the longest day of the year, long wait, and a very special day for emma

did you know that yesterday was the longest day of the year? It's true. Hopefully for us, that means that our children will gradually start pushing back their 6:30am wake up time if the days are getting shorter. That would be, hmmm, so great. But anyway, since yesterday was the longest day of the year, my house helper decided to make for lunch a very traditional dish for "longest day of the year" lunch. Yes, every day is a day to commemorate over here. :)

So we had noodles. You know, because they are long. EVERYONE eats noodles on the longest day of the year. Long day, eat long food. Sometimes the straight-forwardness of this culture cracks me up.

Yesterday also was Friday, which meant family night at the pool. Fun times. We hopped in a taxi after the girls woke up in the afternoon and went to the pool. Ok, so we did feel a little bit weird carrying our HUGE sea turtle floatey (Emma's) and the bright orange giraffe (mantha's) with us in the rain as we walked to the taxi, but hey, sometimes you just have to sacrifice for your kids. :)

Emma has gradually warmed up to the pool. The first visit, she sat on the lounge chair the whole time because she was afraid to get in. The second visit, she was willing to sit in the specially hand-picked sea turtle, but was absolutely unwilling to try to swim in the water with her floaties. Well, yesterday, we coaxed her to get out her BFF the sea turtle and let daddy hold her.

While daddy was holding her, we reminsced about swimming at our little villa in thailand and we reminded her that clara anne loved swimming by herself in the pool (with the floaties, of course!). We told her how clara anne loved swishing around, like a little fish, and didn't need her daddy to hold her. Emma's eyes sparkled with determination as she slowly, s-l-o-w-l-y eased away from daddy's strong shoulders.

Within seconds, she was swimming (thanks to the floaties) all by herself, unassisted in the pool. AND she loved it! She loved feeling like a big girl; she loved that we were so proud of her. And she really looked like a big girl - bobbing up and down all by herself - in that big blue pool. Wow, my sweet emma...she is so big.

Sidebar: The other day, she told me that she wanted to have a baby. (No, I'm not kidding.) I told her that was wonderful, but that she had to wait. I told her first she had to learn her letters, then write her name, then ride a bike, then learn to swim, then learn to rollerskate, then go to school, then drive a car, then she had to wait for God to give her a husband, then maybe God might give her a baby. She seemed ok with that.

Ok, so back to yesterday. So in celebration of her big-girl skill, we told her she could have her very own chocolate doughnut after we went swimming. She was jazzed about that and kept swimming on her own to make sure that her "very-own-doughnut-status" was not in question. After we ate doughnuts, we went outside (still raining) to get a taxi home. It was 5:55pm.

Being the longest day of the year, it would only seem logical that we must have our longest-ever wait for a taxi yesterday. Finally, at 6:30 we got a taxi, and the three mile journey to our home took another 30 minutes, thanks to a brand-new road construction project on the road outside our house.

But we got home, ate leftovers (another part of the friday tradition) and then...as if the day wasn't special enough, Emma, mommy and daddy watched "Cars". Emma seldom watches tv or movies, so she knew it was a special occasion - and was delighted when we brought out the popcorn and brownies. Fun times in the making.

Samantha, on the other hand, was a bit grouchy last night and a very random 101 degree fever. Once she was down for the night, she seemed much more comfortable, but even this morning and today she just hasn't seemed herself. :( Her front two teeth now show when she smiles, so she's no longer gummy baby. bummer. She was so cute that way!

**Note to self and readers: pictures to come. Post about samantha's birthday party still to come. **