It's said that we are all born alone into this world. In my case, I have to say very differently, that I was born into the loving hands of my mother's and my sister's. As long as I can remember, the first time I ever felt lonely was when my sister left my parents house for college. Before that, she was always there, so I was never alone. My parents told me that I always had a tendency of playing by myself, that I would hide under the table and play with my dolls for hours. While there is truth to this, I also remember that I always played with my sister, under the table, on the bed or wherever we found our fun. True, I was never in search of company, but it was not because I did not want it, but because I already had the best company there is: my sister.
All throughout my life I did my best to follow her and make sure I am close to her. I dreamt of going to school, just because she was already there. When she went to college, there was no question that I will also go to a college in the same city. When she moved across seas to US, I applied mostly to schools in the same state to make sure we are close enough. As irony goes, we are now thousands of miles apart, but we do our best to shorten the distance at least emotionally .
And because of this, this past weekend was beyond awesome. After 4 years, I finally had in my house my niece and my nephews. The visit came with a lot of anticipation and I was a little scared that I put too much hope into 4 days where 4 kids that did not see each other for 4 years will have to coexist in a pretty small space. All my worries were in vain, we had a perfect visit!
Just before they arrived, Catalina wanted to wait for them outside. Since it was still a lot till they came, we did some gardening :)
And then, it was time for this:
 |
| Smiles to go all around! |
Next day we all went to Amish county. Getting there was big question of driving, as I was still a novice at driving on the highway. It seems that I needed was my sister who believes I can do anything I want. Hurray for my first long drive on a high speed highway!
We had a lot of events planned for the day and frankly I did not think we'll get through with half of them. We met some friends of my sister's and we all had an awesome time.
We started with lunch at a pizza place and some shopping in an expensive "amish" store. What can I say, amish people learnt a thing or two about business, the prices were outrageous!
After a little bit of hurrying and running we finally made it to our next bullet on our schedule: a train ride!
 |
| Waiting patiently (not so much...) for the train |
 |
| We found Thomas the train and peaked a little for a fast photo shoot |
Our next stop was an amish house/farm. Unexpectedly, that was an absolutely amazing experience. It seems that one needs to entertain 4 kids is a lot of running space, some wood carving, animals to feed and sunshine. And we had it all!
 |
| Catalina and Mikil were best buddies! |
 |
| Finally a shot of Silvia! She kept covering her pretty face so I can't take a picture :) |
We ended the day with a very rich and yummy dinner at an Amish diner. All happy and loaded with calories, we left waiting for another's day adventure!
This was probably the worst planned day, as we did not account for much. We all went to our little playground close to our house. Some fun, but nothing spectacular :)
 |
| The pyramid "A" |
 |
| The pyramid "B" |
 |
| Girlie night: applying cream before bed time :) |
Friday morning started pretty well and announced a whole day of fun. Petronela braided Catalina's and Silvia's hair in matching styles. I like it sooo much! They both looked like swedish princesses.
Then, with energy from I don't know where, Petronela made pancakes and taught Catalina how to do it!
 |
| Fancy hair, right? |
 |
| Catalina broke the house twice and twice Mikil smiled understandingly at her. pretty awesome this god son of mine! |
We don't have a big house, but one of the nice perks of our condo is that it has a wild area behind our building. We have big trees, wild animals running around and a creek that streams on big rocks.
 |
| Peter crossed the log without any help! Catalina is trying to take lessons :) |
 |
| Closest thing to a sister (for either :) |
 |
| A little rest |
 |
| Monkeys! |
 |
| Togetherness |
Friday was reserved for some shopping and POOL!!
 |
| Different people enjoy the pool differently |
After an afternoon of swimming, splashing and good time, we had a pretty good dinner around the tatar hut. Kids had fun, parents had wine, all in all a very good time!
After the pool and after the dinner, Marius found energy for fried dough. He did get some very excited helpers!
Mikil, the geekiest of all, enjoyed some experiments with dry ice. Peter was pretty much in awe as well, and I was a proud aunt for showing "the real science" to all :)
It all ended with smiles, happy kids and parents. Waiting for them to return, for another short day of fun!
