Ahh, the Weather

At first I thought we had brought winter with us because last week was pretty rainy and cold and I even got to wear my bright pink rain boots that I bought at Target. But, it was just a tease because now the weather is absolutely perfect. About 75 degrees and sunny. I love it. Because the weather was so great, Tali and I made a plan to meet at the park at 4 to let the kids play until it got dark and cold and then get pizza for dinner. I love plans that include dinner.
When Eli and I picked up Simon from school, he handed me 2 small green cards and said we need to put them in a safe place. Apparently they are given these little cards when they hand in homework or do something else good (Simon got these for bringing in things that start with aleph) and when they get a certain amount, they get a prize. Nothing like a little bribery, I guess. They get homework on Fridays that has to be handed in anytime the following week. I guess Smadar talked to them today about what the homework is because Simon said: "I need to do my homework. But I don't know what Smadar said about it, so can we trick her and you do the homework and tell her that I did it?"
When we got home, David was just leaving from being home for lunch. He had left me an omelet that he made and Eli ate the entire thing in about 2 bites. Simon finished the noodles that he had taken to school and had a yogurt drink and had 2 pieces of turkey. He is suddenly eating a lot more than usual. I think he's making up for the fact that he ate virtually nothing the entire time we were away.
We put Eli in for a nap--Simon now knows that he has to pretend that he is taking a nap too or else Eli puts up a big fight. So I carry Eli to his room and on the way we stop and see Simon "sleeping" in his bed. It's been working quite nicely and Simon loves it that he is in on a secret. Eli always says "no nap," but then after we read a book he goes right in his crib. We stole a book from Ducky's house about a little pea and we read it almost every day. It is a great book and I've noticed that Eli practically knows it by heart and also knows the days of the week from it.
While Eli was sleeping, Simon and I played with the Wii, which is becoming our new routine during Eli's nap. He loves playing it, but he knows it is a special treat, so he doesn't argue when I say it's time to turn it off.
A little before 4 we woke up Eli so that we could go to the park. Simon wanted to bring his binoculars so the walk to the park took forever because I wouldn't let him walk and look through them at the same time (because when he does that he walks into things because he thinks they are farther than they are) so we kept having to stop so he could look through them. When we finally got there, Simon, Eli, Boaz and Uri played really well together. Eli is really getting better and playing more nicely with others with not as much hitting or biting. Still some, but not as much! We walked over to Pergo Pizza and had a nice dinner, sitting outside because even though it got dark at 5:30 it was still so warm out!!
When we got home, 3 of David's friends from work, Kobi, Randy and Idan were here because they were going to a wedding so they came here to shower and get dressed (those are the perks of living 2 blocks from the office). The boys love Randy and were so happy to see him. They don't really know Kobi and Idan but they played with them too. Simon was playing "Rocks, Paper, Scissors..shoot" with Idan who speaks English with a thick Israeli accent. Then, in the tub, Simon was playing it with me and he started using an Israeli accent too--it was pretty funny. When I took Eli out of the tub he said "where is Daddy?" (only he pronounces it so it sounds like "eh is" instead of "where is"). I said that he went out and then he said "otay, 'eh is Randy??" I love it that he says "otay" instead of "okay."
Both kids had minor meltdowns after the tub so I declared it bedtime for everyone. There was crying, but nothing that another reading of The Little Pea couldn't cure!