we made it!

But just barely. There was a point in the flight when I had just pulled the last toy out of the carry on bag (and Georgia summarily threw on the floor with an insulted shriek...) and I glanced at my watch to see how much time we had left. I honestly, sincerely thought that my watch was broken because it said that the flight wasn't even half way over. I decided, judging by my level of mental and physcial exhaustion + the fact that we had no entertainment or snack food left in the carry-on, that we had about 2 hours left to go in our 9 hour flight. It was only when they flashed the flight info up on the screen between films that I realized that my watch was fine. I was nearly dead from the effort of entertaining the two girls- although mainly from trying to keep my favorite screamy toddler happy- and just had nothing left for the remaining 5 hours in the airplane. I prayed that atleast one of the children would fall to sleep but no luck. And the bitchy stewardesses made it very clear that they preferred to have the baby screeching in her seat to wandering up and down the aisle (which I find baffling but, OK! I'm sort of immune to her high-pitched wailing and was just trying to look out for the delicate ears of my fellow travellers.) It was a Very Horrible Flight and I thank the heavens that I don't have to do the return trip for seven weeks or I might do something desperate like run away and join the circus.

So we are here and atleast the jet lag seems to have been easy. We are up early but no earlier than on vacation in Italy. Georgia did do an extended scream fest between 3:30 am and 5 on Saturday night, but all the family was off at a wedding that night so I just let her scream her heart out. Ella slept through it and I have perfected the art of blocking the noise with a pillow over my head. She did good last night so I think we are sorted.

We did have a fantastic weekend of family fun which is exactly why I come here with the girls for so long each summer. It was my nieces 1st birthday and since her mom is pregnant again (brave girl...) my sister and I threw a party. We had bunting up and balloons everywhere, a homemade ice cream cake, brats on the grill and potato salad, a slip-and-slide, water guns, and a pinata! My favorite part was having my first brat of the summer- soooo good! I had mine on a wheat bun with grainy mustard and sauerkraut. Now tell me that I am not a Wisconsin girl through and through.

While the kids spent the afternoon running from from one water game to the next (hello killer humidity! I had forgotten how hot 'hot' could get) the grown-ups did their best to keep cool as well. We decided that hydration was the key and sucked down several pitchers of this fantastic punch:

Watermelon and Vodka Cooler

Muddle three branches of mint with a spoonful of sugar in the bottm of a pitcher. Throw in a big handful of ice cubes and pour a 1/2 cup of vodka over the top. Add 2 cups of pureed watermelon, a 1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice, 4 shakes of bitters, and 1 1/2 cups of ginger ale. Serve and beware of the danger of getting PHENOMENALLY drunk since you barely taste the alcohol.

Hello summer! Next up: forcing my mother into making a decision on dining room curtains after "thinking about it" for the past year. Getting Ella into swimming lessons. Most importantly- finding an adapter for my computer as the one I brought along is mysteriously incompatible with the computer plug. When did 'universal' start meaning "everything but my damn computer"? Photos to follow.