Tio Charlie comes to visit

Sofia's version of dress-up:

This past weekend tio Charlie came to visit and the kids were beyond happy.  Sofia only wanted him to hold her and wouldn't let me even get close.  I need to teach her the word "TIO" because she kept referring to Charlie as 'daddy.'  The boys definitely liked wrestling and climbing on him, but their favorite was the marble maze structure he built.  Diego got QB Maze for Christmas and we've all been a little annoyed at how easily it falls down - especially when you have a little person at table height constantly swiping her hands in search of something she can destroy.  The box has a picture of a terrific structure, but when I took one look at the directions to build it I closed it immediately.  It looked worse than Ikea instructions.  The next thing I knew tio Charlie was halfway through building it.  Check it out:

The kids were uber-impressed and quite taken with it.  That of course meant their little hands frequently touching it and fighting over it, which meant that pieces started getting knocked off and within a couple of days the whole thing came crashing down and a lot of tears were shed.  Charlie's friend was over and decided he wanted to switch one of the pieces....that piece happened to be a bottom piece and that was the end of the maze.  Looks like we need to get tio Charlie back here to build it again.

We've been having a lot of conversations about the future - mainly because of all the news of restructuring at Coke and because of the kids' education.  You mix the fact that it has been about 2 months of not knowing if I would have a job with Carlos' recent appointment to the PTA board and you get a whole lot of "strategic planning!"  I can't say we have gotten very far.  Some one sent me their life plan template which was interesting, but seemed to make more sense to use when you are just starting a life together...not three kids into marriage....

The conversation seems even more tangible given that some friends are leaving the Hill this week to move to southern California.  The movers took all their stuff last week so they have been staying in our apartment downstairs and we love having them here.  It made me realize how nice it would be to live next door to people we actually like!  We've been sharing child care and taking the kids to/from school - and having a built in playdate is priceless.  Charlie told me that we were SO lucky to have Luca and Mila living downstairs and I totally agree!