Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Cars and Bumpers

We’ve been hanging out at the house here in St. Thomas today.   Yesterday was a flurry of activity when we arrived what with no food on Christmas Eve and the concern stores would be closed on Christmas Day.   We were all hungry and some of the adults were “thirsty” for beer and spirits.  

The grocery store was open and packed.  Both with food and people.   Some prices were high, very high, for comparable items at home.   Other things, like rum, were much lower priced than what we’d find typically.   So we stocked up.   Since arriving yesterday there have been multiple, additional, supplementary trips to the store.   The stocking up continues.

We have family members that like to cook, which suits me, so meals have been all at the house so far.  It’s mostly chaos here, which is how things usually go with family, but it’s a good chaos, a fun time with everyone.   My mother-in-law brought stockings for everyone and we put some things in each stocking.  Bits of candy, small presents for the children and a few little things from the recent travels my in-laws took recently.

My daughter has been in the pool as much as possible today.   She and her brother played some version of Fortnite in the pool.   The hot tub was a, “sea” and the pool was an “ocean”.  My sister-in-law looked at all the activities we could do for the week and I believe some things have been booked. I think we’re doing a, “three hour tour” involving kayaking and hiking.   There were some forays from the villa we’re staying at to try and get to the beach.   We’re guessing we’re about ten floors up, but so far we haven’t figured out how to get to the beach.  

There was a car issue.   My husband reserved a car for us with two car seats for the children but when we arrived there were no cars left.   There were no cars left.   They called around to the other rental companies and we did a more extensive search today and there just aren’t any cars.   So we’re twelve people and cars that will carry eight, ten if we wedge in but no car seats.   So we’ve got some figuring  out to do on that front.

My daughter’s vision is bad.   Is it worse?   Has it gotten worse?   She’s using her, “bumpers” meaning holding her hands out in front of her to find obstacles before she runs into them.   She’s using them all the time.   It’s like she’s almost completely blind, but we’re not sure.   When I asked her today if her vision was worse she said, “no, Mom, it’s the same.   I just haven’t mapped the upstairs yet.”   So that’s interesting.   Does that mean she’s had a reduction in vision for a good while now, but we’re not seeing it because she knows her environment so well at home?  Her teachers at school, the VI specialists, all have said she’s shown a marked drop in vision in the last six months.   I don’t know if we can get any back, her pressure is consistently very high and we’re not making any progress with the pressure drops.

The villa we’re staying in has a lot of outdoor access to the various parts of the home.   Today we were out on the pool deck in the sun and in a short span it was raining hard.   Everyone came in, grabbing towels to dry off.   I was ready to change into dry clothes but the only way to get to our rooms was to leave the main floor, walk around the side of the building, go down a turning flight of stairs and enter into the lower suite where we’ve got two rooms with our children.   So I had to wait.   But storms pass quickly here and the temperature barely dropped over the twenty minutes of downpour.

Meatballs and pasta is currently being made which means everyone is hovering around the kitchen area what with the good smells emanating from the area.   I’m heading that way as well, once I press the Publish button here.

The Big Boy Update:  My mother suggested melatonin of a certain brand she’s taking for sleep.   I’ve given it to my son several times now and each time he’s fallen asleep very quickly after taking it.   I’m hoping it will help him on school nights when he’s too keyed up to calm down.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My son and Uncle Jonathan went to see Spider Man last week.   Uncle Jonathan said something funny happened towards the end of the movie.   My son had drank a full-sized beverage and had to go to the bathroom.   Jonathan looked over to find him doing what he called, “Weiner punching” himself repeatedly, trying to hold it until the movie was over.

No comments:

Post a Comment