered a new thing at the Euro Marche: They have a huge fish tank! Andrew discovered it. We were letting him roam free somewhat, and he stood at this one spot for about 15 minutes. He is not one to stand still in a new place (or any place) so I went over to see, and he was completely mesmerized by this giant tank full of fish! I told everyone else, and all the kids had a ball watching all these fish swim around! I wish I would have brought my camera!! Although, I don't usually bring my camera around, since I'm always afraid I'll get in trouble for taking pictures. I've heard that you have to have a permit to take pictures in the city...I don't know if it's true or not, but I don't want to cause trouble anywhere. It was fun! Then after the pizza, we came here and had our homemade Soy Ice Cream...Mmmmmmmmmm... It is yummy, if I do say so myself...and I can, because usually Devin makes it! :) He does a good job. It was a hit, as always. A yummy cold treat. The kids all played. It is interesting to me, that when the kids play by themselves, they usually play 'airport'. I suppose it's because they've been in lots of airplanes...so they're always pretending they're going somewhere. They get bags and backpacks and fill them full of stuff, then they visit far away and exotic places (yesterday was Arizona). The interesting thing, though, is they played with their new friends yesterday while the adults sat and talked (as is normal for everyone), and they all played airport together. Their kids play airport all the time, too, so they merged their imaginations and were completely compatible. I suppose it must be a common thing among foreign service kids, as they travel a LOT. Interesting. I remember playing with My Little Ponies and visiting forests. I didn't go on my first airplane until I had graduated from high school. These little guys, on the other hand, will probably have traveled the globe before they even get to high school.

They are growing up so fast...



Their new favorite game is wearing my shoes all over the house. And Josh is always putting on a tie with his t-shirt. The first few times he did it, I laughed like crazy! I asked him why he wore a tie with his t-shirt, and he said to me in his most grown up and 'Why-are-you-even-asking-me-this-question-because-it's-so-obvious-Mom' voice: "I just want to look extra nice today, Mom." Ok. Can't argue with that.

Tomorrow we're going to an Easter party at the Marine house...I appreciate that they didn't have it on Sunday as I had feared they would. That will be fun, as I'll get lots of candy... :)