Thinking of others

I hate to admit it, but I have been severely worn out this month. I'm sure everyone feels that way sometimes. Just finishing school up was a major chore. Emily got sick and I wonder if maybe she wasn't stressed as well. Life has been pretty good, just busy.
Today, we finally kept a social obligation I had set up a month ago. I regularly visit a Vietnamese family near the airport and they asked about a month ago if they could return the visit and come to our house. So I said that we would set it up for the first weekend we had free.
Well, ended up being almost a month after a trip to Florida to celebrate my Mom's birthday and help her prepare for knee replacement surgery.

So, I went to pick up the family at around 11 AM and what fun we ended up having. They had a video of a church service that the father had performed some music in- and did traditional Montegnard (their ethnic group) dances celebrating harvest. It was amazing to see both the dancing and the amount of people in our area that support this community of immigrants.

Once we were done with the video, we all went outside and I showed them the chickens and the figs, peaches and blackberries that are all ripening. We nibbled on ripe fruit and they told me the word for fig in J'rai (their language). Then I collected eggs while they got ready to swim.
I was so glad I decided to put my swimsuit on and join the fun! The little boys, Thai and Henry, wanted nothing to do with the water and were screaming about being in the pool when I came out. We had them in floatie suits that were a bit big for them and I think the newness of the water and the discomfort of the suits was just too much. Their parents were having so much fun, they didn't seem to mind the crying and kept encouraging the boys to enjoy themselves, dunking and splashing them. I was able to convince the little one, Henry, to come to me and I cuddled him on my hip and bounced up and down playing horsie until he calmed down and was giggling. Before too long, I had them both on my hips and was galloping side to side in the pool, hanging on tightly so they were sure they were safe. It sure brought back memories of playing with Allen and Emily when they were that age. Emily even took several turns with them so that my arms wouldn't get worn out. We were in the pool for an hour or more and by the end, I was able to sit with the boys while they stood on the steps and splashed merrily. It was such a fun time!

Driving them back, all but one adult and one child fell sound asleep. I suspect we all had enormous fun and burned a lot of energy. I haven't lost a whole carful of people to sleep in a long, long time. (Probably since going to the NJ Shore when the kids were really small.)

And now, as I look back on the day, I am thankful that I got to get out of my rut of chores and self-indulgence and actually be refreshed! Hoping your weekend refreshes you as well!!