Today after church we spent the afternoon with Ilga and Janis. They are really great people and we have grown to be good friends. We decided to take them to brunch at Red Top Mountain this time and go for a short hike afterwards. Usually when we go there for brunch it’s a holiday so it’s crowded. Today was perfect. There were only a few people there so we didn’t have much competition for the food in the buffet. The scene couldn’t have been better. We were seated close to a window where a hummingbird feeder hung right outside. As if on cue, two hummingbirds came by to show off for Ilga and Janis. I think that was the first time they’d ever seen hummingbirds. Ilga quickly grabbed her video camera and got some pictures.
Taking the kids to buffets is the way to go because they can pick out what they like. You never know what they’re gonna pick either. Kristine picked out a few different things but her favorite was the sunflower seeds. She kept going back to fill her small plate with more of those. We kept joking and telling her that she was eating bird food. Then there was Olegs who confessed that he loves lemons so of course we had to order the little guy some lemons. He got his bowl of sliced lemons and commenced to eating them, rind and all!! UGGGHHH! He told us that he eats them like that at the children’s home so we just let him eat on. It all caught up to him by the time we were ready to leave though. He had to excuse himself numerous times to go to the “toilette”…he’d get up and go and then come back and go again and come back. We’d say, “Olegs okay?”…he’d say “Yes” and then a few seconds later “No, Olegs not okay.” We decided then and there “no more lemons” for Olegs. LOL!
After brunch we took a nice walk on the trail around Lake Allatoona and it was pretty but too darn hot!! Going for a hike sounded like a good idea when we talked about it in our air-conditioned car. Despite the heat, Ilga and Janis seemed to enjoy it because Rob pointed out the different types of plants and they discussed the types of plants in Latvia. The kids and I couldn’t wait to get back to the car. Ultimately, it was a fun day though.
That evening after dropping off Ilga and Janis, the kids, Rob and I decided to play a game of Uno. It was surprisingly easy to teach the kids how to play and now they want to play it every night. As you may or may not know, the goal of Uno is to be the first one to get rid of all your cards so it’s no fun to get one of those cards that makes you have to draw cards from the deck. We’ve all gotten to where we joke and pick on the person who winds up with the dreaded “+2” card or “+4” card (meaning that person has to draw either 2 or 4 cards). Our sweet Olegs particularly loves this and dances around and taunts other players when he’s able to play a card that makes the next player have to draw cards. Well, this particular day, he was the recipient of the dreaded +4 card so we kidded him about it like we’ve all done many times before. For some reason he didn’t take it too well this time. He threw his cards on the table and ran upstairs to his room. Rob and I looked at each other in astonishment as we each wanted the other to go up and resolve whatever the issue was.
I finally went up and was able to decipher that he was upset that we joked about him getting the +4 card. With my phrase book in hand, I was able to say “we no mean to hurt you…we just joke”. It was fine when he was the one joking about everyone else but when the joke was on him, it wasn’t funny. I think he understood and we all hugged in the end so no big deal. Rob and I joke about our lives being like that movie Groundhog Day. Remember how Bill Murray would wake up and start the same day over and over? Olegs wasn’t too happy with us tonight but in the morning we knew we’d all be friends again and start all over…like the slate is wiped clean every day.
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