International Be Nice to Aunt Nat Day, Friday

So last night, after bribing us all with brownies that she purchased at the store, Natalie bribed us all--well, mainly the kids--into making the next day "International Be Nice to Aunt Nat Day." I think she was hoping the day would start off with more sleep, but in our 400 sq.ft. apartment, that is not really going to happen--plus we sleep in until at least 8 or 8:30 everyday anyway. To celebrate the day, we took Nat to our favorite park, Parc Floral, the one with the big slides and the family bikes we rent. Outside the park is this huge sign.

We picnicked on this little hill. It felt like "Climb Every Mountain" from the Sound of Music.

Abigail rode a zipline for the first time and lived to tell about it, and to go again. The kids wanted to ride on these old-fashioned cars around a rail, but Nat and I wanted to rent the bike for all of us. We got Abigail to vote with us, but Warren was still unconvinced. Since it was "Be Nice to Aunt Nat Day," Natalie applied this line of reasoning with Warren as leverage and voila!--everyone was happy to rent the bikes. We forgot to get a picture, but here are some stories. Avery was in rare form--pulling Abigail's hair, scratching her, taking her jacket, etc. So we sang songs that had hand motions: Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, If You're Happy and You Know it...it's true: you can't sing and fight at the same time. (Well, unless you are Javert and ValJean in "Les Miserables," but that doesn't count.) After an afternoon of playing and riding around, we walked along the woods on a bikepath to get to another Metro stop; Warren got to practice his rollerblading. He is getting better, he even unscrewed his training wheels all by himself when we got home. We had our favorite dinner, bought from our local butcher: rotisserie chicken and the vegetables he sells along with it, which are to die for. Nat was in heaven. We even busted out a bottle of grape juice.

I went to the grocery store that evening and saw these mini Kleenex packages that had Disney Princesses all over them. Well, if you know Natalie, then I don't need to explain her fettich with Disney Princesses. If you don't know her, here's a glimpse: Natalie, whi is very mature and moderately normal, colors in a princess coloring book at night before she goes to bed, just for fun. So, I knew she would love these. So Warren and I bought them. And she did love them. Warren later came inside and said, "Mom, tomorrow is International Be Nice to Warren Day." We'll see.
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