Wine shopping anyone?

Another sunny day dawned in Philly and Simone's hubby bubbled with enthusiasm. Not about the weather: about the day's outing! "Your father is going to take us to a few wine shops today. The prices and the selection are so much better here in the states - and that superstore in Maryland has some amazing wines. This is going to be great!" Gushed hubby. Simone looked at the sunshine, filtering through the leaves of the trees outside and thought that a day spent hopping from wine shop to wine shop would be mighty boring for little B, especially on a day like today. "How about you guys go wine shopping and I'll stay here with the kids? I'm sure little B would love to go to the playground for the morning?" She suggested. Little B concurred heartily and so it was that Simone and the little guy walked to the local playground a little while after the men had left on their adventure. The place was packed with kids, parents, guardians, brothers, sisters and four-legged friends. Little B spent nearly two hours climbing and sliding, chasing and laughing. When he finally wound down, they headed home, each of them smiling. Hubby and Simone's dad arrived soon after, both of them also visibly pleased with their outing. "Thank-you for letting me drive your car," Simone's dad said. And he seemed genuinely pleased to have done so. All in all, a pretty successful morning's work...

Un petit restaurant italien

Arrivée à Philadelphie par un beau vendredi ensoleillé... Simone, son mari et les enfants se détendait chez le père de Simone alors que celui-ci et sa femme étaient au boulot. "On leur prépare quelque chose pour ce soir?" Suggéra le mari de Simone qui devait s'ennuyer. Simone, qui était bien heureuse de ne rien faire le regarda d'un oeil mauvais mais consentit tout de même à l'aider à faire le tour de la cuisine. Ils constatèrent rapidement qu'il n'y avait pas grand chose. Faute de faire un ravitaillement, il faudrait sortir au restaurant ce soir-là. "Et bien justement," s'exclama le papa à Simone lorsqu'ils l'appelèrent. "Vous avez le choix: c'est ou le restaurant allemand ou le restaurant italien." Bon, bah va pour l'italien alors. Et quel restaurant! Assis à une table rectangulaire de 20 personnes, entourés de tables semblables, ça aurait pu être folklorique. Mais non. Pas du tout. Le service a été impeccable, le vin de même (il faut dire que le papa à Simone connait TRÈS bien ses vins) et la nourriture très bonne. D'ailleurs, tout le monde a trop mangé. Bon. On fait une petite promenade maintenant? Histoire de digérer? Allons-y!

Pool anyone?

Night had set by the time Simone's hubby pulled the car up to the front of their hotel and still everyone in the vehicle was wide awake. Even little B, energized by the video cornucopia before him, was up and raring to go. Now normally, Simone, hubby and the kids would all have been happy to tuck themselves into bed for a good night's rest but today was not a typical day. They had purposefully driven a little out of the way to stop overnight at a hotel close to where Simone's brother and his family lived. These two families of mostly early to bed folk, with a couple of notable exceptions, had promised to get together for a swim in the hotel pool. Little B and his cousin, little N, had never met before and it had been a few years since the 13 year old had seen her 10 year old cousin, so things got off to a slow start. Which was surprising, given that the hotel pool was barely bigger than an oversized hot tub. However, everyone enjoyed a few pool games right up until the pool closed at 10 pm. At this point, the group headed back up to the room where they indulged in some beer,for the big kids, juice, for the younger kids, and pie for everybody. And, at this point, little B and little N truly got things going, with a game of hide the toy from "dummy Mommy", who could not seem to figure out where in the world the mischievous boys were putting the stuffed animal. Simone's hubby did his best to get some work done as the noise level reached dangerous levels and, too soon, it was time for Simone's brother to go. Everyone slept exceedingly well that night...

En route!

Tout le monde en voiture pour un petit voyage en Pennsylvanie. Un petit voyage, certes: Simone et son mari n'avaient que trois jours de disponible. Mais 10 heures de route, ce n'est pas rien. Simone était occupée avec une traduction mais même avant de passer la frontière, le petit B s'ennuyait. La grande de 13 ans s'inquiétait aussi. Avait-elle au moins apporté assez de livres pour la tenir occupée tout le long du voyage? Et que faire au retour? Donc arrêt au magasin pour un "jouet" électronique qui allait être sensationnel - les jeunes pourraient chacun de leur côté visionner leur propre vidéo! Il fallait, bien sûr, aussi acheter des films. Le petit B était au septième ciel! Que de films! Il y aurait certainement de quoi le passionner pendant quelques heures. "Une minute!" S'écria Simone avant de quitter le stationnement du magasin. "Nous avons oublié quelque chose de primordial!" ...des écouteurs! (Ouf! Même pas obligé d'écouter les "Chipmunks" chanter!)

