another log awaited update

Ben watches TV

Me and Zev face to face, Nov 6th 2011

Zev the flower child

Zev laughing Nov 10th

Serious Ben is looking very grown up Nov 10th

Same day, reading time

For their five month birthday the boys received gifts from the family, including awesome balloons from the Boston grandparents.  Mom got lots of flowers.  But from their parents the boys received a very special gift - the parents left them for a night, for the first time.  We escaped to a nearby resort for both mental and physical recuperation, while three generations of Mann/Men/Baldetskaya women took care of the boys.  The boys, I suspect, were a lot less anxious about the whole thing than anyone else.

Having our day of freedom, Alla and I arrived at the resort to be treated to a bottle of champagne (thank you - you know who you are!) plus whatever goodies we brought with us.  But better still - a hot tub in our room. A drink and a lunch later we headed to our respective procedures (facial for Alla, soak for me).  We got back to the room, ate some, drank some, hot-tub-ed some, lounged some more.  And were asleep by 10:30 pm like a pair of old kakers.

With the time change, we were up by 6:30.  I talked Alla out of calling the house immediately.  We read some more, but by 7:30 Alla would no longer be contained.  In short sequence, Alla's mom and sister reported that the night went just fine up until the point when two idiots woke them up at 7:30 on a Sunday.  We went for breakfast.