This week is fall break, and the children have one full week off from school. Monday morning came, and we blissfully slept in. Well, not really actually. We had our time change this weekend so everyone was up early, but still, sans alarm clock was nice.
Monday and Tuesday were a breeze. The kids were so happy to be home. They went from one room to the next, playing with their toys as if it were Christmas Day and they had never seen them before. And get this, they even picked up after themselves!
By Tuesday afternoon, the novelty was wearing off, and boredom began to set in. But just in time, AJ's friend arrived for a sleep over. The atmosphere was fresh and exciting again, and the three boys played together without notable incidents through the next morning. Then I packed them (the boys) all off to soccer practice and an afternoon of fresh air and exercise combined with a late night the night before meant early bedtime. Good thing too, as John is off to Italy for a couple of days.
But I knew that this morning, we would need an outing. So what to do with three little kids? Maybe a museum? A google search revealed that a museum would either require public transportation or a drive (and parking) in Brussels traffic, and at least 40 euros in admission fees. I wasn't sure if I had enough patience to commit to such an outing. I also doubted my ability to come home with the same number of kids that I started with. Maybe if someone were paying me 40 euros, I would be able to find said patience, and not be tempted to sell one of them off at some point during the outing.
Instead, I packed them all up and took them to the local swimming pool. It can be an intimidating outing here. Swimming pools here have co-ed locker rooms and stringent rules about speedo swimsuits and swim caps. A quick look at the pool's website reassured me that I understood what I would need for this adventure. A former competitive swimmer myself, I made sure my silver silicon cap was tucked in our swim sack along with the speedos and towels and we were on our way.
After a combined 7.50 euros in entry fees (and that's even the non-resident rate) by approximately 10h15 we were happily splashing our way through the morning. By 12h30 we were home for lunch and a tired 3-year old was incredibly compliant with the idea of an afternoon nap.
As I type this, I have ten barrettes in my hair. (Miss B's new very favorite thing to do is put every barrette in my hair at once.) The boys are wrestling upstairs and I'm tired of telling them to go outside, and anyway now it's raining, so I'm just going to let them have at it until someone gets hurt and then I can say "I told you so."
Miss B is now busy putting all of her dollies in "time out" on the steps. At least she has found someone to yell and boss that is happy to go along with it (the boys aren't always excited about going into time out just because their little sister tells them to - nor am I.)
Ok, time to sign-off. The inevitable happened and there is loud crying and a lot of pain coming from one of the boys upstairs. I get to go say "I told you so" and then move on to my special reserve rainy day idea - an afternoon movie.
But what, I ask you, am I going to do with tomorrow?!
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