Nana!

On a warm sunny day, Simone, the 13 year old and little B headed out to Toronto to visit Simone's mother. Little B brought his DS. The 13 year old brought along a couple of books. Simone brought her reading glasses: on the menu would be some computer lessons for Simone's mom. Simone's mom had prepared a lovely lunch, to be consumed post computer lesson. Everyone sat down, ate to their heart's content and eagerly awaited dessert. Toasty caramel roasted almonds cookies - Simone still salivates as she remembers the melt in your mouth taste... In order to work off some of their intake before heading back home, Simone and her mom took the kids down to the playground. Of course, the only one truly interested in the playground was little B. He kept trying to coax his big sister, who was definitely much more interested in the next chapter of her book, into playing hide and seek. Finally, they all headed back to the car and bid Nana goodbye. It was, all in all, a lovely way to spend a Tuesday afternoon.

La bibliothèque

Le petit B n'y avait pas été depuis un bail et il sautillait de joie tellement il était content d'y retourner. "On va au château d'abord?" Voulu-t-il savoir. "Non. D'abord, on va jeter un coup d'oeil ici. Regarde: il y a plein de livres en français. Est-ce que tu en vois quelques-uns qui te tentent?" Et le petit B de glisser une dizaine de livres dans le sac de bibliothèque. Le château l'intéressa moins que prévu. Par contre, il y avait un petit théâtre de marionnettes et le petit B s'enthousiasma à nouveau. "Tu veux m'aider?" Demanda-t-il à plusieurs enfants avant de trouver deux petites filles qui acceptaient, elles, de prendre chacune une marionnette. Le spectacle fut amusant: un lapin, un ours et un bébé à la chasse aux carottes! Le petit B trouva ensuite une bonne vingtaine de livres qui le captivait et presque une heure plus tard, il était temps de partir. "Tu t'es amusé?" Demanda Simone. Le petit B hocha la tête. "On revient demain?" Trente livres en une soirée? Et puis pourquoi pas...

The Coin des petits

And it began with a visit to the Coin des petits. The regular coordinator was going away and had asked Simone to step in for her. Little B was delighted to revisit his old haunt, as was Simone: the centre provides a safe play environment for the little ones and adult conversation for the big ones. Plus they serve fresh, hot coffee. What's not to like? Except that when Simone and little B got there, the coffee wasn't ready. Simone had to make it. And the instructions were noticeably absent. First try? The coffee was a slightly tinted version of water with very little flavour. Second try? Too strong. WAY too strong. Third try? There wasn't a third try. After all, the centre is a non-profit outfit and coffee money doesn't grow on trees so Simone settled for a cup of tea. The kettle, a plug in version, was easy to use as were the tea bags. The beverage making experiment took up the better part of an hour and, fortunately or not depending on the point of view, nobody had dropped in to the centre. Little B had the run of the toys and crafts and Simone? Well, Simone was sorely regretting the lack of adult reading material in the centre. Conversation between adults usually necessitates more than one adult... In the end, she got down on all fours and played cars and trucks with the little guy, gave out a snack at snack time, built a tower with the large foam blocks, read a book to little B, had a mock picnic with the play food and finished off with circle time and songs. At 11:25, a harried looking mother dropped in with her three kids. "Um, did you know that we close at 11:30?" Simone asked, aware that, clearly, the woman would not know that since she'd dropped in so close to closing time. "Well, what time is it now?" The woman snapped. "William, do not hit your little brother!" Simone pointed eloquently at the clock on the back wall. The woman stared at the clock for a few moments, as the seconds hand ticked around the face. "Fine," she growled. "Fine. William, Eliot and James. Do NOT roll on the floor like that. You are not dusters. No, do not go in there. The lady says that the place is closed now." Three little boys stared longingly at Simone. A fourth one, little B, joined in a heartbeat later. Sigh. Maybe we can close a little later today. "What do you say we stay open for another twenty minutes?"