May 28, 2025
I woke up a bit before everyone this morning and got to sit out on the balcony with my coffee to do some life admin and read the news. The weather is pleasant in the morning, crazy how it cranks up thirty degrees in only a few hours. Hopefully we can get out in the morning a bit earlier but with the later evenings its tough, plus nothing is really open early.
I was eventually discovered on the balcony and we all started our day with breakfast in the apartment while getting ready to venture out. Kayleen made an appointment to get a pedicure and the boys both wanted to join and get their toes painted. As we all made our way to the nail salon we had to figure out where to bring the garbage from our apartment. The dumpster was about a block away, not very convenient, but the city is very clean so whatever their logic is it seems to work.
Luckily the boys were able to squeeze in with Kayleen so I left them and went to check out a market a few blocks away. It was still opening when I got there, around noon, but had restaurants and all different food vendors. I had to add a stop at Starbucks on my way home to search for Ollie’s missing water bottle, which luckily was there.
There was time for some quick exercise in the apartment before everyone returned. The boys had been mistaken for twins are the salon, not the first time that has happened, but where both happy to show off their color choices. Lenny got green and blue which I told him was like a ninja turtle. That sent him into a rendition of this best karate moves. Ollie got gold and silver which I said made him look like a money man or rich guy. He broke into some made up dance he called his “money dance.”
They had all stopped at the grocery store on their way back to get food for lunch and dinner. Ollie had begged to hold the apples only to swing them around and drop them immediately. At this point it’s almost expected to happen when they ask to hold something at the store but somehow still causes us great frustration.
After lunch it was home school time. They boys have not fought the return of home school at all which is a little surprising. I changed Lenny’s iPad learning game to kindergarten as he was becoming too cocky with the preschool tasks. So far he can still get through it without too much trouble except when the numbers get over 20. Ollie wrote to his friend from home Dean. Even with all the things we have done in the last 2.5 months it’s shocking how hard it is for him to think of things to write.
Kayleen found a yoga class she wanted to check out in the afternoon so the boys and I hung around the apartment while she went. Before she went we were wondering if it would all be in Spanish and it was! She said it was still fun but not as relaxing since she needed to pay closer attention to what the rest of the class was doing.
We headed to a pottery painting studio in the late afternoon to stay out of the heat. Once we get the boy’s focus on an art project they get very into it. Lenny frequently says he misses his after school art class.
First we had to pick a piece we wanted to paint, which were all laid out in the back of the store. Shortly after starting this process Lenny hit Kayleen’s arm and she dropped a small dish which shattered. There were some tears from Lenny but he recovered quickly and choose a monster to paint. Kayleen got another dish, Ollie a small pot, and me a mug.
The boys required help here and there, getting new colors and writing letters on their pieces, but worked quietly otherwise. Lenny would frequently ask Ollie if he liked his monster. Ollie would ignore him until we told him he was being rude. Once Lenny got some positive feedback he would then tell everyone else how much he liked what they were painting. We worked for 2 hours on our designs and left them to get fired, as Lenny calls it “getting roasted”. Will be back to scoop them on Saturday.
We headed home and Kayleen cooked dinner while I watched the Disney classic Cool Runnings with the boys. The questions where endless but the movie from 35 years ago held but pretty good. I think their favorite part might have been the bar fight…. We had pasta and tiny clams for dinner which was very good, no leftovers.
Kayleen took the boys for their 9:30PM ice cream walk while I stayed back and cleaned up. Tonight was a convenience store popsicle night instead of our gelato shop. They swapped a taste of each others, which has become a common occurrence. Though there is extreme caution, on both sides, to ensure the size of the tasting bite is fair.
I was on the balcony folding laundry when they were walking back. Everyone outside got to enjoy Lenny screaming up to me about their ice cream adventure. Once they got upstairs and finished eating it was time for another 10PM bedtime.
